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^^Kk.h 


IflSTORY  OF  THE  |)aPTISTS: 

TKACEIJ   HV   TllKIR 

VITAL  PRINCIPLES  AND  PRACTICES, 

FROM 

TiiK  mil;:  oviww  \m\)  and  saviour  jesiis  christ 

TO  THE  YEAR  ISSG. 


BY    THOMAS_  ARM  ITAGE,    D.D.,    LL.D. 

Pastor  of  ihc  I'ifth  Avenue  Baptist  Clunxli.  New  York. 


Willi   AX   IXTROOrCTION 
Y     J.     L.     M.     CURRY,     D.D.,     LL.D,, 

American   Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  the  Court  of  Sp.tin. 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  173  ENGRAVINGS. 


NEW  YORK: 

757    Broadway. 

1887. 


EDITION   DE  LUXE. 


This  edition,  printed  on  the  finest  coated  linen  plate  paper,  is  strictly 
limited  to  one  thousand  numbered  and  registered  copies,  each  signed  by 
the  author. 


This  is  copy  No. 


.". jA^/X^AaA£:^a^. 


Copyright  1887,  by  THOMAS  ARMITAGE,  New  York. 
ALL  KIGU JS  KESEKrED. 


PREFACE 

TO  THE   EDITION   DE   LUXE. 


PRINTING,  Avhich  the  enlightened  taste  of  Guttenberg  had  in  its 
very  infancy  raised  almost  to  the  dignity  of  a  Fine  Art,  was  still 
furthei'  exalted  l.y  tlie  (ireat  Masters  that  followed  him:  by  Aldo  Pio 
]\binu7,io,  and  Ca.xtdn,  and  the  Elzevirs,  by  Baskerville,  Bodoni,  the 
Didots  and  l*il■k(■l■iu^■;  true  artists  every  one,  whose  exquisite  Morkman- 
shi])  is  to  this  day  admired  by  all  men  of  learning,  and  sought  for  l)y 
all  A\ho  love  the  Beautiful.  The  height  to  which  the  earliest  of  these 
masters  elevated  the  new-found  art  stands  brightly  marked  by  the  Maz- 
arin  Bible,  'the  most  important  and  the  most  distinguished  work  in  the 
Annals  of  Typography,'  and  by  the  'Psalmorum  Codex'  and  the  'Cath- 
olicon,'  l)oth  of  which,  like  it,  were  almost  contemporaneous  with  the  in- 
vention of  Printing,  and  are  still  among  the  noblest  monuments  of  the 
Art ;  and,  later,  by  the  famous  '  Nuremberg  Chronicle,'  which  fully  ushered 
in  the  era  of  Illustrated  Books.  Nor  could  artist  have  higher  ambition 
than  that  which  inspired  these  masters,  and  still  inspires  their  disciples, 
to  enshrine  in  enduring  beauty  the  thoughts  that  govern  and  the  fancies 
that  delight  mankind,  tlie  hiAvs  of  the  universe,  and  the  Word  of  God. 

Like  the  Architects  of  Greece,  these  old  Printers  had  the  -wit  to 
discover  the  universal  and  immutable  laws  of  proportion,  and  through 
their  wise  observance  to  fashion  a  page  the  exquisite  relation  of 
whose  type  and  printed  matter  and  margin  to  each  other,  and  to  the 
page  Avhich  embraces  them  all,  makes  it  a  model  of  symmetry  and 
elegance.  Though  the  exigencies  of  the  trade  rarely  ^lermit  tlie  Pub- 
lisher of  our  .lay  to  obs.Tvc  these  lau's,  it  is  his  delight  to  do  so  wlieii- 
ever  a  book  of  surpassing  excellence  gives  liim  an  opportunity  to  appeal 


oop.^oi 


pi;hf.\('K  to   Till-:  huitkix  he  i.rxR. 

Mii-..iiu-li  ail  Ivlition  (1,-  LiLNc  t..  the  artistir  sense  ^f  tl.at  lortuiiate  class 
wliich  not  onlv  loves  1m,u1<s,  Init  lov.'s  to  see  tlieiii  printed  in  -Taceful 
cliaraeters  on  (jraiid  pupij  r  rillii  dii  tiutrdi'S,  and  enfolded  in  covei'S  that 
would    have  deli-hted  .'veii  (u'olier  himself. 

A  \vid(^  inarLiin  is  nut  only  a  tliiiiL;-  of  Iteauty,  it  lias  besides  a  chai-ni 
tiiat  tourlies  the  heart  of  every  student;  a  charm  which  Charles  Laml> 
savors  and  (juaintly  isoilrays  when  he  tells  how  Coleridp-  embellished 
tiie  i)a,o-es  of  the  InH.ks  which  he  borroued  by  peiicilin-  notes  on 
their  iiivitin-  borders:  '  Keader,  if,  liaiily,  tliou  ai't  blessed  with  a 
modei-at<-    cojleetion,    be    shy    of    sliowiii,-'    it;    or,    if   thy    heart    overtlow 

to  lend  them,  lend  thy  1 ks,  but  let  it   be  to  such   a  one  as  Coleridge; 

he  will  ivtiirn  them — generally  aiiticijiatiiiL;-  the  time  a])iiointed — 
with  usury,  enriched  with  annotations  trijilin--  their  value.'  On  the 
margin  of  one  of  these  books  Colei'idge  wrote,  'I  shall  ilie  soon,  my 
dear  Charles  Lamb,  and  then  you  will  not  be  vexed  that  I  have  be- 
scribbled  your  liook.'  Another  contains  Coleri<lge's  marginal  notes 
with  Lamb's  comments  u])on  them.  Thi'ice  hajijiy  the  liibliojihile  who 
owns  such  a  treasure!  ^lelanchtlion,  Lo(d<e,  (iray,  IJeckford,  Buckle  and 
l)e(^)uincey  gave  much  to  the  world  through  their  marginalia. 

To  the  book  lover,  familiar  with  these  things,  it  need  only  be  said 
that  the  stoi'y  which  is  told  in  these  pages  deserves  the  distinction  of 
this  su])erb  edition.  It  is  the  story  of  one  of  the  most  im])ortant  phases 
of  the  great  struggle  for  liberty  of  conscience  whicdi  has  been  in  prog- 
ress since  the  birth  of  Christ — tlie  story  of  the  eminent  and  honorable 
part  borne  in  that  contest  liy  the  exponents  of  Baptist  thought  and 
]iractice  in  the  Old  AN'orld  and  in  the  New,  always,  at  all  times  and  in 
all  counti-ies,  on  the  side  of  freedom.  It  is  told  by  one  whom  love  of 
truth,  catholic  sympathies,  philosophic  tem])eranient  and  forceful  genius 
have  endowed  with  supreme  (pialitications  for  the  task.  Free  from 
ecclesiastical  sway,  and  without  ail^^ectation,  the  author  discloses  a  Palini])- 
sest  of  history,  with  the  fearless  sincerity  and  ])erfect  candor  that  will 
give  this  book  a  foremost  ])lace  among  the  great  works  of  our  time. 

L.  M.  LAWSON. 


PREFACE 


EATJLY  in  the  snimiH>r  of  A.  1).  1S82  the  publishers  of  this  work  called  upon 
tUv  uiithur  to  conl'tT  on  the  desirableness  of  issuing  a  Baptist  history.  He 
laid  before  them  the  histories  extant  by  onr  writers,  commending  their  merits. 
They  said  that,  after  examination  of  these,  whilst  each  filled  a  peculiar  niche  in 
Baptist  history,  they  were  satisfied  that  a  larger  and  more  comprehensive  work  was 
demanded  by  the  present  public  want,  and  requested  him  to  undertake  the  task  of 
preparing  one. 

This  request  was  declined  on  account  of  its  iniierent  ditlieulty  and  the  pressure 
of  a  large  New  York  pastorate,  lie  suljmitted  two  or  three  weighty  names  of 
those  who,  in  his  jndgmcnt,  were  in  every  way  better  qualified  for  tlie  work,  among 
them  the  late  Dr.  William  It.  AV'illiams,  and  wrote  letters  of  introduction  to  these 
several  gentlemen.  In  a  few  weeks  tin  y  returned,  stating  that  they  had  consulted 
not  only  those  referred  to,  i)ut  otiier  well-known  Baptist  writers,  each  of  whom 
suggested  that,  as  the  author  had  devoted  years  to  the  examination  of  the  subject, 
he  owed  it  to  his  denomination  to  write  and  publish  thereon. 

After  fuller  consideration  he  consented  to  make  the  attempt,  with  the  distinct 
understanding  that  he  should  be  entirel}'  unfettered  in  regard  to  the  principle  on 
which  the  work  should  be  written.  He  saw  at  a  glance  that  as  Baptists  are  in  no 
way  the  authors  or  offspring  of  an  ecclesiastical  system,  that,  therefore,  their  history 
cannot  be  written  on  the  current  methods  of  ecclesiastical  history.  The  attempt 
to  show  that  any  religious  body  has  come  down  from  the  Apostles  an  unchanged 
people  is  of  itself  an  assumption  of  infallibility,  and  contradicts  the  facts  of  history. 

Truth  only  is  changeless,  and  only  as  any  people  have  held  to  the  truth  in  its 
purity  and  primitive  simplicity  has  the  world  had  an  unchanging  religion.  The 
truth  has  been  held  by  individual  men  and  scattered  companies,  but  never  in  un- 
broken continuity  by  any  sect  as  such.  Sect  after  sect  has  appeared  and  held  it  for 
a  time,  then  has  destroyed  itself  by  mixing  error  with  the  trath ;  again,  the  truth 
has  evinced  its  divinity  by  rising  afresh  in  the  hands  of  a  newly  organized  people, 
to  perpetuate  its  diffusion  in  the  earth. 

It  is  enough  to  show  that  what  Christ's  churches  were  in  the  days  of  the  Apos- 
tles, that  the  Baptist  churches  of  to-day  find  themselves.  The  truths  held  by  them 
have  never  died  since  Christ  gave  tlieni,  and  in  the  exact  proportion  that  any  people 
have  maintained  these  truths  they  have  been  the  true  Baptists  of  the  world.     The 


w 

i-itcr,  tluM-cf 

lire,   V 

cfusiMl  t,,  Ik 

■  hoiin. 

d    in    his  in\'( 

■sti 

,i;-ati. 

mis  hy  an  ii-on  ohlii^atioii  to 

si, 

(i\V  11  sllCi-rs; 

-U>]\    ( 

<(    |HU,,1,.    wl 

,o  hav, 

•  held  all  the 

■  1" 

■iliei 

pies,  great  and  small,  of  any 

t^c 

<-f  now  (■\i> 

tin,-- 

-11 HV  al 

kI  no  1 

es>. 

tl, 

wiu-ii  i; 

cv  lind  n.it 

"-'■'; 

Williams   1, 

•ft     his 

lul  lowers    tl 

ley 

111    fl 

re  in  great  trepidation  lest 
■om  the  A])ostles,  as  if  any 

1m 

,<ly  rise  lia.j. 

.     Tl 

iry  h.^anl,  h 

oweve 

r,  that  the  Q 

net 

■11  oi 

f  Hungary  had  a  list  of  reg- 

u\ 

ai'ly   baptize 

Ml     ,1,.: 

-roiHlants    tl 

■ni,l    tl 

le    Apo.tles, 

alK 

1    w. 

■IV  half  persuaded  to  send 

th 

cir  hn,tlRT, 

Th.,1 

lias  Oliicy,  t 

n  ohta 

ill   it  at  her 

ha 

nds. 

Still,  on  the  second  sober 

til 

OUo-llt,  tlll'V 

conh 

1  nut  swalh, 

w  this 

close   of   the 

es. 

seiici 

-■  of  popery,  and  concluded 

IK 

,t   \n    niako 

then 

isolvc's    ridi, 

■llh.lls. 

Whereiiji. 

III 

I!ae 

kus  solemnly  says,   that   at 

](_• 

iigtli   they   ' 

CUIIC'I 

iidrd   such 

a   eoui 

■se  was  not  > 

L'Xl 

.eili. 

■nt.  but   believing  tli;if   now 

th 

ry    were   :j,(i 

it  illt( 

.   the   ri,-ht 

w.iy, 

determined  t 

o 

per>( 

jveie    therein.'      Thu>.  once 

111 

ore,  wisdom 

1    was 

jlistitied    ii 

1  her 

children,  uiu 

leu- 

the 

application  of  the  radical 

ail 

tti-lioinish  ] 

,)riiii-i 

pie   that   th 

e  Nev 

r  Testament 

is 

the 

only  tonch- stone  of  Cliris- 

ti; 

in  liistorv. 

'tIh' 

men  who  o 

hev  it 

in  all  thin-s 

to 

-dnv, 

.  the  men  who  have  obevod 

it  since  it  was  written,  and  the  men  who  wrote  it.  are  of  one  thick,  under  the  one 
Shepherd,  wh.ise  holy  body  ,Iohu  buried  beneath  the  waters  of  the  Jordan. 

The  author  has  aimed,  so  far  as  in  him  lay,  to  command  accuracy  of  statement 
with  a  style  ada]iti'd  to  tlu'  i-ommon  reader  in  our  churches,  thus  especially  reaching 
and  interesting  the  young  and  making  tlu'  work  a  reliable  reference  for  all. 

]ii-inci])les  as  liajitists.  This  book  is  written  for  the  purpose  of  putting  within  the 
reach  of  all  .such  facts  as  shall  iiiforin  them  of  their  religious  history  and  what  it 
cost  the  fathers  of  our  faith  to  defend  the  same. 

Wliile  cumbrous  notes  have  been  dispensed  with,  yet,  for  the  benefit  of  those 
who  honestly  desire  to  inform  themselves,  I'eferences  upon  important  points  to  au- 
thorities, mostly  Pedobajitists,  are  given  at  the  close  of  tlie  volume.  For  the  same 
reason  the  work  is  a  defense  and  an  exjiosition  of  our  distinctive  principles,  as  well  as 
a  history.  Biography  is  here  combined  \\ith  history  proper,  and  numerous  j.iortraits 
are  given,  chiefly  of  those  not  now  living. 

Tlie  engravings  of  the  volume,  with  the  exception  of  the  steel-plate  of  the 
author,  have  been  executed  by  the  e\perieii<-e(l  hand  of  .John  D.  Felter,  E.sq.,  whose 
ability  and  artistic  skill  are  wiilely  recognized.  The  letter-press  and  mechanical  finish 
of  the  book  are  all  that  can  be  desired,  even  in  this  age  of  elegant  printing,  and  be- 
speak the  public  favor  for  the  gentlemanly  publishers,  who.  by  their  enlarged 
business  generosity,  have  secured  to  tlie  reading  jJublic  this  volume  in  the  best  style 
of  the  printing  art. 

Whilst  the  author  has  noticed  at  length  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  Baptists  in 
the  several  States  of  the  Union,  he  has  not  been  able  to  present,  with  but  few  ex- 
ceptions, the  history  of  local  churches  and  associations.  To  have  attempted  this 
would  have  extended  the  work  far  beyond  the  prescribed  limit,  and,  owing  to  the 


great  nuinbei-  of  Baptist  c•lnll•clle^^,  tlie  rt'sult  must  necessarily  liuvc  been  meager  and 
unsatisfactory. 

The  author  has  clone  his  woi'k  in  all  candor,  with  a  sincere  regard  to  the  pur- 
pose of  history  and  the  maintenance  of  truth,  lie  send.s  it  forth  witli  the  prayer 
that  it  may  fulfil  its  mission  and  afford  profit  to  all  who  peruse  its  pages.  Despite 
the  utmost  care  to  avoid  mistakes,  it  is  very  likely  tiiat  some  have  crept  into  the 
text,  but  on  discovery  they  will  be  promptly  corrected  hereafter. 

It  was  desirable  to  seek  the  aid  of  several  young  scholars,  specialists  in  their 
departments,  who  have  rmdiiiil  \ahi:ili!c  service  by  the  examination  of  scarce  books 
and  documents,  and  sulmiitlci]  their  nun  suggestions  for  consideration.  Of  these  it 
is  specially  pleasant  to  nu'iition  : 

Ilev.  W.  W.  Everts,  Jr.,  of  Pliihulfli)liia,  who  has  devoted  a  large  portion  of  his 
life  to  the  study  of  ecclesiastical  history,  and  has  had  rare  (ippiirtunities,  as  a  student 
in  German}',  to  make  himself  acquainted  with  the  leecmls  of  the  Ctnitinental  Bap- 
tists.    He  has  made  his  investigations  with  great  care  and  enthusiasm  : 

Henry  C.  Yedder,  Esq.,  a  junior  editor  of  the  'Examiner,'  and  an  editor  of  the 
'  Baptist  Quarterly.'  lie  is  especially  at  home  in  all  that  relates  to  the  Baptists  in 
the  time  of  the  English  Coinnionwealth.  and  has  shown  su]K'rior  al)ility  in  exaiuining 
that  period : 

llvv.  (ieorge  E.  Wuvv.  .Ti-.,  of  Charlestown,  Mass.,  who  is  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  rhe  American  period  of  our  history,  and  in  his  researches  has  made  free  use  of 
the  libraries  at  Cambridge  and  Boston,  turning  them  to  most  profitable  account. 

The  first  two  of  these  gentlemen  have  also  read  the  proofs  of  the  respective 
departments  to  which  they  have  thus  contril)ute(l. 

Rev.  J.  Spinther  James,  of  Wales,  was  rcconnnended  by  Rev.  Hugh  Jones, 
late  president  of  the  Llangollen  College,  as  quite  conijietent  to  make  investigations 
in  the  history  of  the  Welsh  Baptists.  These  he  has  made  and  submitted,  liaving 
had  special  facilities  for  information  in  the  library  of  that  institution. 

Hon.  Horatio  Gates  Jones,  of  Philadelphia,  consented  to  prepare  a  full  Baptist 
bibliography,  but  a  press  of  legal  business  has  prevented  the  accomplishment  of  his 
work,  after  devoting  much  time  to  the  subject. 

The  portraits  of  these  gentlemen  are  grouped,  and  preface  the  American  de- 
partment. It  is  but  honorable  to  add,  that  none  of  these  scholars  are  to  be  held  re- 
sponsible for  any  statement  of  fact  or  for  an\-  sentiment  found  in  the  book  ;  that  is 
entirely  assuuuMl  by  tlie  author. 

Hearty  and  >in('i-re  thanks  are  hereby  rendered  to  Frederick  Saunders,  Esq., 
librarian  of  the  Astor  Library,  for  many  attentions,  especially  for  the  use  of  Garruci, 
in  photographing  ten  of  the  illustrations  found  in  the  chapter  on  Baptismal  Pictures  ; 
to  Dr.  George  H.  IMoore,  of  the  Lenox  Library,  for  the  use  of  the  great  Bunyan 
collection  there ;  and  to  Henry  E.  Lincoln,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia,  and  Rev.  Daniel 
C.  Potter,  D.D.,  of  New  York,  for  photographs  u.sed. 


vi  rilEFACE. 

The  ;iutli(.r  (iwes  :i  debt  of  gratitude  also  t(,  T.  J.  ('..iiaiit,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  for  his 
kindness  in  i-eadiiig  tlic  proof -slieets  of  tlie  cliajitn's  on  tlie  J;a|)tisinof  Jesus  and  the 
A])Ostolic  Cinirclics  a,-;  Mudels;  to  Heman  Lini/dhi,  1).]).,  I'l-dfessor  of  Ecclesiastical 
History  at  tlie  Newton  Theological  Scniiiiai'v.  wIki  exaniiiicd  the  proofs  on  the 
Second  and  Third  (k-ntnries;  to  Allicrt  II.  .Newman,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of 
Church  History  in  the  Toronto  Theological  Seminary,  who  read  all  the  chapters  on 
the  Continental  Baptists  from  that  on  the  Waldensians  to  that  on  the  Netherlands ; 
to  Rev.  D.  McLane  Reeves,  D.D.,  of  Johnstown,  N.  Y.,  who  read  the  chapter  on 
the  Waldensians ;  to  Rev.  Owen  Griffith,  editor  of  the  '  Y  Wawr,'  Utica,  N.  Y.,  who 
read  the  proof  of  the  chapter  on  the  Welsli  Baptists;  to  Henry  S.  Burrage,  D.D., 
editor  of  -Zion's  Advocate,'  wlio  examined  the  two  eliapteiv  on  the  Swiss  Baptists  ; 
to  S.  F.  Smith,  J).I).,  of  i\[ass..  who  has  aided  largely  in  the  chapter  on  Missions ; 
to  Reuben  A.  Guild,  LL.D.,  ]>ibrarian  of  Brown  LTiiiversity,  who  read  most  of  the 
proofs  of  the  cha])ters  on  the  American  Baptists;  to  J.  E.  Wells.  M.A.,  of  Toronto, 
who  furnished  luucli  material  lor  the  eliapter  (ju  the  Baptists  in  British  America; 
and  to  Rev.  J.  Wolfenden.  of  ('liieag<i,  111.,  for  many  facts  concerning  the  Austra- 
lian Baptists.  Each  of  these  scholars  made  invaluable  suggestions,  laying  both  the 
author  and  the  reader  under  great  obligations. 

Acknowledgments  of  debt  are  also  made  to  Rev.  William  Xorton,  A.M.,  of 
Chulmleigh,  England,  and  to  Rev.  Joseph  Angus,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Principal  of  Regents' 
Park  College,  London,  for  the  examination  of  works  not  easily  found  in  this  coun- 
tiy.  Also  to  William  Cathcart,  D.D.,  of  Philadelphia;  Henry  G.  Weston, D.D.,  of 
Crozer  Theological  Seminary ;  to  Howard  Osgood,  D.D.,  of  the  Rochester  Theolog- 
ical Seminary;  to  Ebenezer  Dodge,  D.D..  LL.D.,  president  of  Madison  University; 
to  Rev.  Frederic  Denison,  of  Providence,  R.  L  ;  to  Hon.  William  H.  Potter,  to  Hon. 
L.  M.  Lawson,  Roger  H.  Lyon,  Esq.,  and  Dr.  S.  Ayers,  of  New  York ;  and  to  D. 
Henry  Miller,  D.D.,  of  Connecticut.  The  General  Index  has  been  prepared  by  Mr. 
Henry  F.  Rcddall,  of  New  York.  Many  other  friends  have  kindly  assisted  the 
author  in  various  ways  in  the  preparation  of  the  work,  who  will  please  accept  his 
devout  thanks ;  and  last,  but  not  least,  those  members  of  the  press  who  have  volun- 
tarily spoken  so  kindly  of  the  work  on  the  inspection  of  portions  of  the  manuscript 
personally  or  by  their  correspondents. 

THOMAS  ARMITAGE. 
Parsonage,  No.  2  West  46th  St.,  New  York, 
January  1,  1887. 


INTRODUCTION 


A  HISTORY  of  the  Baptists  should  be  understood  in  its  objects  and  aims; 
and  cleared,  in  the  beginning,  of  misapprehension  and  perversion.  It  is 
not  the  history  of  a  nationality,  a  race,  an  organization,  but  of  a  people,  '  traced 
by  their  vital  principles  and  gospel  practices.'  The  unity  to  be  exhibited  and 
demonstrated  was  not  brought  about  by  force,  by  coercion  of  pains  and  penalties, 
by  repressive  and  punitive  Acts  of  Conformity ;  but  by  the  recognition  and 
adoption  of  a  common  authoritative  and  completed  divine  standard. 

Tiie  error  of  many  previous  attempts  has  consisted  in  tlie  assumption  that  a 
Church  and  Christianity  were  identical.  We  have  had  numerous  and  voluminous 
histories  of  Churches  and  creeds;  and  untold  abuses  have  resulted  from  confounding 
them  with  Christ's  people,  with  New  Testament  doctrines  and  practices.  This 
petitdo princijnl  has  been  the  source  of  niucli  evil.  Its  hurtful  influence  lias  been 
seen  and  felt  in  the  arrogant  pretensions  of  tiiese  '  Churches,'  their  alliance  with 
and  use  of  civil  authority,  tlie  abuses  wliieh  have  come  from  unrestrained  and 
irresponsible  power ;  and  in  the  revulsiua  and  extreme  rebound  of  persons  and 
communities,  when  reason  and  conscience  and  science  and  patriotism  have  exposed 
the  deceptiveness  of  claims,  and  the  hungering  soul  has  had  no  satisfying  response  to 
its  clamors  for  the  bread  of  life.  Many  infidels  have  taken  refuge  in  deism,  atheism, 
agnosticism,  because  they  in  their  ignorance  supposed  the  '  Church,'  as  they  saw  it, 
to  be  the  embodiment  of  Cliristianity,  the  authorized  exponent  of  Jesus  Clirist. 
Much  of  the  ridicule  of  priestcraft  and  denial  of  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures 
is  directly  traceable  to  the  corruption  of  the  clergy,  to  autos-da-fe  to  the  churclily 
opposition  to  science  and  support  of  political  tyranny  and  kingly  wrongs.  The 
genesis  of  tlie  painful  skepticism,  so  abundant  in  France,  Spain  and  Italy,  one  need 
not  search  far  to  find.     'Ze  Clericalisme,  voila  Vennemi''  is  the  belief  of  many. 

Bossuet  advised  Catholics,  in  their  controversies  with  Protestants,  to  begin 
with  the  Church.  A  Clmrch,  in  its  idea,  attributes,  organization,  membership, 
ofiicers, ordinances,  has  been  the  battle-ground  of  ecclesiastical  and  religious  dispute; 
and  literature,  thought,  public  opinion,  government,  manners,  worship,  have  been  so 
much  affected  and  controlled  by  these  disputes,  that  it  is  not  easy  now  to  bring  back 
a  discussion,  or  confine  it,  to  the  real,  primal,  essential  question. 

Tlie  idea  of  a  New  Testament  Church  is  more  subjective  than  objective.  A 
Church  is  not  an  a  priori  organization,  as  innate  ideas  are  a  priori. 


INTUODVCriOK. 


It  is  IK  it  ail  aiitucL" 

dent  a 

o-eii 

cy 

or  in- 

-tninient; 

ility  for 

th 

■sion   (jf  men. 

Men  aiv  not  n.unlKTs  1, 
rite,     r.ulirvfi'saii'  not  n 
(hvrll  in  Cliri.^t  aii.l  Clii 

:,adesll 
■i.-^t  du 

ral 
leh 
vlh 

hy 

rth,  l.y 

the.y, 
11   thei 

inlieritai 
n  by  the 

///,/  of  < 

Ic-i 
•Im 
ii.-iK 

>lati\ 
ivho 

!■>.-    Oi 

rdin 

■t.  bv  prie.tly 
ace  iiiijxirted. 

Tlicv  caiiif  toiirtluTint( 

.thep, 

■inii 

ti^ 

,e  Ciin 

rche.  hy 

an  elert 

i\e 

afiin 

ity. 

an  inwrought 

h-liiiitnal   ajititiiilr    and    ( 

•apaeit, 

v; 

al 

id    con 

.titiiled  a 

1  lil-othe 

o,i      O 

f    tl 

ic   baptized,  a 

In.ly  fellowship   of   the 

ivdeei. 

iied 

L     Collll 

nullity    o 

f   re -en 

era 

ted    1 

lien 

and   women, 

linitL'd   to   oii(j  uiiothur 

by  the 

sal. 

lie 

aiiiiiK 

itini;'   spi 

rit.      A 

x. 

■w  T: 

r>ta 

iiieiit  T'liiirch, 

the  apostolic  model,  was  a  result, 

a] 

[U'oduc 

t,  an  evo 

lutioii  f 

1  anti 

M-ed 

cut  facts  and 

principles.     The  Christ 

did   n 

ot 

eo 

n>titut 

e  a  Clair 

ch    in   a 

.Iva 

lice    : 

of. 

ii'eaching  and 

salvation  and  liaptisni,  a: 

n,l  en.l 

OW 

it 

with  1 

lowers  ai 

id  funct 

ion 

s    to 

exei 

:-Ute   the  -reat 

commission.       As    the 

apostl( 

's    a 

llK 

1    disci 

pies    p.v. 

arhed.    ' 

1    am 

,1      V 

■■onicn    heard, 

beli.'ve.l,  and    were   hap 

ti/.ed. 

Tl 

le 

buliev 

ers,  com 

in-  to-, 

■tlu 

■1-  in 

loc 

al   a»einblies, 

wei'e  einjiowereil  to  j)ei-l 

orm  ei 

•rta 

in 

acts  fo 

>r  edificat 

ion  and 

UM 

■fuliu 

•>s. 

These  simple 

organizations  were  in  th 

e  earl^ 

•da, 

\'S 

of  Ch: 

ristianily 

the  div 

in  el 

v  W. 

pro\ 

."cil  Churches. 

A  Cliurcli  is  no  more  a. 

l.re-or, 

laii 

1  a-eiH 

•y.  an  e.\t 

erior  ai 

lte( 

t    ii 

i,~trinnentalitj 

for  saving  men  and  woi 
its  kind.     Eotli  aii'  evol 

men   tl 
ntioiis 

lan 

tl 
1  1 

le    fnn 
icces^it 

t  is  a  pr( 
ies  in  till 

•-e\i>till. 

„1  p, 

V  fo 

r  propagating 
ileuce  of  God. 

From  certain  elemental 

prinei 

pies 

.- 

4i,e  lo; 

-i<-al  and 

spiritiK 

ll    c 

on~e. 

iuei 

ices  of  rcgen- 

eration,  faith,  love  and  obedience — Churches,  w  ith  tlieir  meinhei^hip,  oi'ganizations, 
officers  and  ordinances,  are  evolved. 

The  evolution  is  none  the  less  such  because  scriptural  preee]its  can  be  produced  ; 
for  in  the  sense  in  which  the  word  is  used,  these  commands  are  evolutions  of  the 
wisdom  and  grace  of  God.  It  is  readily  seen  how  too  much  importance  can  be 
attached  to  forms  and  organizations  and  ofhcers.  Christ  taught  truth,  promulgated 
ideas,  sowed  seed.  Character,  life,  organism,  union,  fcillowed.  Philosophy,  politics, 
science,  religion,  are  valuable  not  as  the  outcome  of  a  jn-e-ordained  scheme,  but 
as  the  product  and  growth  of  correlated  tliought,  ideas  actualized,  principles, 
abstractions,  put  into  concrete,  vitalizid  I'onns.  Moral  and  spiritual  should  precede 
and  dominate  the  physical  as  ideas  precede  form  and  organism.  Wiiatever  is 
durable,  immortal ;  whatever  conduces  to  man's  well-being,  to  the  development  of 
humanity  which  had  its  genesis  in  divine  thought,  must  in  its  ultimate  analysis  be 
traceable  to  fundamental  principles,  to  eternal  verities.  Civilization,  government, 
religion,  must  be  imperfect,  ephemeral,  and  fail  of  their  noblest  end  if  not  based 
on  an  intelligent  and  cordial  adoption  of  the  right,  the  true,  the  imperishable.  Just 
in  so  far  as  mere  expediency  controls  tliere  will  be  superficiality,  impci'fectncss, 
failure.  A  Christian  Church  must  come  from  the  divine  thought  and  seek  the  divine 
end.  A  Church  in  the  true  New  Testament  iilea,  so  originated  and  wrought  out, 
presents  a  perfect  ideal,  ever  stimulating,  beckoning  onward  and  upward,  never  pier- 
fectly  attained.  It  exalts  God's  word,  magnifies  Ciirist's  wmk.  relies  on  the  Spirit's 
presence  and  ])Ower,  individualizes  and  honors  man,  teaches  his  personal  I'esponsi- 


iNTiionucTioy.  ix 

hility  and  pi-ivilo^i's,  ami  necessitates  his  coinpletest  moral  and  mental  develojiment. 
Indi\  idiialisiu  runs  tlinnigh  New  Testament  Christianity.  Eight  of  private  jndg- 
nicnt  in  religious  matters,  the  requirement  of  personal  faith  and  obedience,  leads 
inevitalily  to  civil  freedom.  Individuality  in  relation  to  God  and  Christ  and  salva- 
tion, the  Scriptures  and  judgment  and  eternity,  conducts  by  an  irresistible  sequence 
to  freedom  of  thought  atid  speech  and  i)ress  to  popular  government,  to  unfettered 
scicntitic  investigation,  to  universal  education.  Son!  liliurty  cannt)t  be  dissevered 
from  civil  freedom.  All  nioiK-rn  reforms  in  government,  broadening  from  the  few 
to  the  many,  can  be  traced  to  the  recognition  more  or  less  complete  of  man's 
personal  relations  to  God,  and  to  the  rejection  of  sponsors,  priests  and  mediators,  in 
faith  and  obedience  and  study.  Intense  religious  activity  quickens  enterpri.se  in  all 
proper  directions.  Free  thought  on  grand  religious  problems  awakens  thought  on 
other  topics.  Communion  with  the  Iving  of  kings,  free  and  constant  and  invited 
access  to  him,  makes  one  feel  that  the  artificial  distinctions  of  earth  are  transitory, 
and  that  a  joint  heir  with  the  Christ  is  superior  in  freedom  and  nobleness  and 
possibilities  to  auy  sovereign  on  the  throne  of  the  Caesars. 

New  Testament  Chtirches  in  their  idea  and  ends  have  been  ])erverted.  From 
various  causes  they  have  degenerated  into  human  organizations,  ami  lia\e  lieeii  so 
assimilated  to  States  and  Nations  as  to  i)c  scarcely  distinguishable  IVom  the  king- 
doms of  this  world.  The  tests  or  marks  of  a  State  would  not  l.e  iiiapplieaMe  to 
•TheClunvh'  asit  has  aete.i.  ..r  clainied  to  act.  It  has  been  bunnd  into  a  bo.ly 
politic,  has  exercised  through  tiie  medium  of  a  common  government  independ- 
ent sovereignty  and  control  over  all  persons  and  things  within  its  bouiularies, 
has  entered  into  international  relations  with  other  political  eomnumities, 
has  represented  itself  by  embassadors  and  legates,  has  partitioned  continents  and 
oceans,  has  interfered  in  successions,  has  acquired  territory,  has  been  known 
by  all  the  indicia  of  temporal  authority.  Becoming  a  secular  ]>ower,  it  has 
claimed  ecjual  authority  over  many  distinct  kingdoms,  exacted  from  their 
citizens  an  allegiance  njion  oath  ai>ove  that  which  the  municipal  law  of  their 
own  country  could  imjxise,  clainieil  Empires  as  fiefs,  exacted  oaths  of  vassal- 
age and  collected  feudal  revenues,  absolved  sovereigns  and  subjects  from  their 
oaths;  claimed  for  the  persons  and  the  property  of  the  officers  it  employed  and  the 
law  by  which  they  were  to  be  governed  a  status  wholly  distinct  from  that  of  the 
subjects  of  the  country  where  such  officers  were  ;  stirred  up  crusades  against  refrac- 
tory kings  and  republics,  against  schismatical  princes,  against  pagans,  against 
heretics;  through  the  Inquisition  '  secured  to  the  ecclesiastical  authority  the  arm  of 
the  secular  power  without  any  right  of  inquiry  or  intervention  as  a  condition  of  its 
use, '  and  put  infidelity  to  the  Church  on  the  same  footing  as  rebellion  against  the 
throne.  All  along  through  twelve  centuries  Churches  have  claimed  the  right  to 
entei-  into  alliances  with  civil  governments,  to  direct  executive,  legislative  and 
judicial  action,  and  to  use  the  power  of  the  State  for  the  execution  of  their  decrees. 


It  INTllODVi'TIOX 

Tlie  claim  of  a  Church  to  iiiiiversul  dominion  is,  like  thu  chiim  of  Spain  and 
Portugal,  hascd  on  \yA\y.y\  i;rant>,  to  the  cxeliiMvu  navigation,  cnnimerco  and  fish- 
eries of  the  Atlantic  and  I'acilic  Oci'ans.  It  is,  however,  jnst  as  reasunahle 
as  the  pretense  that  a  parisii  can  be  set  oil  ijy  metes  and  bounds,  or  that  a  terri- 
torial area  can  be  assigned  to  a  particular  minister  to  exercise  therein  exclusive 
ecclesiastical  and  spiritual  functions.  The  assertion  of  a  Church,  or  of  a  man,  to 
supremacy  over  human  conscience  and  judgments,  is  less  defensible  than  a  claim  to 
ripecial  occupancy  of  land  and  water.  Some  nations  have  been  driven  to  renounce, 
as  against  another,  a  riglit  to  jiarts  of  the  ocean;  but  a,  man,  in  the  image  of  the 
Creatoi',  cannot  surrender  his  inalienable  libei'ty  of  ^^•^^^hip  <ir  right  of  free  thought. 

The  continuity  of  a  Church  is  not  like  that  of  a  State.  Tliere  is  little  analogy 
between  the  two.  One  cannot  by  natural  birth,  l)y  inheritance,  by  purchase,  by 
the  will  of  the  tlesh,  become  a  mend)er  of  thu  kingdom  .,f  Christ.  A  State  may 
change  its  form  of  civil  constitution  fi-oin  a  monarchy,  an  ai-i>toc>i'acy.  to  a  re|)nlilic, 
to  any  imaginable  shape;  but  it  does  not  lose  its  personality,  nor  forfeit  its  rights, 
nor  become  discharged  from  its  obligations.  France  under  President  Grevy  is  the 
France  of  Napoleon  or  Louis  Fourteenth.  It  retains  its  identity  through  all  muta- 
tions. The  corporate  body  succeeds  to  the  rights  and  obligations  of  its  predecessor. 
^  Idem  eidm  est  ^opulus  Romanus,  suh  regihis,  coiisulibus,  ■impcratoriljus.''  It 
would  rec|uire  a  vast  stretch  of  credulity  or  ignorance  to  imagine  the  hierarchies 
of  the  present  day  to  be  the  same  as  the  Churches  to  wliieh  Paul  wn.ite  his  letters. 
Conditions  of  citizenship,  descent  or  alienation  of  j)i-o|ierty,  distribution  of  estates, 
maybe  changed  by  human  governments;  but  the  conditions  t)f  membership  in  a 
New  Testament  Church  are  unalterable  because  they  are  spiritual  and  God- 
prescribed. 

Our  books  contain  treaties  in  reference  to  intervention  by  one  nation  in  the 
internal  affairs  of  another  upon  the  ground  of  religion,  and  learned  discussions  as 
to  the  right  of  law-making  departments  of  govermnent  to  prescribe,  modifj^  or 
interpret  articles  of  religious  faith.  It  seems  that  in  England  even  there  is  one  and 
the  same  identical  law-giver  for  Church  and  State.  The  Parliament,  in  the  Act  of 
Uniformity  of  Elizabeth,  instituted  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  of  Religion  and  put 
together  a  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  The  atrocious  cruelties  of  the  religious  per- 
secutions, 'the  execrable  violations  of  the  rights  of  mankind,''  to  use  the  strong 
denunciation  of  Sir  James  "Nraekinto^h.  have  grown  out  of  the  claims  of  government 
and  Churches  to  couti-ol  and  imnLsh  men's  opinions.  An  Establishment  is  neces- 
sarily and  always  a  usui-pation  and  a  wrong.  A  New  Testament  Church  cannot,  by 
possibility,  be  in  alliance  with  a  State  and  retain  its  scripturalness,  its  conformity 
with  apostolical  precept.  Capability  of  such  a  imion  is  the  demonstration  of  a 
departure  from  a  primitive  model. 

A  tree  is  known  by  its  fruits.  An  Establishment,  ex  vi  fennini,  implies  dis- 
crimination,   irregularity,  injustice,   an  arrogant  claim   to  make    Cffisar  determine 


INTRODUCTION.  xi 

what  beloi\<;s  to  God.  Tliiiifjs  will  follow  tendencies.  Those  permanently  sup- 
ported by  the  government  sustain  the  government  and  resist  concessions  of  popular 
liberty.  In  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.  marriages  in  Enghmd  were  regulated  by  tlie 
canon  law  of  Rome,  'grounded  often  on  no  higher  principle  than  that  of  papal 
caprice ; '  and  when  the  king's  conscience  and  conduct  demanded  it,  the  Church 
found  a  semblance  of  excuse  for  liis  lust  and  tyranny.  When  Elizabeth  was  on  the 
throne  the  Archbishop  of  ( 'antcrbury,  to  quiet  some  doubts  as  to  her  legitimacy,  was 
ordered  to  draw  up  a  'Table  of  Degrees'  which  would  place  her  succession  on 
scriptural  grounds.  The  disingenuous  adulation  of  the  dedication  to  King  James 
in  the  '  Authorized  Version '  of  the  Bible  is  disgraceful  to  those  who  signed  it. 

The  ecclesiastical  Peers  in  the  House  of  Lords  uniformly  and  almost  as  a  unit 
have,  to  quote  from  Joseph  Hume,  '  been  the  aiders  and  abettors  of  every  tyranny 
and  oppression  which  the  people  have  been  compelled  to  endure.'  Bills  for  remov- 
ing Homan  Catholic  disabilities,  Jewish  disabilities.  University  tests,  and  to  open 
church-yards  to  Xon-conformist  buri;il  services,  etc.,  etc.,  have  found  in  them  steadfast 
opponents. 

Joseph  Chamberlain,  in  ISSf),  in  a  public  address,  put  this  pertinent  inquiry: 
'  Is  it  not  a  singular  thing  that  of  all  the  great  movements  which  have  abated  the 
claims  of  privileges  or  destroyed  the  power  of  tyrants,  which  have  freed  the  nation 
or  classes  from  servitude  and  oppi'ession,  or  raised  the  condition  of  the  great  mass 
of  the  people,  there  is  scarcely  one  which  has  owed  any  thing  to  the  initiative  or 
sncouragement  of  the  great  ecclesiastical  organization  which  lays  claim  to  exclusive 
national  authority  and  support  'i ' 

This  hostility  to  popular  rights  and  the  removal  of  abuses  is  the  natural  con- 
sequence of  the  system  of  union  of  Church  and  State.  Since  the  Reformation 
there  has  been  much  progress  in  securing  the  free  exercise  and  enjoyment  of 
religious  profession  and  worship  without  discrimination  or  preference.  Our  Federal 
and  State  Constitutions,  following  the  lustrous  precedent  of  Rhode  Island,  have 
embodied  religious  liberty  in  American  organic  law ;  and  our  example  and  the 
undisputed  success  of  voluntaryism  are  teaching  lessons  of  freedom  to  the  crushed 
millions  of  earth.  In  all  civilized  countries  toleration  is  practiced.  Wearily  and 
painfully  the  work  goes  on.  Privileges  are  wrested  from  reluctant  hands,  always 
after  stubborn  resistance,  never  once  through  gracious  concession.  Even  when  laws 
are  repealed  the  social  stigma  is  vigorously  applied.  '  Have  any  of  the  Pharisees 
believed  on  Him?'  is  constantly  rung  in  our  ears.  Truth  will  prevail.  Sire 
bequeaths  to  son  freedom's  Hag,  and  establishments  and  endowments  must  yield  to 
religious  equality  before  the  law.  It  is  a  delusion  to  imagine  that  the  final  victory 
has  been  won.  Prerogative  and  privilege,  sanctioned  by  antiquity  and  buttressed 
by  wealth  and  power,  will  contest  every  inch.  The  demands  of  the  pope  for  the 
restoration  of  Jiis  temporalities,  and  his  lamentations  over  his  voluntary  imprison- 
ment in  the  Vatican,  show   that  Cardinal  Manning  spoke  ex  cathedra  when  he 


t  in   E 

InglaiHl  and  Sc 

ntlan. 

1  holds  on 

>«    "P 

to    this   tinif 

in    i( 

iilinu;    the 

musa.K 

1  years  is  still  t( 

,  1,,.  1 

)i-olongcd. 

!Cii  TNTRODUCTION. 

alHi-nied  tliat  the  Unam  .Kmrtam  Dc^vtal  and  the  Syllabus  contain  the  doctrines 
of  Ultramontanisin  and  Chri^tianiry.  J'iiis  IX.,  in  a  leftrr.  An-ust  7.  isT.'^,  to 
William,  King  of  Trnssia,  chiimrd  that  every  one  who  had  heen  baptized  belonged 
in  someway  or  other  to  tlie  ]io]ie.  In  July,  1SS4,  a  (.'uban  an-libishop  declared 
in  the  Spanish  f'ortes  that  '  The  I'iglits  <,f  the  Koniaii  pontilb  inehiding  the  riglits 
of  temporal  power  over  the  States,  ^\•ere  inalienalile  and  cainiot  be  restricted;  and 
were  before  and  superior  to  the  siiealled  new  rights  of  cosmopolitan  resolution  and 
the  barbarous  law  of  force.' 

The  tenacity  with  which  tlie  Kstablishineni 
to  its  ]iower  and  perquisites,  and  the  siieee 
Liberationi^ts,  are  proofs  that  the  battle  of  a  tli 

The  "History  of  the  Baptists'  shows  tlie  victories  of  tlie  ]ia.-.t  and  the  true 
principles  of  the  I'oiitest  if  ]jernianent  success  is  to  be  attained.  Justification  by 
personal  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  lays  the  axe  at  the  root  of  all  sacranieiitalism, 
sacerdotalism,  alliance  of  Church  with  State  and  interfei'enee  -with  siiul  liberty. 
The  entire  sufficiency  and  authority  (.if  tin-  insjiii'ed  woril  of  (biil,  the  i-ight  of 
private  judgment,  the  individuality  of  all  religious  duties,  a  converted  church- 
membership  and  the  absolute  headshiii  of  the  ( 'hrist,  will  give  success  to  efforts  for 
a  pure  Christianity. 

Dr.  Amiitage  has  exccjitional  tjualifications  for  writing  a  liistory  of  the 
Baptists.  His  birth,  education,  religious  exj)erience,  connection  with  England  and 
the  United  States,  habits  of  investigation,  scholarly  tastes  and  attainments  and 
mental  independence,  fit  him  peculiarly  for  ascertaining  hidden  facts  and  pushing 
pi-inciples  to  their  logical  conclusion. 

J.    L.    M.    CURKY. 


CONTENTS, 


Introduction  by  I)h.  (  luiiY vn 

INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 

Uave  we  a  Visible  Successiou  of  liaptisl  Churclus  down  I'r.iin  the-  Apo^tk-s  ? 1 

NEW   TESTAMENT   PERIOD. 


CII.VPTEK  I. 
John  the  Baptist 13 

ClIAl'TEH  II. 
The  Baptism  of  Jesus 25 

l'II.\PTEI{  III. 
The  Baptist's  Witness  to  Christ 3(5 

CIIAPTEH  IV. 
Christ's  Witness  to  the  Bajitist   47 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  King  in  Zion— Laws  for  the  Xew  Kin^nloni 57 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Pentecost  anil  Saul 71 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Saul  and  (ienlile  Missions 88 

CHAPTER  VHI. 
Nero  and  I'aul.  Pct.-r  and  John 01) 

CHAPTER  IX. 
The  Apostolic  Chinches  the  Only  Model  for  all   Churches 114 

CHAPTER  X. 
The  Officers  and  Ordinances  of  the  Apostolic  Church 129 

CHAPTER  XI. 
The  Baptist  Copy  of  the  Apostolic  Churches 148 


xiv  CONTENTS. 

POST-APOSTOLIC   TIMES. 

CHAPTER  I.  lA-E 

The  Second  Century 155 

CHAPTER  n. 

The  Third  Century 173 

CHAPTER  in. 
Tlie  Third  Century   -Continual Is-J 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Fourth  Century I'.i-l 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Fifth  C:eutury 211 

CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Sixth,  Seventli,  Eightli,  and  Ninth  Centuries 22G 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Baptism  and  Baptisteries  in  the  Middle  Ages 243 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Ancient  Baptismal  Pictures 25(i 

CHAPTER  IX. 
The  Twelfth  Century 2Ti; 

CHAPTER  X. 
The  Waldeusians 2'J4 

CHAPTER  XI. 
The  Bohemian  Brethren  aud  the  Lollards 81:J 

THE   ERA   OF   THE   REFORMATION. 

CHAPTER  I. 
The  Swiss  Baptists 327 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  Swiss  Baptists— Co//? i«»c(7 340 

CHAPTER  III. 
The  Reformation— Zwickau  and  Luther 354 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Reformation— Peasants'  War— Miihlhausen  and  Miinster 362 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  Refoiniatiou--The  Germ;m  Baptists 


CONTENTS.  XV 

CHAPTER  VI.  r^<>y 

'I'liL'  Reformation— German  hnpthts—Cvutiiuud Hil.") 

CIIAI'TER  VII. 

The  Reformalion— Baptists  in  the  NctlR-rlands 407 

BAPTISTS   OF   GREAT    BRITAIN. 

CHAPTER  I. 


Imnuision  in  England. 


42.J 


CHAPTER  II. 
Immersion  in  Eng\:un\  —  did iitual — Persecution .  .    437 

CHAPTER  III. 
Hritish  Baptists-.Iohn  Smytli— Coiiimonw.altli 4.-);i 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Uiitish  Baptists— .lolui  liunyan 474 

CHAPTER  V. 
Britisli  Baptists— Jolin  \ixwy.m—C'oi<tiHii.ei/ 4'j:i 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Britisli  Baptists— Bnnyan's  Relations  to  the   Baptists 511 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Britisli  Bajjtists— Biuiyan's  Principles ")'i8 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
British  Baptists— Commonwealth  ami  the  Restoration 540 

CHAPTER  IX. 

British  Baptists— Liberty  of  Conseienec— Associations— The  Stennetts— Irish  Baptists 555 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  Scotch  and  En;j;lish  l?aptists— Missions- Men  of  Note 572 

CHAPTER  XI. 
British  Baptists— The  Welsh  Baptists 598 


THE  AMERICAN  BAPTISTS. 

CHAPTER  I. 

The  Colonial  Period-    Piljrrims  and  Puritans 610 

CHAPTER  II. 
Bani.shment  of  Ro<;er  Williams 627 


xvi  CONTENTS. 

CIIAPTEll    III.  PAGE 

Scttlcincnt  ,if  RlirMr  Ishind G41 

CIIAPTEU  IV. 
Tlir  I'lnviilcnrr  aii.l  Ncwp(,rt  ( !liuirlirs 6.W 

ClI.XPTEll  V. 
Chiuiiici'V— Kiiull ys-Milfs  and  the  S\v;mse;i  Cliuich 074 

CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Boston  Baptists (>«(> 

CTIAPTER  Vn. 

New  (.'enters  of  ISaptist  Intlueiiec-Soulli  Ctirolin;.— Maine— Peniis_vlv:miu~New  Jersey 704 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Tlie  Baptists  of  Vir^tinia 724 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Baptists  of  Conneeticut  and  New  York 7a0 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  Baptists  of  North  Carolina,  ^laryland.  New  Hampshire,  Vermont  and  (;e..rgia -;:>' 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Baptists  and  the  Revolntionary  War 77() 

CHAPTER  XH. 

The  ;Vmeriean  Baptists  and  Constitutional  Liherty 7iM) 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Foreign  Missions  -Asia  and  Europe yi4 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Other  Baptist  :\Iissions-^Foreign  and  Home am 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Preachers — Educators—  Authors 8o2 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Theological  Seminaries — Literature — Revivals 872 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Bible  Translation  and  Bil)Ie  Societies 8'J3 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Baiitists  in  Biitisli  America  and  Australia   i'lO 


T.VBLE  OP  St.\tistics 943 

Repekences  to  AuTiioniTiES  Quoted 044 

Appendix.  -CoNPEssioN  op  Sciileitheim 949 

Genek.vl  Index 953 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Abraliam's  Pool  at  Hebrou 

Ampulla,  The 

Ancient  Baptistery  at  Aiiuilcia 

Ancient  Church  Edifice  in  Cornwall 

Ancient  Font  at  St.  Martin's,  Canterbury. . . 

Ancient  lloman  Bath,  Vatican  Sluseum 

Ancient  Ship 

Ancient  Stone  Font  in  Cornwall 

Hainham,  James,  at  St.  Paul's 

Baptism  of  Jesus facing 

Baptism  at  Rheinsbero;  

Baptism  in  the  Thirteenth  Century   

Baptistery  at  Florence 

Baptistery  at  Pi.f^a 

Baptistery   in    Catacombs   of   St.    Ponziano 
facing 

Baptistery  of  Bishop  Paulinus 

Baptistery  of  St.  John  Lateran 

Baptizing  in  the  River  Ebbw facing 

Uaratla  River — Damascus  in  the  Distance   . . 

liarnabas  Iiitroilucing  Paul  to  Peter 

IJasle  on  the  Rhine 

Beheading  Block,  The 

Brescia 

Bunyan's  Cottage  and  Forge  at  Elstow 

Bunyan's  Monument 

Bunyan's  Tomb 

Burning   of   Anne    Askew    and    Others    at 

Smithfield facing 

Burning  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Gaunt ....  facing 

Castelluzo,  Cave  of 

(  hristians  given  to  the  Lions  in  the  Roman 

Amphitheater 

Church,  The,  as  a  Ship,  on  Christ  the  Fish  . 

(  loven  Tongues  as  of  Fire 

( '(mstantine  the  Great 

(  inversion  and  Ba])tism 

Cup  of  Alba 

Fanatical  Monk  Preaching,  A 


Fifth  Mile  nf  the  Via  Appia,  Restored 

Forbidden  Book,  The facing 

Fords  of  Jordan 

Interior  of  Baptistery  of  Florence 

Jerusalem  from  the  Mount  of  Olives 

Jesus  Baptized  in  the  Jordan 

Jesus  Blessing  a  Child 

Judson's  Translation  of  the  Scriptures  Fin- 
ished  

Keach's  Chapel 

Keach  in  the  Pillory 

Mars'  Hill 

Martyrdom  of  John  Bad  ley     

Monumcnto  ad  Arnaldo  da  Brescia.  .  .facing 

Moot  House  at  Elstow   

Mosaic,  Arian  Baptistery,  Ravenna   

Mosaic  from  Baptistery  of  St.  John,  Ravenna. 

Mosaic  of  the  Seventh  Century 

Miinster 

Ninth  Century  Fresco,  Basilica  of  St.  Clem- 
ent.— Cyril  Immersing  a  Convert 

Old  Baptismal  Font,  St.  John  on  the  Pedestal 

Pass  in  the  Wilderness  of  Judcu   

Paul  Preaching 

Pool  for  Ablution — Baba-atel  Temple 

Pool  for  Religious  Ablution — Golden  Tem- 
])le,  India 

Pool  of  Hezekiah 

Pool  of  Siloam 

Prison  on  Bedford  Bridge,  The 

Pulpil,  Baptistery,  and  Table  at  Pisa 

Re|nited  Spot  of  Christ's  Baptism .  . 

Roger  Williams  and  the  Indians 

Ruins  of  ^lellifont  Baptistery 

Schailhausen 

Solomon's  Pools 

St.  Paul's  Bay,  from  the  south 

Successful  Gospel  Preaching 

Supposed  Immersion  of  Jesus.  ,\ 


LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Symbol  ( 
Symbolic 
Tarsus   . 

Tll.Mt.T 

Upn.r  F 


Waldensian  Symbols W't 

Waklshut  oil  the  Rhine 327 

Wliippiiio-  of  John  FIo.r.  iK-'f 324 

Zoar  Slivct  Chaprl,  Southuark 47!) 

Zwirka\i 3o4 


PORTRAITS. 


Anderson,  Martin  B .SOS 

Angus,  Joseph ."iS'.) 

Armitagp,  Tlionias  (steel  ]ilate) frontispiece 

Arnold  of  Brescia 2'jl 

Backus,  Isaac 7 7!i 


Baldwin,  Thomas 852 

Bede,  the  Venerable 420 

Bennett,  Alfred   850 

Booth,  Abraham 50!) 

Boyce,  J.  P facing-  S72 

Broadiis,  John  A 809 

Brown,  Hugh  Stowell 5!)2 

Brown,  Joseph  E 773 

Bunyan,  John 474 

Carey,  William 57!) 

Castle,  John  H 034 

Cathcart,  William   870 

Colgate,  William !)13 

Conaut,  T.   J facing  8!)3 

Cone,  S]ieneer  II 904 

Cramp,  J.  JI 920 

Curry,  Rev.  J.  L.  JI 783 

Dodge,  E facing  872 

Ellis,  Robert 610 

Evans,  Chri.stmas ; GIO 

Everts,  W.  W.,  Jr f.aeing  619 

Foster,  John 590 

Fuller,  Andrew 584 

Fuller,  Ricliard 700 

Gano,  Stephen   854 

Guild,  Reuben  A 860 

Hackett,  H.  B facing  893 

Haldane,  James  Alexander 575 

Hall,   Robert 593 

Harris,  Joseph facing  607 

Havelock,  Henry 591 

Horr,  G.  E.,  Jr facing  619 

Hovey,  A facing  872 

Howard,  John 505 


Ilubmeyer,  Balthazar 
Hutchinson,  ]\Irs.  Lue 
Ivimev.   Joseph 


Jesscy,  Henry 

Jones,  Hon.  H.  G facing 

Jones,   Hugh 

Judson.  Ann  Ilasselfine 

Ken.liiek,  A.  C facing 

Kitlin,  William 

Knollys.  Hanserd    

Leland,  John 

Maclann,  Alexand<-r 

MacViear,  :\lalenlin    

Manning,  James 

Menno  Simon 

:\Iilton.  John 

Morgan,   Wiiliam 

Newman,  Albert  H 

Northrup,   G.  W facing 

Oldcastle,  John 

Onckeu,  J.  G 

Osgood,   Howard facing 

Rippon,  John 

Sharp,  Daniel 

Smith,  Samtiel  F 

Spurgeon,  Charles  H 

Stillman,   Samuel   

Strong,  A.  H facing 

Thomas,  Joshua facing 

Thomas,  M   facing 

Thomas,  Timothy 

Vedder,  H.  C facing 

Watkins,  Joshua 

Weston,  H.  G facing 

Williams,   John facing 

Williams,  William  R 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER. 

HAVE  WE  A  VISIBLE  SUCCESSION  OF  BAPTIST   CHURCHES  DOWN 
FROM  THE  APOSTLES? 

ON  tlic  western  coast  of  India,  near  Goa,  and  also  in  tlie  Mediterranean,  springs 
of  fresli  water,  whicli  do  not  rise  to  the  surface  but  are  run  otf  by  the  under- 
current, rusli  out  of  the  strata  at  tlie  bottom  of  tlie  sea.  But  in  tlie  Gulf  of  Xagn,  on 
the  southern  coast  of  Cuba,  a  wonderful  fountain  of  fresh  water  gurgles  up  in  the 
open  sea ;  forcing  aside  its  salt  waters,  it  passes  off  in  the  surface-current  and  is  lost 
in  the  ocean.  From  this  spring  navigators  often  draw  their  supplies  of  pure  water 
in  the  midst  of  the  briny  waste.  Here  nature  lends  us  a  forceful  type  of  the  fact 
that  there  may  be  a  flow  of  visible  succession  without  purity,  and  that  there  may  be 
a  continuous  purity  without  a  flow  of  visible  succession. 

Is  an  unbroken,  visible,  and  historical  succession  of  independent  Gospel  Churches 
down  from  the  apostles,  essential  to  the  valid  existence  of  Baptist  Cliurches  to-day, 
as  apostolic  in  every  sense  of  the  word  ?  This  question  suggests  another,  namely, 
Of  what  value  could  any  lineal  succession  be,  as  compared  with  present  adherence  to 
apostolic  truth  ?  From  these  two  questions  a  third  arises :  Whether  true  lineage 
from  the  Apostolic  Churches  does  not  rest  in  present  conformity  to  the  apostolic  pat- 
tern, even  though  the  local  church  of  to-day  be  self-organized,  from  material  that 
never  came  out  of  any  church,  provided,  that  it  stands  on  the  apostolicity  of  the  New 
Testament  alone.  The  simple  truth  is,  that  the  unity  of  Christ's  kingdom  on  earth 
is  not  foimd  in  its  visibility,  any  more  than  the  unity  of  the  solar  system  is  found  in 
that  direction,  for  its  largest  domain  never  falls  under  the  inspection  of  any  being 
but  God.  So,  likewise,  the  unity  of  Christianity  is  not  found  by  any  visible  tracing 
tlirough  one  set  of  people.  It  has  been  enwi-apped  in  all  who  have  followed  purely 
apostolic  principles  through  the  ages ;  and  thus  the  purity  of  Baptist  life  is  found 
in  the  essence  of  their  doctrines  and  practices  by  whomsoever  enforced.  Little 
perception  is  required  to  discover  the  fallacy  of  a  visible  apostolical  succession  in 
the  ministry,  but  visible  Church  succession  is  precisely  as  fallacious,  and  for  exactly 
the  same  reasons.  The  Catholic  is  right  in  his  theory  that  these  two  must  stand  or 
fall  together ;  hence  he  assumes,  ipso  facto,  that  all  who  are  not  in  this  double  suc- 
cession are  excluded  from  the  true  apostolic  line.  And  many  who  are  not  Catholics 
think  that  if  they  fail  to  unroll  a  continuous  succession  of  regularly  organized 
churches,  they  lose  their  genealogy  by  a  break  in  the  chain,  and  so  fail  to  prove 
that  they  are  legitimate  A])ostolic  Churches.     Such  evidence  cannot  be  traced  by 


2  yiHIBLK  SUCCKSSION  A  SNAHK. 

aiiv  Cliiircli  oil  I'artli,  aiKl  woul.l  W  utterly  w<irtlilrss  if  it  (-(hiM,  Ix-caiiHu  tlic 
ival  k-itiniacv  of  ( 'liristiaiiity  nnist  !,.■  fouinl  in  the  .Wnv  TestaiiRMit,  and  nowhere 
else. 

The  ver}'  attempt  to  trace  an  unbi-okeii  line  ol'  ])ersons  duly  baj^ti^ied  upon  their 
personal  trust  in  Christ,  or  of  ministers  onhiineil  \,\  lineal  descent  from  the  apostles, 
or  of  cliurehes  orf;-anized  iipon  these  princii)le>,  and  adhering  to  the  Kew  Testament 
in  all  thin_i;-s,  is  in  itself  an  attempt  to  eivet  a  lailwurk  of  error.  Oid.v  God  ean 
make  a  new  creature;  and  the  ell'ort  to  trace  Christian  liistorv  from  regenerate 
man  to  regeiici'ate  man,  implies  that  man  can  impart  some  power  to  keej)  up  a  suc- 
cession of  individual  Christians.  Apply  the  same  thought  to  grouj.s  of  churches 
running  down  through  sixty  generations,  and  \vc  have  iirecisely  the  same  result. 
The  idea  is  the  very  life  of  Catholicism.  ( )iir  only  reliable  ground  in  opposition  to 
this  system  is:  That  if  no  trace  of  contininity  to  the  New  Testament  could  be  found 
in  any  Church  since  the  end  of  the  first  cenniry.  a  Church  established  to-day  upon 
the  New  Testament  life  and  order,  would  be  as  truly  a  historical  Church  from 
Christ,  as  the  Cliurch  planted  by  Paul  at  Ephesus.  Robert  Robinson  has  well  said : 
'  Uninterrupted  succession  is  a  specious  lure,  a  snare  set  by  sophistry,  into  which  all 
parties  have  fallen.  And  it  has  hapiieiieil  to  spiritual  genealogists  as  it  has  to  others 
who  have  traced  natural  descents,  both  ]ia\e  woven  together  twigs  of  every  kind  to 
fill  lip  rem.ite  cliasms.  The  .loctrine  is  necessary  only  to  siK'h  Churches  as  regulate 
their  faith  and  practice  by  tradition,  and  for  their  use  it  was  first  invented. ..  Trotest- 
ants,  by  the  most  substantial  arguments,  have  blasted  the  doctrine  of  pajial  succession, 
and  yet  these  very  Protestants  have  undertaken  i,i  make  proof  of  an  unbroken  series 
of  persons,  of  their  own  sentiments,  following  one  another  in  due  ordei'  from  the 
apostles  to  themselves.' ' 

Sanctity  is  the  highest  title  to  legitimacy  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  because 
holiness,  meekness,  and  self-consecration  to  Christ  are  the  soul  of  real  Church  life ; 
and  without  this  pedigree,  antiquity  cannot  make  Church  existence  even  reverent. 
This  sanctity  is  evinced  by  the  rejection  of  error  and  the  choice  of  truth,  in  all 
matters  which  the  New  Testament  has  enjoined,  either  by  precept  or  example.  In 
things  of  light  import,  demanding  a  roliust  common  sense,  the  noble  and  courteous 
sjiirit  of  Jesus  must  be  maintained,  for  personal  holiness  is  the  highest  test  of 
Christianity  in  all  its  historical  relations.  J!ut  this  matter  of  visible  Church  suc- 
cession is  organically  connected  with  the  idea  of  Church  infalliliility,  rather  than  of 
likeness  to  Christ.  The  twin  doctrines  were  born  of  the  same  parentage,  and  the 
one  implies  the  other,  for  a  visible  succession  must  be  pure  in  all  its  parts,  that  is, 
infallible  ;  if  it  is  corrupt  in  some  things,  no  logical  showing  can  nuike  it  perfect. 
Truth  calls  us  back  to  the  radical  view,  that  any  Cliurch  which  bears  the  real 
apostolic  stamp  is  in  direct  historical  descent  from  the  apostles,  without  relation  to 
any  other  Church  past  or  present.  In  defense  of  this  position  the  following  consid- 
erations are  submitted  to  all  candid  minds : 


!■•    MM 

KAL  ki:(;k.\- 

i:i;   1) 

K    A. NOT  I  IKK, 

IlK 

I.K(;niMATK 

rur  r 

ni'th  simply 

I-   clil 

irclics  witli- 

(•     of 

rhesu   nu-n 

iM.ni 

ui  (;,m1   in 

KO  •  }fn  TlIKIi  •   nil  7.'  ( 'IIES. 
I.  That  Ciiinst  nkvkk  kstaislisiiki)  a  law  of  Cukistiax   i-k 

WHICH  Uli  ENUOWEU  LOCAL  CIUKCHES  WITH  THK  KXCI.U.-^IVK  I'oWKK  ()| 
EKATIOX,  MAKING  IT  NKCESSAKY  FOE  ONE  CHUKCH  TO  lii;  THi:  MoTIII 
IN     ItEGCLAK     SUCCESSION,     AND     WITHOIT     WHICH     THEY     CiUl.li     Mil 

CHURCHES.  Those  who  organized  tlu'  chiirchrs  in  apostolic  tinus  wi 
with  the  lines  of  doctrine  and  ordui-  in  tlicii-  hands,  and  fonnt'd  ni\\ 
out  tlie  anthorit}'  or  even  the  kmiwlcdge  of  otlier  cluii-chcs.  Souk 
were  neither  ai^ostles  nor  pastois,  Jjut  private  Christians.  Mi>n  arc 
regeneration  and  not  of  the  Chui-cli.  Thoy  have  no  anc-o.stry  in  n'j;ciicration.  nnich 
less  are  they  the  offsprinj^  of  an  ori;anic  ancestry.  The  men  who  composed  the  true 
Clnirches  at  Antioch  and  Rome  were  '  born  from  above,'  making  the  Gospel  and 
not  the  Church  the  agency  by  which  men  are  '  begotten  of  God.'  This  Church  suc- 
cession figment  shifts  the  primary  question  of  Chiistian  life  from  the  apostolic 
ground  of  trutii,  faith  and  obedience,  to  the  Romanistie  doctrine  of  persons,  and 
rendei-s  an  historic  series  of  such  persons  necessary  to  administer  the  ordinances  and 
impart  valid  Cliurch  life.  How  does  inspiration  govern  this  matter  i  '  Whoso 
abideth  not  in  the  teaching  of  Christ,  hath  not  God  ;  lie  that  abidetli  in  the 
teaching,  the  same  hath  both  tlie  Father  and  rhe  Son.  If  any  man  couieth  to 
you  and  bringeth  not  this  teaching  receive  him  not.'  Pure  doctrine,  as  it  is  found 
uncorrupted  in  the  word  of  God,  is  the  only  unljiokeii  line  of  succession  which  can 
be  traced  in  Christianity.  God  never  confided  his  truth  to  the  jjcrsonal  succession 
of  any  body  of  men;  man  was  not  to  be  trusted  with  the  custody  of  this  i)ie- 
cious  charge,  but  the  King  of  tlie  truth  has  kept  the  keys  of  the  truth  in  his  own 
band.  The  true  Church  of  Christ  has  ever  been  that  which  has  stood  upon  his 
person  and  work. 

Whitaker,  treating  of  this  blunder  of  the  hierarchy,  says,  'Faith,  therefore,  is, 
as  it  were,  the  soul  of  tlie  succession ;  wiiich,  being  wanting,  a  naked  succession  of 
persons  is  a  dead  body.' 2  Tertullian  says,  'If  any  of  the  lieretics  dare  to  connect 
themselves  with  the  Apostolic  Age,  that  tiiey  may  seem  to  be  derived  from  tlie  Apos- 
tles, as  existing  under  them,  we  may  say  :  Let  them,  therefoi'e,  declare  tlie  origin  of 
their  Churches,  let  them  exhibit  the  series  of  their  bishops,  as  coming  down  by  a 
continued  succession  from  the  beginning,  as  to  show  their  first  bisliop  to  have  been 
some  apostle  or  apostolic  man  as  his  predecessor  or  ordainer,  and  who  continued  in 
the  same  faith  w^ith  the  Apostles.  For  this  is  the  way  in  which  the  Apostolical 
Churches  calculate  the  series  of  their  bishops.' ^  Ambrose  takes  the  same  ground, 
thus :  '  They  have  not  the  inheritance,  are  not  the  successors  of  Peter  who  have  not 
the  faith  of  Peter.'  Gregory  (Xazianzen),  in  defending  the  right  of  Athanasius, 
to  the  chair  of  Alexandria,  against  his  opponent,  uses  these  words :  '  This  succession 
of  piety  ought  to  be  esteemed  the  true  succession,  for  lie  who  maintains  the  same 
doctrine  of  faith  is  partner  in  the  same  chair;  but  he  wdio  defends  the  contrary 
doctrine,  ought,  though  in  the  chair  of  St.  Mark,  to  be  esteemed  an  adversary  to  it 


4  TliVril  THE  TKST. 

This  man,  indeed,  may  have  a  mmiiiial  succussioii,  hut  the  (itlier  has  tlic  very  thing 
itself,  the  succession  in  deed  and  in  truth.' 

Calvin's  view  is  in  hai'mony  with  this  testimony ;  he  says :  '  I  deny  the  suc- 
cession scheme  as  a  thing  entirely  without  foundation.  .  .  .  This  question  of  being 
successors  of  the  Apostles  must  be  decided  by  an  examination  of  the  doctrines  main- 
tained.' Zanchius  gives  the  same  view  :  '  When  jiersonal  succession,  alone,  is  boasted 
of,  the  jiurity  of  true  Christian  doctrine  having  departed,  there  is  no  legitimate  min- 
istry, seeing  that  both  the  Church  and  the  ministry  of  the  Church  are  bound  not  to 
persons,  but  to  the  word  of  God.''  Bradford,  the  ujartyr,  truly  said  of  the  Church, 
that  she  is  'Not  tied  to  succession,  but  to  the  word  of  God.'  And  Stillingfleet 
says,  with  spirit :  '  Let  succession  know  its  place,  and  learn  to  vaile  bonnet  to  the 
Scriptures.  The  succession  so  much  pleaded  by  the  writers  of  the  primitive  Church 
was  not  a  succession  of  persons  in  apostolic  power,  but  a  succession  of  apostolic  doc- 
trine.'' *  On  this  ground  it  follows,  that  those  who  hold  to  a  tangible  succession  of 
Baptist  Churches  down  from  the  Apostolic  Age,  must  prove  from  the  Scriptures 
that  something  besides  holiness  and  truth  is  an  essential  sign  of  the  Church  of  God. 
The  whole  pseudo-apostolic  scheme,  from  its  foundation,  was  a  creation  of  the  hier- 
archy for  the  purposes  of  tyraimy.  The  question  of  veracity  is  of  vastly  more 
moment  in  Ba]jtist  history  than  that  of  antiquity.  Veracity  accepts  all  ti-utli  with- 
out regard  to  time;  gathering  it  up,  and  putting  it  on  record  exactly  as  it  has  been 
known  through  the  centuries.  Historic  truth  has  many  parts  in  harmony  with  each 
other,  but  the  hard  and  fast  lines  of  visible  succession  are  those  of  a  mere  system  and 
not  those  of  true  history.  The  Bible  is  the  deep  in  which  the  ocean  of  Gospel  truth 
lies,  and  all  its  streams  must  liarnionize  with  their  source,  and  not  with  a  dreamy, 
sentimental  origin.  As  it  is  not  a  Gospel  truth  that  Christ  has  lodged  the  power  of 
spiritual  procreation  in  his  Churches,  so  it  is  not  true  that  all  who  come  not  of  any 
given  line  of  Church  stock  are  alien  and  illegitimate. 

II.    OuE  LOED  NEVER  PEOmSED  AN  OEGANIC  TISIBir.n'Y  TO  HIS  ChuECH  IN  PEEPE- 

TuiTY,  AMONGST  ANY  PEOPLE  OE  IN  ANY  AGE.  He  cudowed  liis  Churcli  witli  immortal 
life  when  he  said :  '  The  gates  of  hell  (Hades)  shall  not  prevail  against  it.'  But  this 
has  nothing  to  do  with  the  question  of  a  traceable  or  hidden  existence.  He  gives 
his  pledge  that  his  Church  shall  not  perish,  and  he  has  secured  to  her  this  stability. 
The  forces  of  death  have  proudly  dashed  themselves  against  her  a  thousand  times, 
but  despite  their  rage,  she  stands  firmly  built  on  a  '  Rock.'  She  has  been  driven 
into  the  wilderness  again  and  again,  as  a  helpless  woman,  to  find  a  home  as  best 
she  could.  Its  fastnesses,  wastes,  dens  and  caves,  have  invited  her  to  their  secrecy 
and  shelter ;  but  though  her  members  have  been  driven  like  chaff  before  the  wind, 
she  has  never  been  destroyed.  An  army  is  not  overthrown  when  withdrawn  from 
the  field,  it  is  retired  only  to  make  it  indestructible.  A  grain  of  wheat  enswathed 
and  hidden  in  a  pyramid  for  thousands  of  years  grows  as  fresh  as  ever  when  brought 
back  to  light  and  moisture.      So  Christ  signally  evinces  his  watch-care  over  his 


riSimUTT  NEVER   PIIOMISKI).  g 

Cliurcli  wlu'ii  lir  liriiigs  lier  into  a  secret  retreat  for  safety,  or  as  Jolin  expresses  it, 
into  "her  plaee  i)reparcd  by  God,'  tliat  she  may  be  'nourislied  for  a  time,'  to  come 
forth  stronger  than  ever.  Men  liave  often  thought  the  Church  dead,  first  amongst 
this  people  and  then  that,  wlien  she  was  more  alive  than  ever  for  her  occasional  invis- 
ibility. At  such  times  her  organization  has  been  broken,  lier  ordinances  suspended, 
her  officers  slain,  her  members  ground  to  powder;  but  she  has  come  forth  again,  not 
in  a  new  array  of  the  same  persons,  but  in  the  revival  of  old  truths  amongst  a  new 
people,  to  reproduce  new  and  illustrious  examples  of  faithful  men.  Christianity  has 
been  one  web  through  which  the  golden  band  of  truth  has  been  visible  from  edge 
to  edge  at  times,  then  a  mere  thread  has  been  seen,  then  it  has  been  fully  covered  by 
the  warp.     But  anon,  it  has  re-appeared  as  bright  as  ever,  from  its  long  invisibility. 

III.    ClIKIST  NEVER    PROMISED  TO    HIS    CHURCHES    THEIR    ABSOLDTE    PRESERVATION 

FROM  ERROR.  He  promised  his  Spirit  to  lead  his  Apostles  into  all  truth,  and  kept 
his  word  faithfully  when  they  wrote  and  spoke  as  the  Spirit  moved  them.  But 
when  he  had  finished  the  inspired  rule  for  their  guidance,  he  did  not  vouchsafe 
to  keep  them  pure,  nolens  volens.  They  might  mix  error  and  false  doctrine  with 
his  truth,  and  disgrace  themselves  by  corrupting  admixtures ;  but  the  loss  and  respon- 
sibility were  tlieii-s.  To  have  pledged  them  unmixed  purity  for  all  time  despite 
their  own  self-will  was  to  endow  them  with  infallibility,  which  is  precisely  the  doc- 
trine of  Eome,  and  a  contradiction  of  all  reliable  history.  Even  in  the  first  century 
there  was  great  defection  from  the  truth,  as  the  Epistles  show.  Some  of  them  were 
written,  indeed,  for  the  express  purposes  of  correcting  error,  especially  the  latter 
writings  of  Paul  and  John.  From  the  second  to  the  fourth  century,  we  find  a  rapid 
departure  from  inspired  truth,  with  many  sects,  and  no  churches  exactly  after  the 
Apostolic  order.  Some  few  men,  original  thinkers  who  followed  no  man's  teach- 
ings, broke  loose  from  the  leadership  of  all.  They  went  independently  to  the  text 
of  Scripture,  but  stood  single-handed,  and  took  with  them  some  error  fi'om  which 
they  could  not  free  themselves,  so  that  they  fell  below  their  own  ideal ;  and  the 
original  model  was  not  restored  for  some  length  of  time.  Nay,  more  than  this  even 
is  true.  Those  organic  bodies  of  men  who  were  drawn  together  into  reformed 
chiirches,  were  moved  by  mixed  motives,  and  in  attempting  a  new  order  of  things, 
few  of  them  came  up  to  the  New  Testament  standard  in  all  respects.  And  the  fail- 
ure to  reach  that  standard  in  all  churches  has  been  so  marked  as  to  render  it  vain 
to  look  for  a  visible  line  of  succession,  which  constitutes  the  only  true  Church 
descent  from  Apostolic  times  to  ours.  Some  churches  have  been  faithful  to  one 
divine  truth  and  some  to  another,  but  none  have  embodied  all  the  truth,  and  few 
individual  men  now  known  to  us  have  kept  all  the  requisitions  of  the  Gospel. 

This  principle  of  infallibility  and  Church  succession  is  the  central  corruption  of 
Eome,  and  has  so  polluted  her  faith  that  she  scarcely  holds  any  truth  purely,  both 
in  the  abstract  and  the  concrete.  She  believes  in  the  proper  Deity  of  Jesus  Christ 
and  of  the  Holy  Spirit, — in  the  Unity  and  Trinity  of  the  Godhead, — in  the  authea- 


6  REGENKRATEl)   MANHOOD. 

ticity  and  iii.-iiinitioii  nf  tlic  Sci-iptiii'cs,-  in  tlir  ddetriiics  of  incarnation  and  atone- 
ment,- and  in  rtci-nal  'Anvy  an-l  ivti'iliutioii.  lint  wliicli  of  tlicsr  iias  she  not  mod- 
ified and  jHTvi'i'tfd,  nmlor  tlie  pretense  tluit  she  is  endowed  with  Catholicity  and 
perpetual  vi,-il)ility,  as  \\\v  rightful  Chureh  Apostolic,  ail  her  delilenient  to  the  con- 
trary? and  now  she  makes  her  errors  her  real  life.  AVhat  is  true  of  the  hierarchy  is 
equally  true,  in  this  respect,  of  most  of  tlje  hodics  wliich  have  protested  against 
and  shaken  off  her  chief  heresies.  They  clung  to  some  truths  which  she  trod 
under  foot,  Imt  they  hugged  some  of  lier  errors  as  closely  as  she  hugged  them, 
defen(le<l  tlieni  as  stoutly,  and  often  persecuted  unto  death  those  who  dififered  with 
them,  even  in  minor  matters. 

IV.  ThK  WolJl.li  IS  VASTLY  MORE  INDEBTED  TO  A  LINE  OF  INDIVIDUAL  MEN  WHO 
HAVE  CONTENDED  FOK  THE  TKUTH,  EACH  BY  HIMSELF,  THAN  To  ANY  ORGANIC  CHURCHES, 
WHICH  CAN  BE  TRACED   liV  VISIBLE  SUCCESSION    FROM    THE    ApoSTLES,   UNDER  ANY  NAME 

WHATEVER.  In  religion,  as  in  other  departments  of  life,  gi-eat  movements  liave 
almost  always  centered  in  oni'  or  two  isolated  individuals,  who  have  become  im- 
mensely inliuential,  by  first  turning  their  eyes  upon  the  needs  of  their  own  souls, 
without  human  aid,  and  generally  in  opposition  to  all  organizations.  External  influ- 
ences had  little  to  do  in  shaping  their  powers.  They  were  molded  above  and  in 
advance  of  their  age,  and  created  a  new  life  for  all  about  them,  often  far  outside  of 
their  native  sphere.  First  of  all  they  were  obliged  to  escape  from  and  master  them- 
selves, then  they  led  their  times  into  a  higher  and  purer  godliness.  God  wrought 
some  grand  consummation  by  them  without  tlie  aid  of  any  local  church,  under  those 
uniform  laws  of  truth  by  which  Christ's  kingdom  has  ever  been  governed.  These 
powerful  examples,  scattered  through  the  centuries,  show  that  not  organic  associa- 
tion, but  regenerated  manliood  makes  true  history,  as  we  might  expect  from  the  fact, 
that  the  foundation  of  Gospel  obedience  is  laid  in  the  deep  soul-convictions  of  indi- 
vidual men. 

The  most  marked  discoveries  and  advancements  of  history  have  l)een  made,  not 
on  the  plans  of  concerted  bodies,  but  by  individual  minds.  Galileo  seized  the  idea 
of  the  telescope  from  a  casual  glance  at  a  boy  holding  a  tube  to  his  eye ;  and  New- 
ton found  the  law  that  binds  the  universe  in  a  falling  apple.  So,  the  few  who  have 
been  impregnated  with  holy  purposes,  saturated  through  and  through  with  fidelity 
to  Christ,  have  arisen  in  imperial  strength  to  vindicate  his  truth  ;  these  are  the 
Alpine  peaks  that  mark  the  centuries.  Their  love  to  Christ  held  their  action  respon- 
sible to  him,  and  made  its  final  results  safe.  Eeligious  systems  arose  out  of  their  per 
sonal  exertions,  but  when  did  a  religious  system  create  a  new  life,  after  the  first 
century?  Baptists  are  greater  debtors  to  such  a  train  of  men  than  to  any  train  of 
churches  that  can  be  named.  This  great  law  of  individuality  has  not  escaped  the 
notice  of  skeptics.  Matthew  Arnold  says,  in  his  Introduction  to  Literature  and 
Dogma:  'Jesus  Christ,  as  he  api)ears  in  the  (xospels.  and  for  the  very  reason  that 
he  is  manifestly  above  tlie  heads  of  his  reporters  there,  is,  iu    the  jargon  of  modern 


JESUS  STOOD  ALOXR.  7 

philosophy,  an  absohitc  ;  we  <-;nniot  explain  him,  cannot  get  luliind  him,  and  above 
him,  cannot  command  iiini.  lie  is,  therefore,  the  perfection  of  (Uir  ideal,  and  it  is 
as  an  ideal  that  the  divine  has  its  best  worth  and  realit}'.  The  unerring  and  con- 
summate felicity  of  Jesus,  his  prepossessingness,  his  grace  and  truth,  are  moreover  at 
the  same  time  the  law  for  right  performance  on  all  great  men's  lines  of  endeavor, 
although  the  Bible  deals  with  the  line  of  conduct  only.'  Goethe  speaks  of  the 
person  of  Christ  in  the  same  strain  :  'The  life  of  that  divine  man,  whom  you  allude 
to.  stands  in  no  connection  with  the  general  history  of  the  world  in  his  time.  It 
was  a  private  life ;  his  teaching  was  for  individuals.  What  has  publicly  befallen 
vast  masses  of  people,  and  the  minor  parts  which  compose  them,  belongs  to  the 
general  history  of  the  world,  the  religion  we  have  named  the  first.  What  inwardly 
befalls  individuals,  belongs  to  the  second  religion,  the  philosophical :  such  a  religion 
was  it  that  Christ  taught  and  practiced  so  long  as  he  went  about  on  earth.' 

This  tribute  to  Christ  from  such  sources  may  be  applied  largely  to  those  who 
have  pre-eminently  imbibed  his  spirit,  were  made  what  they  were  by  closely  follow- 
ing him,  and  who  lived  singly  to  his  glory.  The  distinctive  religious  life  wliicli  they 
introduced  into  their  times  was  in  advance  of  their  day,  as  his  life  was  in  advaiu'e 
of  his  day.  Their  progress  was  slow,  like  his,  because  they  set  up  a  high  mark 
and  sxilfered  for  it ;  their  patience  and  growth  di-ew  men  to  theij-  side,  and  when 
they  retired,  perhaps  as  martyrs,  their  aim  was  reached  by  the  world,  so  that  that 
which  others  first  scouted  became  necessary  at  last  to  their  bliss.  Some  few 
such  men  drew  the  historic  boundary  lines,  as  a  few  headlands  mark  the  entire 
sweep  of  a  dim  sea-coast.  Tlie  truths  which  they  insisted  upon  were  changeless, 
though  they  were  neglected  under  the  reign  of  ignorance,  or  the  sway  of  violence. 
But  the  king-men  were  not  to  blame  for  the  dwarlishness  of  others.  They  gave 
unity  to  the  centuries  by  keeping  the  struggle  alive  for  the  purity  of  eternal 
principles,  the  idea  for  which  they  suffered  has  interpreted  its  priceless  value  by 
their  sufferings.  Because  the  masses  of  the  people  were  ignorant  they  were  fero- 
cious, for  in  the  Middle  Ages  men  did  not  seek  high  principle  in  troops ;  as  great 
souls  only  can  prefer  a  pure  religion  to  one  that  is  corrupt,  one  that  is  simple  to 
one  that  is  complicated,  one  from  heaven  and  unstamped  by  earthly  and  grotesque 
intermixtures.  The  natural  creed  of  the  masses  lodges  in  ceremony,  mummery 
and  external  sanctity,  and  simple  purity  is  too  great  to  enlist  admiration,  when  inen 
prefer  sophistication.  Of  course,  where  such  religion  is  ])rulV'rrL'd  there  can  \)v  few 
men  of  gigantic  stature. 

Then,  it  often  happens  that  men  of  high  excellence  rise  in  character  far  above 
their  creed,  for  in  historic  religion  creed  and  character  do  not  always  harmonize. 
When  a  few  men  rise  above  the  character  of  a  whole  people  they  rise  above  the 
level  of  their  age,  and  in  that  case  they  must  pay  a  large  price  in  suffei-ing  for  the 
purpose  of  blessing  their  race,  a  price  that  but  few  are  able  to  pay.  A  great  mind 
of.  our  dav  avows,  '  That  in  the  whole  period  from  the  sixth  to  the  tenth  century, 


8  ANTiqUITY  IN   TIUITIf. 

there  were  not  in  all  Europe  more  than  three  or  four  men  who  dared  to  think  for 
themselves;'  and  even  tliey  wei"e  not  classed  with  the  creators  of  their  age.  They 
were  neither  rulers  nor  statesmen,  but  quiet  and  unoljserved  suggesters,  who  discov- 
ered abuses  and  pointed  out  remedies  which  future  times  were  pi'oud  to  apply. 
Chiefly  through  this  order  of  mind  we  are  to  ti-ace  the  record  of  Baptist  sentiments, 
but  the  nanae  '  Baptist'  must  not  mislead  us  to  enlist  into  our  ranks  men  who  would 
be  unworthy  of  that  name  to-day,  simply  because  they  held  some  things  in  common 
with  ourselves.  Kather,  we  must  embrace  only  those  who  cherished  in  full,  the  con- 
ception which  both  the  New  Testament  Baptists  and  those  of  the  nineteenth  century 
set  forth  as  underlying  the  entire  kingdom  of  Christ.  It  is  in  the  embodiment  of 
these  principles,  whether  in  individuals  or  churches,  that  we  are  to  look  for  true 
Baptist  history.  Because  they  are  imbedded  in  the  Bible  we  bow  to  their  holy 
teachings,  the  antiquity  of  principles  being  quite  another  thing  from  the  antiquity 
of  organizations.  As  doctrines  and  practices  originated  in  after  times  are  late  and 
new,  we  must  i-everenee  that  antiquity  alone  which  God  uttered  in  the  beginning. 
A  system  running  through  ages  is  an  empty  boast  unless  it  reproduces  the  vital, 
spiritual  coj^y  of  the  flrst  age. 

For  seventy  years  the  Jews  lost  the  line  of  the  Passover,  when  Jerusalem  lay 
in  heaps  and  Israel  was  enslaved  in  Babylon,  but  when  Hezekiah  brought  them  back 
and  restored  the  feast,  the  seventy  missing  links  of  festivity  came  with  them.  Two 
generations  of  their  people  had  died  and  certain  of  their  tribes  were  never  heard  of 
again,  yet  their  true  history  as  Jews  was  not  broken  nor  the  significancy  of  the  Pass- 
over impaired,  '  although  they  had  not  done  it  of  a  long  time  in  such  sort  as  it  is 
written.'  The  moment  that  the  Temple  was  rebuilt,  its  doors  opened,  and  its  lamps 
relit,  the  old  authority  of  the  institution  revived.  No  Jewish  household  now  living 
can  trace  its  descent  to  any  given  tribe  which  existed  at  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  A.  D. 
70.  All  have  been  so  scattered  and  intermixed  amongst  themselves  and  the  Gen- 
tiles, that  tribal  lines  are  entirely  obliterated  ;  yet  none  will  deny  that  they  are  the 
direct  descendants  of  Abraham.  The  principles  above  set  forth  are  not  those 
which  have  been  generally  adopted  in  Baptist  history.  But  the  writer  is  persuaded 
that  they  are  the  only  true  channel  through  which  it  can  be  traced,  and  by  which 
Baptists  can  be  made  a  unit  with  Apostolic  Churches,  while  visible  descent  and  the 
unbroken  succession  of  churches  are  not  and  cannot  be  a  proper  test  in  the  matter. 
"We  enjoy  the  right  of  self-government  in  the  United  States  by  a  regular  descent  of 
democracy  from  the  Roman  Bepnblic,  but  it  is  impossible  to  trace  its  course  by  a  line 
of  democracies  to  which  our  own  is  the  successor.  But  the  two,  separated  so  widely 
in  point  of  time,  are  essentially  the  same  in  their  liberties.  Individuals  have  asserted 
the  rights  of  man  in  every  country,  and  bands  have  struggled  to  embodj'  them  in 
every  government,  but  who  will  say  that  these  have  not  been  the  true  patriots  of 
the  world,  because  a  perpetual  and  visible  line  of  organized  republics  has  not  come 
down  to  us,  side  by  side  with  a  similar  line  of  despotic  governments  ? 


FIRST  PURE.  9 

Historical  truth  applies  the  same  processes  to  the  several  streams  of  natural 
science.  Certain  families  and  tribes  are  found  in  vegetable  and  animal  life  ;  that  is 
to  say,  a  given  type  !nultiplies  itself  into  groups,  sequence  being  our  guide  ;  yet  no 
scientist  discards  faith  in  the  existence  of  a  type,  because  he  cannot  trace  its  visible 
sequence,  while  again  and  again  he  finds  its  outward  course  strangely  resumed. 
So  we  speak  of  a  people  known  as  '  Baptists,'  who  have  been  substantially 
of  one  order  of  religions  faith  and  practice,  and  have  been  made  so  by  one  order  of 
religious  principle.  If  crushed  at  one  time,  or  entirely  driven  out  of  sight,  others 
bearing  the  same  Apostolic  stamp  and  force  have  come  forth  to  fill  tlieir  places,  under 
other  names.  A  sunbeam  is  a  sunbeam,  no  matter  upon  what  putrescence  it  may  fall, 
or  with  what  pollution  it  may  mingle  ;  and  by  a  ray  of  this  character  we  thread  our 
way  from  Christ  down  in  ecclesiastical  life.  But  the  pretense  tiiat  any  one  com- 
munion now  on  earth  can  trace  its  way  down  from  the  Apostles,  in  one  line  of 
fidelity  and  purity  to  New  Testament  teachings,  is  to  contradict  all  reliable  history. 
Dr.  Abel  Stevens  says  :  '  Obscure  communities,  as  the  Cathari  of  the  Novatians,  the 
Paulicians,  the  Albigenses,  and  the  Waldenses,  maintained  the  ancient  faith  in  com- 
parative purity  from  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century  down  to  the  Refonnation.' 
These  and  other  sects  held  one  or  more  distinctive  Baptist  principles,  but  none  of 
them  were  thorough  Baptists,  through  and  through.  A  Baptist  church  is  a  con- 
gregation, and  not  a  denomination  of  congregations,  and  find  it  in  what  nook  we 
may,  if  it  can  trace  its  doctrines  to  the  Apostles  it  is  an  Apostolic  Cliurch.  '  A 
church,'  says  Dr.  Ripley, '  that  came  into  existence  yesterday,  in  strict  conformity  to 
the  New  Testament  principles  of  membership,  far  away  from  any  long-existing 
church  or  company  of  churches,  and  therefore  unable  to  trace  an  outward  lineal 
descent,  is  a  true  Church  of  Christ.  .  .  .  While  a  church  so-called,  not  standing  on 
the  Apostolic  principles  of  faith  and  practice,  and  yet  able  to  look  back  through  a 
long  line  up  to  time  immemorial,  may  have  never  belonged  to  that  body  of  which 
Christ  is  the  Head.' 

The  reader  of  religious  history  must  be  as  honest  as  its  writer,  for  the  one  is  as 
much  exposed  to  bias  as  the  other.  Yet,  the  exact  facts  which  are  found  by  the 
truthful  historian  are  often  condemned  unweighed,  because  they  are  unpalatalile ; 
and  true  chronicles  are  often  buried  under  the  abuse  which  they  heap  upon  their 
subject.  For  some  reason  much  of  this  unfairness  crops  out,  with  many,  whenever 
the  truths  of  the  New  Testament  are  under  consideration.  Hence  a  man  only 
honors  himself  and  the  vital  teachings  of  the  Holy  Spirit  when  he  separates  himself 
from  all  that  is  superficial  in  his  own  methods  of  examination.  Above  all  people. 
Baptists  should  be  content  to  separate  their  history  from  all  questionable  material, 
and  to  write  and  read  it  in  the  form  in  which  facts  have  cast  it,  its  complete  touch- 
stone being  conformity  to  the  Gospel.  Those  only  have  been  Baptists  who  have 
conformed  to  this  rule,  from  age  to  age,  without  addition  or  subtraction.  Error 
must  eternally  remain  error,  and  no  antiquity  can  sanctify  it  into  truth.     For  all  the 


lO  NO    THADITION. 

ends  of  truth  merely  venerable  custom  is  weak  ;  yet,  if  a  supreme  love  of  tnith  does 
not  force  it  back,  it  will  dominate  tlif  miml  through  the  senses,  which  are  captivated 
by  the  hoary.  As  the  dykes  of  Holland  repel  the  approaches  of  the  sea,  so  Baptists 
can  only  reserve  the  fairest  provinces  of  truth  by  resisting  ancient  custom,  simply 
because  it  is  ancient.  Ecclesiastical  eustoui  is  as  mutable  as  its  maker,  and  yet, 
when  an  old  practice  conflicts  with  the  New  Testament,  many  make  that  practice 
the  true  interjiretation  of  God's  word  without  questioning  its  authority.  Although 
not  one  jot  has  been  added  to  the  truth  since  the  death  of  the  Apostle  John,  the  bare 
antiquity  of  a  tradition  enshrines  it  in  the  faith  of  many,  especially  if  it  came  down 
from  one  of  the  so-called  '  Fathers.'  A  late  able  scholar  of  Dr.  Wayland's  illustrated 
the  feeling  of  many  on  this  subject.  He  asked  whether,  if  the  doctor  had  lived  near 
the  time  of  Paul,  his  word  would  not  have  been  weightier  than  tliat  of  other  men. 
The  great  tutor  rei^lied,  'Yes,  provided  Paul  had  said  in  his  writings,  "I  leave 
Francis  Wayland  my  interpreter."  '  And  if  not,  how  could  he  have  interjireted  an 
apostle  better  than  any  one  else,  without  special  inspiration  from  God  ?  Tlie  noblest 
minds  are  often  crippled  by  this  straining  after  uninspired  antiquity,  under  the 
notion  that  it  must  touch  the  divine,  without  reaching  after  Christ's  infallible  ideal, 
when  it  stands  openly  before  their  eyes. 

Baptist  historians  have  always  written  against  great  odds.  Commonly  those 
who  rejected  our  principles  in  past  ages  were  filled  with  bitterness,  and  destroyed 
the  best  sources  of  exact  data  in  the  shape  of  treatise,  narrative  and  record.  The 
hated  party  was  weak,  and  the  dominant  sought  its  destruction.  Often  these  help- 
less victims  of  tyranny  were  obliged  to  destroy  their  own  documents,  lest  discovery 
shoidd  overwhelm  them  in  calamity.  We  shall  see  also  that  while  many  of  the  old 
sects  were  more  or  less  imbued  with  Baptist  principles,  each  had  its  own  class  of 
deductions,  convictions  and  practices.  In  consequence,  what  was  a  cherished  faith 
with  one  was  held  in  contempt  by  another,  and  these  states  of  mind  became  a  part 
of  the  men  themselves.  Their  different  stages  of  faith  were  different  stages  of  con- 
sciousness ;  and  it  came  to  pass,  that  to  oppose  each  other  fiercely  was  to  attain  high 
fidelity.  In  the  dreary  weakness  of  human  nature  each  man  held  his  own  sect 
virtuous  and  the  other  vicious,  all  the  time  forgetting  that  as  relative  bodies  they 
modified  each  other,  and  were  largely  responsible  for  each  other's  conduct.  Tlien, 
as  the  Baptists  had  control  of  no  national  government,  they  could  not  preserve  their 
recoi-ds  as  did  others.  They  managed  no  legislation  or  system  of  civil  jurisprudence, 
and  could  keep  no  archives,  having  no  legal  ofiicers  whose  special  business  it  was  to 
store  up  and  keep  facts.  Necessarily,  therefore,  what  few  records  they  have  left 
are  fragmentary,  without  due  continuity  of  register,  and  almost  barren  of  \ital 
events.  The  hand  which  carried  the  sword  to  smite  tliis  people,  carried  also  the 
torch  to  burn  up  their  books,  and  their  authors  were  reduced  to  ashes  by  the  flames  of 
their  own  literature.  The  material  for  building  up  their  chronicles  is  both  crude 
and  scanty.     Tlie  governing  life  of  a  people,  and   not  circumstances  alone,  gives 


NEW    TKSTA.VKXT   srCCESSION.  11 

value  to  their  claim,  and  so  we  are  thrown  back  on  jn-inciple  and  hard  general- 
ization. 

If  Baptist  history  be  peculiar,  it  is  only  because  they  have  been  a  peculiar  people. 
Their  enemies  have  always  accounted  them  as  '  heretics,'  whose  prime  value  was  to 
keep  a  cold  world  warui  by  their  use  as  fuel  for  the  stake.  Men  lunc  mvcr  Ixcn 
willing  to  understand  them,  because  they  never  would  accept  them  on  tlu'ir  own 
showing,  but  have  insisted  on  measuring  them  by  other  standards  than  their  own. 
With  a  great  price  they  obtained  their  freedom,  and  their  radical  individualism 
made  them  appear  to  other  men  as  disturbing  and  even  violent.  In  turn,  almost 
every  man's  hand  has  been  against  them,  and  as  a  people  of  but  one  book,  they  have 
taken  a  fixed  and  sturdy  character,  which  has  made  them  look  as  if  their  hand  was 
against  every  man.  What  Burke  said  of  Americans,  in  another  line,  is  true  of  them 
in  their  devotion  to  the  Bible,  namely :  '  In  no  country,  perhaps,  in  the  world,  is  the 
law  so  general  a  study.' 

We  see,  then,  that  Eobinson,  Crosby,  Irving,  Orchard,  Jones,  Backus,  Benedict, 
Cramp,  and  other  Baptist  historians,  have  written  under  every  possible  disadvantage. 
Still,  their  work  shows  an  instinctive  love  of  the  truth  for  the  truth's  sake,  worthy 
of  such  veterans.  Their  spirituality  is  elevated,  their  piety  without  guile,  their 
devotion  to  the  Gospel  ardent,  and  their  historical  acumen  quite  equal  to  that  of 
other  Church  historians.  In  the  main,  their  leading  facts  and  findings  have  not  been 
proven  untrustworthy,  and  no  one  has  attempted  to  show  that  their  general  con- 
clusions are  untenable.  Possibly,  their  chief  mistake  has  lodged  in  the  attempt  to 
find  the  stray  and  casual  links  of  a  certain  order  of  churches  which  may,  by  accom- 
modation, be  called  Baptist.  The  design  of  this  work  will  be,  to  follow  certain 
truths  through  the  ages,  on  that  radical  Protestant  principle  which  ])rofesses  to 
discard  the  Romish  claim  of  catholicity  and  succession,  and  so  to  follow  certain 
truths  down  to  their  chief  conservators  of  this  time,  the  Baptists.  By  this 
method  we  can  best  understand  their  battles  with  error  and  power,  their  defeats 
and  victories.  In  general  history  no  writer  will  be  content  to  seek  a  succession  of 
kings  and  courts,  of  warriors  and  bloody  fields,  but  he  will  find  truth  in  the  social 
and  civil  life  of  a  people,  in  the  march  of  constitutional  freedom,  and  the  jihenoniena 
of  human  elevation. 

The  best  service  that  can  be  rendered  to  the  Baptists  is,  to  trace  the  noiseless 
energy  and  native  imnioi'tality  of  the  doctrines  which  they  hold,  after  all  their  con- 
flicts, to  the  glory  of  Christ,  for  it  is  exactly  here  that  we  see  their  excellency  as  a 
people.  If  it  can  be  shown  that  their  churches  are  the  most  like  the  Apostolic  that 
now  exist,  and  that  the  elements  which  make  them  so  have  passed  successfully 
through  the  long  struggle,  succession  from  the  times  of  their  blessed  Lord  gives 
them  the  noblest  history  that  any  people  can  crave.  To  procure  a  servile  imita- 
tion of  merely  primitive  things  has  never  been  the  mission  of  Baptists.  Their 
work  has  been  to  promote  the  living  reproduction  of  Kew  Testament  Christians, 


12  cnnrsT  our  life. 

and  so  to  make  the  Christlike  old,  the  ever  delightfully  new.  Their  perpetually 
fresh  appeal  to  the  Scriptures  as  the  only  warrant  for  their  existence  at  all  must  not 
be  cut  off,  in  a  foolish  attempt  to  turn  the  weapons  of  the  hierarchy  against  itself. 
The  sword  of  the  Spirit  must  still  be  their  only  arm  of  service,  offensive  and 
defensive.  An  appeal  to  false  credentials  now  would  not  only  cut  them  off  from 
their  old  roll  of  honor,  but  it  would  sever  them  from  the  use  of  all  that  now 
remains  undiscovered  and  unapplied  in  the  word  of  God.  Tlie  distinctive  attribute 
in  the  kingdom  of  Christ  is  life ;  not  an  historic  life,  but  a  life  supernatural,  flow- 
ing eternally  from  Christ  alone  by  his  living  truth. 

Such  existence  does  not  claim  the  right  of  long  possession  in  this  soil  or  that,  or 
through  this  or  that  course  of  time  ;  nor  is  this  the  best  title  by  which  Baptists  can 
prove  their  heirship  to  their  fair  inheritance.  So  far  from  their  right  to  live  inher- 
ing in  organic  ancestry  by  ancient  descent,  their  right  to  be,  in  the  nineteenth  cent- 
ury, comes  by  their  oneness  with  the  truth  given  by  Christ  in  the  first  century. 
Their  present  possession  of  that  truth,  is  the  testimony  to  their  unity  with  an  endless 
life,  is  their  only  authority  for  existence  at  any  time,  with  or  without  human  records, 
and  shuts  out  ail  other  considerations.  The  life  of  all  Gospel  churches  must  center 
in  the  truth  which  has  come  down  unscathed  from  Jesus  Christ ;  we  must  find  it 
here  or  nowhere,  and  there  can  be  no  course,  extreme  or  via  media,  which  applies 
the  true  test  of  Church  life  but  this.  A  human  figment  may  serve  the  ends  of 
Catholicism,  l:)ut  as  Baptists  are  not  Komanists,  only  Christ  and  Apostolicity  as  they 
are  found  in  the  Divine  Writings  can  suffice  for  them.  The  spirit  and  outcome  of 
these  in  their  normal  forni  afford  the  staple  for  genuine  Baptist  History. 


NEW  TESTAMENT  PERIOD, 


CHAPTER   I. 

JOHN     THE     BAPTIST. 

WHEX  Malachi  finished  tlio  promissory  books.  B.  C.  397,  his  vision  shot  the 
great  gulf  between  the  Old  and  New  Revelations.  He  had  just  stated  that 
on  the  other  side  '  The  Sun  of  Righteousness  should  arise  with  healing  in  his  wings,' 
and  looking  400  years  iu  advance  he  saw  Christ's  •  messenger,'  his  own  successor, 
in  a  young  Judean  prophet,  and  heard  hiiii  uplift  the  cry  'Behold  your  God.' 
Nearly  4,000  years  before  Malachi,  a  four-headed  river  had  fiowed  from  Eden  '  to 
water  all  the  ends  of  the  earth,'  and  his  faith  now  descried  on  the  banks  of  the  anti- 
typical  Jordan,  the  Master  with  the  messenger,  two  Godlike  forms,  each  first-born, 
and  cousins'  sons.  Whom  Malachi  saw  in  vision,  Matthew  met  in  real  flesh  and 
blood,  the  Baptist '  herald '  and  the  Lord  from  heaven.  The  voice,  '  Make  straight 
his  paths,'  is  the  first  sentence  in  Baptist  history.  No  moral  night  had  been  so  dark 
as  that  athwart  which  this  prophet  cast  his  eye  to  see  the  coming  '  Day-star.'  Only 
remnants  of  the  old  Jewish  faith  were  left,  and  the  national  life  was  fast  going  for- 
ever, with  that  public  patriotism,  free  thought  and  outspoken  manliness,  which  had 
already  perished. 

At  first  God  gave  the  Jews  the  most  popular  government  of  all  the  nations; 
it  treated  the  personal  man  with  honor  and  dignity.  Though  they  had  no 
human  king  or  hereditary  ruler  from  time  to  time,  he  gave  them  such  a  political 
head  as  war  or  peace  required,  with  prerogatives  which  met  present  necessity.  In 
time  the  theocracy  gave  witness  to  the  unity  of  God,  and  its  liberties  were  linked 
to  this  vital  truth.  This  theistic  doctrine  made  Jehovah  their  common  Father,  they 
were  uncrippled  by  doubtful  negations,  untainted  with  atheism,  and  the  ideal  in  each 
man's  soul  clothed  his  fellow  with  the  rights  of  a  brother.  The  radical  teaching 
from  wliich  all  abiding  liberty  flows  is  this :  '  Love  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself.' 

During  the  period  between  the  last  prophet  and  the  first  evangelist  the 
Assyrian,  Persian,  and  Macedonian  empires,  with  their  endless  divisions  and  subdi- 
visions, had  culminated  in  the  Roman  Empire.  This  power  absorbed  into  itself  the 
sentiment,  humanity,  political  economies,  and  religious  philosophies  of  thousands  of 


14  PALESTINE. 

years,  covoriiii;-  tlic  histories  of  :ill  tlio  great  races,  Semitic  and  Iiido-Eunipeaii, 
luiving  welded  the  wlidie  into  :i  lioiiiogeneous  mass.  It  had  sprung  fruiu  an 
obscuro  city  more  tlian  seven  centuries  ]'>.  ('.,  and  now  embraced  the  civilized  world. 
The  great  repuljlic  had  waged  its  renowned  coniiiet  Ijetween  plebeians  and  patricians 
for  constitutional  government.  The  democratic  spirit  had  passed  away  with  its 
stanchest  defender,  the  regal  and  republican  forms  of  government  ha\ing  been 
swallowed  up  in  the  imperial  under  Augustus. 

Palestine  was  but  a  hundred  and  eighty  ujiles  long,  by  about  half  that  width. 
Yet,  when  Jolin  and  Jesus  cauie  the  otlicers  of  Home  were  evei-y-where,  with  no 
jurisprudence  left ;  oidy  ni)i)eal  to  a  heathen  emperor,  under  privilege.  Three  native 
kings,  indeed,  divided  tlie  old  Hebrew  patrimony:  Antipas,  in  Galilee;  Philip, 
in  Ituria;  an<l  Lysanius,  in  Abilene.  Still,  over  these  was  Pihite,  tlie  sixth 
procurator  in  twenty-three  years,  with  the  Governor  of  Syria  o\ei'  him,  witli  Tibe- 
rius above  all,  and  each  ready  to  enforce  his  mandate  by  the  arms  of  the  empire. 
These  tyrants  quarreled  alternately  witli  each  other,  in  turn  issued  conflicting 
commands,  fleeced  each  other  in  particular,  and  the  Jews  universally.  One  Jewish 
party  flattered  and  copied  the  nati\e  rulers,  another  the  foreigners,  and  all  were 
proud  to  serve  as  minor  otHcei's,  if  they  might  wring  a  crust  out  of  official  rapacity. 
A  third  party  hated  and  defied  the  intruders,  plotting  revolt  and  sedition,  which 
kept  the  nation  in  a  seething  excitement  and  its  blood  ever  flowing.  Yet,  a  few 
men  of  God  never  yielded  heart  or  hope.  However  dark  the  hour  of  adversity 
their  lamp  was  always  burning.  They  waited  for  the  Deliverer  to  break  every  yoke. 
Their  fellows,  worn-out,  grounded  arms  and  died,  their  eyes  glazed  with  desj)air. 
But  the  love  of  Jehovah  and  liberty  never  forsook  these.  Xo  matter  if  the  red- 
lianded  family  of  the  age  held  Jacob  by  the  throat,  the  holy  few  felt  the  shadow  of 
the  King  at  the  gate.  If  the  iron  had  entered  their  soul  it  was  not  rusted  by  lieart- 
tears.  The  time  had  come  for  a  new  nianlK)od  ;  a  new  revelation  of  truth  ajid 
holiness  was  needed,  fresh  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness.  An  age  of  moral 
suasion  was  dawning  to  work  a  new  character  in  the  personal  man.  Then,  from 
renewed  individuals  should  come  'the  kingdom  of  heaven'  in  a  regenerate  society. 
Zacharias  and  Elisabeth,  Simeon  and  Anna,  felt  their  old  hearts  revive,  because 
another  Elijah  was  at  the  portal  to  open  the  golden  age.  Groans  and  strife,  tears  and 
blood,  had  tracked  the  horrid  length  of  400  years.  At  length  there  came  a  '  little 
child '  to  lead  them,  with  a  '  voice '  to  prepare  his  way  ;  and  when  their  withered 
arms  pressed  the  reforming  Baptist  and  his  redeeming  Lord  to  cneir  bosoms,  the 
first  chapter  in  Baptist  History  was  begun. 

Edward  Irving  truly  says,  '  John  was  the  beginning  of  a  new  race.'  But  the 
words  of  Jesus  better  fix  his  proper  place  in  history :  'Amen,  I  say  unto  you,  among 
them  that  are  born  of  women  there  has  not  risen  a  greater  than  John  the  Baptist.' 
These  words  alone  make  him  the  most  remarkable  character  on  the  sacred  page, 
save  only  He  who  spoke  them.     Zacharias,  his  father,  was  a  priest  in  Israel,  Elisar 


TifH  nrriTii  of  .101  ix  i'Iiomised.  18 

1.1'tli,  his  iiiotluT,  wii.s  a  (laiiirlitcr  .if  Aai-oii.  Not  onlv  had  tli.-ir  priestly  ancestry 
stretched  ilo'.vn  tit'teeii  centuries,  hut  tliey  were  'tilled  with  the  Holy  Spirit.'  This 
is  said  of  no  other  fatlier  and  niotlier  of  our  race.  They  feared  tliat  their  honorable 
lineage  would  soon  be  blotted  out,  for  they  were  old  and  childless.  The  words, 
'Tliy  prayer  is  heard,"  imply  that  their  ciniity  Ikuiic  had  brcii  the  .-ubject  of  petition 
at  God's  throne.  He  had  promised  them  a  s,,n.  and  when  lie  w<,nld  fulfill  his  word, 
it  fell  to  the  lot  of  John's  father  to  pass  through  the  golden  gate  into  the  holy  place 
to  burn  incense:  a  high  and  holy  privilege  whicii  never  was  repeated  by  the  same 
priest,  as  it  brought  him  so  neai-  to  .lehovah.  Already  the  live  coals  had  been 
carried  in  a  fire-pan  from  the  altar  of  hurnt-oifering,  the  sweet  spices  sprinkled 
thereon,  and  the  fioating  perfume  was  on  its  way  to  the  clouds,  when  lo !  a 
mysterious  form  glided  into  the  hallowed  place.  Gabriel  stood  by  the  altar,  bright 
in  native  benignity,  at  its  '  right  side,'  too,  the  side  of  good  omen,  and  in  tlie 
attitude  of  Oriental  service.  In  a  moment  the  temple  heard  the  new  revelation,  that 
a  son  should  be  born  in  the  home  of  the  man  of  God. 

Gabriel  and  Michael  are  the  only  angels  called  by  name  in  the  Bible.  Michael 
is  the  judicial  messenger,  the  destroyer,  valiant  for  the  Lord  of  Hosts  in  terrible 
warfare.  The  mission  of  Gabriel  is  peace,  especially  Messianic  peace.  At  the 
'evening  ol)lation,'  the  same  hour  of  incense,  he  told  Daniel  that  the  Prince, 
Messiah,  should  come.  He  brought  the  same  news  to  Mary,  and  to  the  father  of 
John  ;  the  three  cases  ascribe  to  him  the  ofiice  of  Messianic  angel.  No  person  but 
the  priest  could  stand  by  the  altar  and  live,  and  fear  fell  upon  Zacharias  when  he 
saw  that  the  celestial  visitant  did  not  fall  dead.  Then  Gabriel  broke  the  silence  of 
four  centuries,  and  opened  the  Baptist  Age,  saying:  'Fear  not,  thy  wife  shall  bear' 
a  son,  and  his  name  shall  be  called  John.'  The  venerable  priest  staggered  through 
unbelief,  and  asked  for  a  sign.  Gabriel  gave  it  in  the  very  dumbness  of  the  tongue 
that  asked  it  until  the  child  should  be  born.  He  then  went  forth  to  the  people 
mute,  beckoning,  perhaps  in  an  excited  mannei',  but  he  could  not  pronounce  the 
usual  blessing,  and  they  perceived  that  some  strange  thing  had  happened.  He 
retired  to  his  home  at  Hebron,  or  Juttah,  near  to  Hebron,  and  remained  si)eech- 
less  ioY  three  fourths  of  a  year. 

The  'city  Juda,'  the  Levitical  city  of  Juttah,  as  shown  by  Kehmd  and  Robinson, 
is  about  si.x  miles  south  of  Hebron,  in  tlu^  hill  country,  seventeen  miles  south 
of  Jerusalem.  Jerusalem  stood  2,400  feet  above  tiie  sea,  and  Hebron  was  200 
feet  above  that.  Hebron  was  the  ancient  home  of  Abraham,  where  his  pool  still 
exists,  the  oldest  now  known  in  the  world.  This  city  had  been  given  to  the  children 
of  Aaron,  '  with  the  suburbs  thereof  round  about  it,'  and  was  a  fitting  birthplace 
of  the  Baptist,  the  greatest  descendant  of  Aaron's  house.  Here  David  received 
his  crown,  and  here  were  the  sepulchers  of  Abraham,  Sarah,  Isaac,  Rebecca, 
Jacob  and  Leah.  Rabbinical  tradition  says  of  this  spot,  that  the  morning  sacrifice 
was  never  offered  at  the  temple  till  the  watchman  on  its  tower  saw  these  uplands 


THE   CHILD  NAMED. 


POOL   AT   UEBRON. 


ablaze  with  the  newly-breaking  morning  sun.     Zacliarias  saw  this  glory  despite  his 
speechless  state,  meanwhile  Gabriel's  words  rang  through  his  soul  concerning  the 

coming  child.  The  pledge  :  '  He 
shall  be  great  before  the  Lord,' 
did  not  refer  to  his  native  wis- 
dom, fidelity  or  influence,  but 
royally  set  forth  his  great  office ; 
the  great  era  wliich  he  should  ush. 
er  in,  the  great  truths  which  he 
.should  proclaim — and,  above  all, 
the  new  stamp  of  numhood  to  be 
brought  in  his  own  pei-son,  as  a 
specimen  of  those  whom  the  new 
era  was  to  produce.  Without 
rank,  or  wealth,  or  power,  he  was 
to  loom  up  above  tlie  old  classes 
of  good  men,  mighty  before  God.  Consecrated  to  a  greater  work  tlum  any  other 
man,  and  opening  a  greater  future  than  any  had  foreseen,  he  was  to  take  a  higher 
type  of  moral  character  tlian  any  had  yet  borne.  Of  a  priestly  house,  he  was  to  oiier 
no  sacrifice,  but  was  to  preach  the  first  Sacrifice  from  a  princely  house.  Priesthood 
needed  not  the  fullness  of  tlie  Spirit,  and  seldom  possessed  it,  but  in  order  to  establish 
the  new  office  of  preacher,  to  lead  men  to  salvation,  he  needed  the  indwelling  Spirit. 
Nor  was  the  first  prophet  in  foui-  centuries  to  work  a  miracle,  but  simply  to  pro- 
claim the  Christ. 

When  the  cry  of  the  new-born  babe  had  brought  nmsic  to  the  quiet  home,  a 
dispute  arose  among  the  neighbors  about  his  name,  some  calling  him  Zacharias. 
This  could  not  be.  No  one  was  named  after  his  own  father  in  the  Old  Testament. 
'  Nay,'  said  his  mother,  '  he  shall  be  called  John,'  meaning :  '  Bestowed  of  the  Lord.' 
The  neighbors  remonstrated,  none  of  his  family  were  known  by  that  name,  and 
they  made  signs  to  his  father  to  decide  the  question,  who  wrote  upon  a  tablet :  '  His 
name  is  John ! '  The  child  was  to  begin  the  world's  new  sermon,  and  as  it  was 
meet  that  the  Gospel  theme  which  had  been  pent  in  his  father's  soul  so  long  should 
break  forth,  the  tongue  of  the  dumb  was  unloosed.  Witli  his  first  gust  of  voice  he 
cried :  '  O,  child !  thou  shalt  be  called  prophet  of  the  Highest,  for  thou  shalt  go 
before  the  face  of  the  Lord,  in  order  to  give  knowledge  of  salvation  to  his  people, 
in  the  remission  of  their  sins.'  It  were  worth  the  dead  silence  of  a  life-time  to 
speak  these  words.  Their  meaning  was  so  broad,  and  their  music  so  sweet,  that  the 
old  priest  repeated  the  word  'salvation'  three  times  before  he  could  stop.  'A  horn 
of  salvation,' — '  salvation  for  our  enemies,' — '  salvation  in  the  remission  of  sins,'  was 
the  astonishing  threefold  theme  on  which  he  practiced  his  new-found  tongue,  in  the 
new-found  language  of  truth.    Gabriel  put  a  key  into  his  hand  to  open  this  mystery, 


JOILWS    YOUTH.  17 

sayino;:  'Fear  not,  Ziicliarius,  HKiny  i>r  tlic  sons  „f  Fsraol  sliall  lie  turn  to  tlie  L..nl 
tlieir  Goil;'  in  the  converts  wlioni  John  slionld  make.  Nay,  he  said,  that  'tiie 
mouth  of  the  holy  prophets  of  old'  had  spoken  of  this  'redemption'  as  if  the 
mystic  fingers  of  dead  ]\Ialachi  were  sweejnng  his  old  heart  that  day,  till  its  chords 
vibrated  as  those  of  a  harp.  That  child  had  brought  the  missing  link  between  the 
two  dispensations,  had  become  the  veritable  bridge-builder,  the  true  ('hristian 
pontiff,  who  spanned  the  arch  from  the  last  oiitskirt  of  Judaism  to  the  frontier  line 
of  the  Gospel.     What  manner  of  child  was  this  first  Baptist? 

The  (iospcls  are  silent  on  John's  youth  and  early  manhood,  saying:  'That  the 
hand  of  tlie  Lord  was  with  him,"  that  he  '(Iitw  and  Iiei-ame  strong  in  spirit,  and 
was  in  the  deserts  till  the  day  of  his  manifestation  to  Israel.'  God  marked  him  by 
special  tokens  for  his  great  task.  While  his  body  grew  his  soul  became  mentally 
and  morally  mighty  till  he  was  ready  for  his  public  work.  The  inspired  limner 
gives  simply  this  bold  outline  which  makes  'the  hand  of  the  Lord,'  the  power  of 
God,  the  emblem  of  his  force.  Gabriel  throws  light  upon  his  discipline  when  he 
imposes  the  Nazarite's  vow,  to  'drink  neither  wine  nor  strong  drink.'  Nothing 
inflaming  was  to  pass  his  lips  or  affect  his  brain.  The  vow  also  exempted  him  from 
attendance  at  the  feasts,  and  kept  him  separate  until  liis  'showing  unto  Israel.' 
Samson,  Samuel,  and  John  were  all  Nazarites  from  birth,  severe  consecration  and  de- 
nial of  luxury  being  specially  needful  in  the  forerunner  of  him  who  was  separate  from 
sinners.  Ilis  father's  priestly  house  furnished  him  with  Hebrew  Biblical  knowl- 
edge, and  lu^ld  there  under  the  holy  influence  of  Elisabeth,  like  Moses  in  Midian 
and  Elijah  in  the  desert,  no  rabbin  could  pervert  him,  till  he  was  ready  to  stir  the 
life  of  Judea  to  its  center,  by  the  Gospel.  He  is  the  only  man  in  Scripture,  except 
his  Master,  of  whom  no  act  of  sin  is  recorded.  Samson  and  Samuel  were  '  sanctified,' 
set  apart  to  the  Lord  from  their  birth,  but  neither  of  them  was  filled  with  the  Holy 
Spirit,  as  was  the  Baptist;  one  of  the  train  of  wonders  in  his  character  and  mission. 

It  seems  most  likely  that  he  left  his  home  and  plunged  into  the  wilderness  of 
Judea  when  he  had  passed  his  twentieth  year,  the  time  at  which  young  priests  were 
inspected  by  the  Sanhedrin  for  their  office.  The  'deserts'  which  he  entered  are 
supposed  to  be  that  weary  region  that  stretches  over  Western  Judea,  bordering  on 
the  Dead  Sea,  including  its  desolate  basin.  It  includes  Engedi,  extending  from 
the  Kedron  twelve  miles  south  of  Jerusalem  to  the  south-western  end  of  the  Sea 
of  Death,  and  in  width,  from  thence  to  the  mountains  of  Judea.  It  is  not  called  a 
'  wilderness '  for  barrenness  of  vegetation,  like  the  African  sand-wastes.  On  the 
contrary,  it  is  a  perfect  tangle  of  growth.  Lonely  and  wild,  the  broom-brush,  the 
stunted  cedar,  the  osher,  the  rush  and  the  Apple  of  Sodom,  all  flourish  there,  and 
nomads  pasture  their  cattle  with  great  profit.  It  is  watered  by  the  Kedron  and 
other  streams,  their  course  lying  dark  and  deep,  in  ravines  and  chasms,  where  all  is 
grim  and  ribbed  with  rock,  sometimes  to  the  dejtth  of  1,000  feet  below  the  brow  of 
the  cliff. 
.3 


tree- 
elits 


18  JO//\-s   DKSKirr  llOMK. 

This  iv-i,m  alM,iin,ls  i,i  -oi-vs,  rrcvicr.  aii-l  caverns.  It  is  torn  U 
ipiees  fnMh  tlie  lieavin-  (,f  earth, |iiak,-s.  h'avin-  the  Hint,  ehalk  and  Mnie; 
in  eviTj  wrii'il  aspect.  Kills, if  \vat,'i'  -nsh  Inrth.  twistin--  their  \\\\\  lieiv  an<l  tliere, 
er  falling  in  eas,'a(les  ,)ver  era-s  an, I  shelves,  in  hast,'  t,i  sweeten  the  a,-ri,l  plain  and 
sullen  Sea  of  Salt.  Theiv.  the  ja,'kal.  the  wolf,  the  f,ix.  the  i)anthei-.  the  iM.ar,  1in,l 
their  lairs  and  dens.  l'V,)in  ridi;',-  to  rid-e,  the  hoai'se  s,Teani  of  tli,'  vulture,  tjie 
raven  and  eaij,-le,  ech,ies  inin-K'd  with  the  pensive  s,in--  of  the  thrush,  ami  the  drone 
of  the  bee,  waiulerin-'  fi-,,in  wil,l  llower  t,i  wil,l  tl,_,wer,  yelh.w  ami  hliie,  crimson 
and  white.  In  all  its  iiran,li>in-,  this  h,,wlin--  wilderness  was  the  eho~eii  home  of  the 
lirst  liaptist.  Its  s,,l,-mH  des,,lati,.n  an, I  wihl  elements  prea,di,Ml  t,,  him  ..f  (iod, 
inured  his  body  to  haixlship,  and  turned  his  s,_ml  inward   up,)ii   itself.      'I'he  jjarch- 

incnt  will,  h   w  irmeil  in  his 


bin,] 


-tiiiLil  him  t,.  coin- 
,in  with  the  Iiisjiirino- 
t  wlio  lii,l  invested 
iittii, ,  -  w  ith  immortal- 


its 


t,.  his 


1  ASS  I\   IHL  WW  DLhNtbb  OF  JUDtA 


dnin,  I  \  th,ii 
h,  lit  litL  had  ...ursed 
tl  lon^li  the  skin  on  wliicli 
th,  text  o lowed  before  the 
1  mti   of  slmohter  liayed  it: 

111,1  11  .w  tla  h  ,1\-  ,////,////.<?, 
wliiih  tin  1,  ie,l  penman 
h  1,1  iiitu-(,l  iiit,p  its  texture, 
w  iiniul  hi^  ^(  111  with  the 
btatm^sof  m  nnmortal  life. 
Thcic     ht     list,  lied    to    the 

111  II, Use    in,l  loiitelitiiin,  till 


still,  simll  voice,  IS  did  Elijah  in  su  K  ,1  II,  ],  1.    ,«  iv  1i    m  iHii^e    i 
his  spiiit  waxed  stiong  in  God  \\\A  m  tla  p,i\\u  <  t  hi    nn^hr 

In  Ins  lusteiity,  this  holy  lecbise  wou  the  cou^tst  ot  ninient  The  rough 
cunel's  Inn  doth,  Ijound  to  his  loins  bj  a  Innd  of  undussed  leitliLi  covered  his 
limbs.  Young  and  fnll  of  fire,  he  stood,  the  living  image  of  courage,  in  the  garb  of 
the  elder  prophets.  His  Nazarite  vow  had  kept  his  hair  undipped  from  birth,  his 
diet  w^as  locusts,  dried,  ground,  and  eaten  with  wild  honey  which  dripped  from  the 
rock,  and  he  cooled  his  thirst  at  the  spring  wherever  lie  roamed  in  the  freedom  of  the 
desert.  His  removal  from  the  uplands  of  Hebron  into  this  somber  desolation  was 
not  a  mere  incident.  He  imist  be  eipiipjied  for  his  iron  mission,  as  far  as  Iiardship 
could  fit  him  to  cope  with  moral  evil.  For  years,  he  had  been  wrestling  with  the  slow" 
openings  of  his  fore-felt  work.  Self-recognition  hail  come  i;liin]ise  by  glimpse,  till 
new  insight  had  brought  him  into  new  sympathy  with  the  Holy  One  who  had  sent 


HIS  F.i}rc.\ri<).\  iiehe.  19 

liiiu.  Stniggle  after  struegle  li;ul  wroiiiilit  in  liim  an  ardent  spirituality,  wliich 
rrKiiki'>  >iii  with  tlie  quietest  autlidrity.  i'leadiiig  wiili  (iod  day  and  uiglit,  tin;  dc- 
|)i'avity  of  his  bretlireu,  and  tlie  luillowness  of  tiieir  ritual  were  eehoed  to  liis  soul 
from  the  hollow  rocks  by  his  own  fout-falls. 

Did  he  pass  his  time  amongst  these  grots  and  caverns  without  studying  the 
word  of  God  %  Without  the  Sacred  Parcliments  brought  from  his  father's  house, 
the  gold  had  become  dim  and  the  fine  gold  changed,  he  had  not  been  a  true  Bap- 
tist if  ignorant  of  these,  to  win  his  countrymen  back  to  Jehovah.  We  can  scarcely 
doubt,  that  in  the  desert  these  treasures  showed  him  how  the  rod  of  Aaron,  his  great 
ancestor,  should  bloom  again  and  liis  empty  pot  of  manna  be  refilled,  llow  the 
Nazarene,  then  sweating  at  the  carpenters  bencth  should  suddenly  come  to  his  Tem- 
ple, to  rekindle  the  Shekinali  in  new  glory  over  the  mercy -si'at.  The  Law,  the 
Prophets  and  the  Psalm.s  in  his  retn'at.  made  his  heart  burn  with  prophetic  tire,  for 
he  heard  tlie  voices  of  old  I'rophets  quivering  in  the  air.  As  night  gives  brilliancy 
to  the  gem,  so  did  his  desert  gloom  bring  out  lustrous  truth  from  the  inspired  lore 
of  ages,  every  line  that  he  unrolled  telling  a  divine  story ;  for  every-where  he  found 
his  Redeeming  kinsman  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  of  whose  'Salvation'  his  father  had 
sung.  God  would  not  entrust  the  education  of  his  greatest  prophet  to  the  skill  of 
mortals.  In  visions  of  the  night  when  deep  sleep  fell  upon  his  father's  house,  fear 
came  upon  him  and  trembling,  which  made  all  his  bones  shake.  An  image  stood 
before  his  eyes,  spirits  passed  before  his  face  and  he  heard  a  voice.  When  the 
breathing  Parchment  crackled  in  his  hand,  the  pulsations  of  a  deathless  life  stirred 
him,  and  the  Holy  Oracle  was  alive  with  living  images.  The  flaming  sword  of  Eden 
waved  before  him,  and  the  ascending  fire  of  Abel.  Enoch,  the  seventh  from  Adam, 
told  him  that  Jesus  opened  the  gate  of  heaven,  when  he  rose  to  his  home  without 
tasting  death.  Noah  told  the  Baptist  that  the  ark,  wherein  eight  souls  '  were  saved 
through  water,'  M-as  a  tyi)e  of  his  coming  Captain.  That  when  it  rocked  over  an 
immersed  world  in  the  darkness  of  its  grave,  Jesus  was  the  lamp  wdiich  hung  in  its 
window  above  the  gloomy  deep.  Nay,  it  was  he  who  gave  hues  to  the  first  rainbow 
that  spanned  the  new  world,  when  the  eight  elect  antediluvians  pitched  their  tents 
again  on  dry  ground,  and  offered  sacrifice  under  its  radiant  arch. 

John,  also,  saw  Abraham's  day  in  the  desert  and  was  glad,  when  the  great  fore- 
father assured  him  that  he  had  seen  the  coming  King,  as  he  looked  out  fi-om 
the  steeps  of  Hebron.  Isaac  avouched  to  him  that  he  had  seen  his  Star,  wdien  he 
went  into  the  fields  at  eventide  to  meditate ;  and  Jacob  declared,  that  at  Bethel  he 
saw  Jesus  standing  at  the  top  of  the  mystic  ladder,  and  on  his  pillow  of  stone 
dreamed  in  the  night  watches  about  the  glory  of  the  latter  day.  David,  the  son 
of  Jesse,  showed  the  Baptist  that  his  great  Son  guided  his  fingers  over  the  Messianic 
harp,  when  his  throne  trembled  in  raptures,  and  living  anthems  flew  like  angels 
from  the  strings.  Moses  told  him  of  the  Rock  that  followed  Israel,  which  '  Rock 
was  Christ ; '  and  Isaiah,  that  Jesus  was  the  '  Stem  '  that  blossomed  by  the  house  of 


THE  KT Aim. IXC 


Jesse,  nil  t]i( 

"  li ill-side   of  Betli 

of  all  livin- 

,  U>  those  of  Mary 

Seed  was  ti-^i 

iced  in  the.leM'rt'l 

his  diii-y  re 

treat,  the  iiicai-nate 

an<l  lai.l  in  : 

L  nian;;-er. 

All  thi^ 

.  titteil  him  for  the 

.  In  a  wi.i<l.  IVoin  the  days  of  Eve.  the  mother 
nH.ther  <if  .leMis,  the  history  of  the  Promised 
>nn  ut  Klizaheth.  And.  yet.  a  few  miles  from 
had    already    been    wrapped  in  ^waddlini;•  bands 


jffiee  to  whieh  he  was  b,,rn,  armed  him  with  a  fidelity 
which  nothing  could  daunt  to  grapple  with  his  adulterous  generation.  AVitliout 
this  strength  defeat  only  awaited  him.  Being  fully  clad  in  celestial  panoply,  tlie  word 
of  the  Lord  said  to  him  :  '  Go,'  and  he  arose  to  begin  his  true  Baptist  work.  He 
emerged  from  tlie  desert  of  the  North,  and  came  first  ui^on  the  well-watered  plain  of 
the  Jordan.  His  sandals  then  pressed  the  soil  of  Lot,  on  wliich  the  eye  of  Moses 
rested,  when  he  died  on  Nebo.  There  the  name  of  John  became  eternally  united  with 
the  name  of  Jesus,  the  Christ.  Whenever  an  Oriental  monarch  ])asscd  through  his 
realms,  a  herald  went  before  him,  ]ir(Mdaimed  his  coming,  and  re(|uired  his  subjects  to 
make  the  neglected  i-oads  passable  for  their  ,■^overeign,  by  removing  all  hinderances  to 
his  progress.  When  Semiramis,  the  Queen  of  Babylon,  marched  into  Persia, 
she  crossed  the  Zarcean  mountain,  but  not  till  its  pi-eeipices  were  digged  down  and 
its  hollows  filled  up  to  make  her  way  smooth.  We  liave  similar  records  of  Xerxes, 
Caligula,  and  Titus,  and  when  Jesus  entered  upon  his  kingly  course,  John,  his  her- 
ald, demanded  that  all  obstructions  be  removed  before  him  in  his  march.  He 
cried,  'Prepare  the  way  of  the  Lord,'  that  all  iiesli  may  see  Jiis  glory.  His  prog- 
ress was  not  to  be  that  of  pomp  and  pageantry,  but  that  of  a  nation's  repentance. 
Rugged  and  wretched  as  were  the  moral  wastes,  he  was  to  make  the  desolation 
ring  with  the  demand  for  '  repentaiice,'  summoning  all  to  surrender  to  the  coining 
Prince.  The  valleys  must  be  filled.  All  debasing  affections  must  be  elevated,  the 
downtrodden  and  the  despairing  must  be  lifted  uj).  Mountains  must  be  brought 
low.  The  proud  and  haughty  were  to  be  leveled,  abased  in  the  dust.  The  crooked 
should  be  made  straight.  All  tortuous  policies,  w^inding  deceits,  and  lying  frauds 
of  the  self-righteous,  should  be  exchanged  for  simplicity  and  transparency.  The 
rugged  ways  must  be  made  smootli.  Coarse  severity,  rough  tempers,  bitter  asperity, 
hot  fanaticism,  and  stoical  hardness  must  be  cast  aside,  for  gentleness  and  ehilddike 
affections.  Then,  all  flesh  should  see  the  salvation  of  God.  No  lofty  shadow  was 
to  fling  its  length  before  the  face  of  God's  Anointed.  The  'Voice'  cried :  'Prepare 
the  way  of  the  Lord.' 

When  John  left  the  howding  of  beasts  in  the  desert,  it  was  to  electrify  the  land 
by  the  startling  cry  '  Repent,'  and  thenceforth,  he  fi-owned  on  all  brutal  passion. 
The  whole  nation  started  to  its  feet  and  flocked  to  him,  as  its  center  of  hope.  City, 
village,  and  hamlet,  poured  forth  their  hardened  multitudes  to  see  and  hear  the  new 
Baptist  preacher.  The  prophecy  of  Malachi  had  said :  '  Behold,  I  will  send  you 
Elijah  the  prophet,  before  the  coming  of  the  great  and  dreadful  day  of  the  Lord;' 
and,  as  the  universal  expectation  of  the  Messiah  was  cherished  by  the  Jews  at  this 


A   NEW  ELIJAH.  21 

time,  they  looked  for  the  literal  accoinplishinent  of  tliis  prediction  in  the  return  of 
tlie  Tishbite,  as  his  precursor.  The  news,  therefore,  flew  through  the  land  that  this 
faithful  servant  of  God  who  ascended  to  heaven  in  the  reign  of  Jehorani,  had  been 
borne  back  to  the  earth,  to  break  the  Eoniau  Scepter,  and  hurl  liiniself  like  a  thun- 
der-bolt against  all  tyrants,  that  he  miglit  restore  the  glory  to  Israel  by  enthroning 
her  new  king.  Every  eye  longed  to  see  this  somber  old  giant  of  Carmel  and  Iloreb, 
and  every  ear  listened  for  his  strange  voice ;  hence,  all  flocked  to  the  banks  of  the 
Jordan  whence  he  ascended,  for,  said  they,  the  chariots  of  Israel  and  the  horsemen 
thereof,  had  landed  him  on  the  very  spot  wliere  he  laid  down  his  mantle  and  burden 
900  years  before. 

But  instead  of  launching  forth  denunciation  against  Roman  strangers,  John 
opened  an  accusative  ministry  upon  his  own  people.  He  made  not  his  voice  soft 
and  smooth  in  his  '  cry.'  He  presented  a  new  and  striking  flgure  to  them,  enthu- 
siastic, yet  self-poised.  Yilled  with  deep  conviction  of  the  truth,  inspii-ed  of  God 
and  consecrated  to  the  truth.  lie  had  evidently  come  on  no  dubious  errand,  and  his 
aim  was  worthy  of  his  great  work.  Under  the  pressure  of  a  divine  influence,  he 
set  his  face  like  flint,  in  downright  fearlessness.  The  scorn  of  every  form  of  cunning 
filled  his  voice,  holy  indignation  at  sin  flew  in  every  syllable  from  his  lips.  His 
body  was  free  from  sanctimonious  vestments,  and  his  soul  inflamed  with  zeal ;  he 
lifted  up  the  truth,  a  lambent  torch,  for  liis  word  made  dread  exposures,  and  searched 
men  to  the  core  of  their  being.  Without  the  tears  of  Jeremiah,  the  sublimity  of 
Isaiah,  or  the  mystery  of  Ezekiel,  he  bravely  struck  home  by  rebuke  and  e.xhorta 
tion  and  heart-piercing  censure.  He  dealt  in  no  arts  of  insinuation,  no  apologies, 
no  indulgence ;  but  upbraided  the  hollow  and  pretentious,  and  shivered  their  pious 
self-conceit  to  atoms,  while  they  gnashed  their  teeth  at  him.  He  was  a  living  man, 
just  sent  from  the  living  God,  dealing  with  cardinal  verities,  in  an  original  and 
emphatic  vigor  that  stung  the  cold-hearted,  and  held  the  malignant  conscience  by  a 
remorseless  grip.  Wicked  men  saw  the  majestic  flow  of  holiness  in  his  eye,  they 
felt  its  nervous  vibrations  in  his  abrupt  anatomy  of  character,  and  were  borne  down 
before  his  impassioned  demands  for  self-loathing.  The  slothful  were  startled  in 
their  dreams ;  he  held  up  the  self-blinded  for  their  own  inspection,  in  their  true 
colors ;  he  rudely  tore  off  the  masks  of  the  false.  The  hard-hearted  saw  their  guilt 
staring  them  in  the  face,  and  the  reckless  were  haunted  by  the  ghosts  of  their  mur- 
dered mercies  from  the  God  of  Abraham.  Yet,  he  wielded  no  weapons  of  earthly 
chastisement ;  he  mingled  not  the  blood  of  sinTicrs  with  the  waters  of  the  Jordan, 
but  he  pointed  to  the  uplifted  ax,  as  it  gleamed  in  the  terrors  of  the  Lord,  about 
to  strike  a  blow  and  fell  the  withered  tree. 

Strangely  enough,  instead  of  repelling  the  multitude,  his  fidelity  fascinated 
them.  The  Spirit  of  God  gave  power  to  his  prochimation.  This,  of  itself,  made 
his  holy  serenity  soft  and  saving.  Consciences  were  aroused,  hearts  were  broken, 
and  the  sorrows  of  the  people  for  sin,  re-awakened  the  ancient  sobbings,  wlien  their 


IlL'il- 

liuriL-(l  IjodifS,  and 

•in. 

The  alaniiini;;  crv 

Thi^ 

.  .Icnian.l   laid  bare 

liiin. 

The    word  itself 

not 

(inly  required  deep 

22  TtEPEXTANCE  HIS    THEME. 

fatliers  wept,  on  the  death  of  Moses.  A  rude  and  arro^'aiit  mind,  having  so 
dilHeult  a  work  to  du,  would  have  lieeii  harsh  in  its  rel.uke>.  only  exeitiny  anjrer 
and  resentment.  Dut  dohirs  words  .-ut  to  the  quirk  l)eeau>e  his  alfectiouate  holi- 
ness, gravity,  sincerity,  and  good-will  made  them  >hai-p.  He  had  lieen  s(j  niueh  in 
retirement  with  God  that  he  was  indiued  with  his  love  and  r..mp;i>sioii.  lie  carried 
not  the  mien  of  an  ill-mannered,  bold,  and  self-appointed  ceii-or  <A  sin. 

True,  the  great  Baptist  had  brought  a  fire-brand  out  of  the  wilderness  which 
set  all  the  dry  stubble  in  the  land  ablaze.  But  with  this  came  confession  of  sin  in 
lowly  simplicity,  and  sincere  reformation  of  life,  which  sought  expression  in  the 
new  faith  and  baptism.  Instead  of  meeting  Elijah,  descending  in  the  regal  state  of 
flame  to  smite  the  waters  of  their  great  national  liver  ami  divide  them,  the  yiumg 
representative  of  Elijah's  God  stood  tliere  demandiug  that 
not  his  rod,  should  divide  the  waters  in  token  of  death  tu 
'Repent  ye'  rang  up  and  down  the  valley  of  the  Jordan. 
God's  extreme  holiness,  and  their  |iersoiial  guilt  against 
(me/a^ma)  means  a  change  of  uiiml  or  purjiose;  so  that  ht 
sorrow,  oi'  contrition  for  their  wickedness,  but  such  an  inward  moral  disposition  as 
sliould  thereafter  obey  the  will  of  God.  Then  they  were  to  bring  forth  fruits 
worthy  of  repentance,  so  that  the  outward  expression  of  tliat  disposition  should 
prove  the  inward  change  to  be  radical.  He  made  their  immersion  in  water  the 
exterior  method  of  'confessing'  the  reality  of  an  honest,  lieart-felt  reform.  Here, 
then,  he  re(]uired  a  spiritual  revolution,  a  baptism  for  the  'remission'  or  forgiveness 
of  sins,  and  the  imj>lanting  of  a  new  principle  of  life  in  keei)ing  with  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  at  hand. 

These  requirements,  urged  with  the  courteous  fidelity  of  holy  conviction  and 
the  sacred  simplicity  of  an  overawing  holiness,  led  a  multitude  of  wounded  and 
stricken  hearts  to  fly  from  all  legal  rites  and  ceremonial  performances,  for  j)uriti- 
cation  of  heart  and  life,  after  the  evangelical  order  of  Isaiah : 

'Wash  you,  make  you  clean; 
Put  away  the  evil  of  youi-  doings 
From  before  mine  eyes.' 

At  a  stroke  of  the  pen  Matthew  draws  another  vivid  picture.  Priests,  Levites, 
and  doctors  in  the  holy  city  had  donned  their  robes  and  bound  on  their  phylacteries 
and  other  ecclesiastical  trappings  for  a  visit  to  the  great  river,  that  they  might  pass 
upon  John's  commission.  Sweeping  with  pomp  and  dignity  through  the  gates, 
they  mix  with  the  throng  on  the  slopes  of  the  Jordan,  tirst  with  a  conceited 
curiosity,  aud  then  with  a  bigoted  scowl.  But  John's  keen  eye  read  their  character, 
and  he  began  to  ply  them  with  solemn  invective.  In  the  desert  he  had  seen  the 
slimy  viper  gliding  through  the  moss ;  crafty,  malicious,  with  a  powerful  spring  and 
a  hollow  tooth  through  which  it  ejected  deadly  poison.  He  had  seen  the  brawny 
forester  swing  the  ax  to  cut  the  tap-root  of  a  tree  and  fell  it  for  burning.     And 


SIX  REBUKED.  23 

converting  these  into  lihuit  figures  nf  speecli,  lie  allied  his  visitors  witli  false 
teaeliers  from  the  'old  serpent"  who  could  not  be  trusted  for  a  moment.  Like  the 
Hat-headed,  ash-colored  reptile,  they  had  stung  the  sons  of  God  ;  and  with  bitter 
irony  he  compares  them  to  the  twisting  young,  ejected  from  their  dam,  to  hiss,  and 
fight  her  venomous  battles.  Scathiiig  them  with  cold  sarcasm,  he  demands, 
•  Uruod  of  vipers!  have  ye  come  to  my  baptism '^  What  sent  ydii  ^  The  i-ibbun 
on  your  robes  is  beautifully  blue,  the  ])liy]act(Ties  on  your  bmw  arc  n^iriiraridusly 
pious,  but  they  cloak  comiiilioii.  Delude  n..t  ycuii'si'lvcs  with  llic  th. night  that  ye 
are  Abraham's  sons.  His  blood  may  warm  ynur  veins,  but  ye  deny  his  (iod.  for 
3'our  souls  are  dead  to  his  faith,  lieliuld  the  stmies  at  your  feet,  and  know  that 
from  theni  God  is  able  to  raise  up  sons  to  Abraham.  One  word  from  his  mouth 
will  bring  from  the  adamant,  truer  Jewish  hearts  and  softer  than  those  that  beat  in 
you.'  lie  then  demanded  that  if  they  were  sincere  they  should  prove  this  by 
bringing  forth  fruits  worthy  of  repentance.  Nor  did  he  change  his  tone  with  his 
simile ;  for  when  he  dropped  the  lash  of  scorpions,  he  took  the  edge  of  the  wood- 
man's ax.  lie  could  not  away  with  their  sanctimonious  hair-splittings  and  religious 
tauipcrings,  but  would  hew  them  down  to  be  cast  into  the  fire. 

But  other  and  better  classes  of  the  peii|ik'  hailed  his  ministry  with  awe,  as 
from  God.  So  powerfully  did  divine  truth  mii\ f  them,  that  they  actually  reasoned 
in  their  hearts  concerning  John,  whether  he  liim^elf  were  not  the  Clu'ist.  How 
beautifully  our  Lord  Jesus  speaks  of  these,  when  he  would  know  of  the  rulers 
whether  John's  baptism  were  from  heaven  or  of  men.  '  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  that 
the  publicans  and  harlots  go  into  the  kingdom  of  God  before  you.  For  John  came 
to  you  in  the  way  of  righteousness,  and  ye  did  not  believe  him  ;  and  ye,  when  ye 
had  seen  it,  repented  not  afterward,  that  ye  nn'ght  believe  him.'  These  Rabbis 
were  in  the  habit  of  saying ;  '  That  if  the  nation  would  repent  but  one  day,  the 
Messiah  would  come,'  yet,  when  he  came,  they  themselves  were  obdm-ate.  And, 
when  publicans,  soldiers  and  others,  who  were  openly  sunk  in  sin,  came  to  the  Baj)- 
tist,  convicted  of  their  iniijuity,  it  was  with  the  saving  inquiry  ujiou  their  lips, 
'  Teacher,  what  shall  we  do  T  They  seemed  to  look  upon  their  own  case  as  ho]ie- 
less,  but  he  fortified  every  man  with  encouragement  at  his  weak  jioint.  He  tiild 
the  publicans,  to  'Exact  no  more  than  that  which  is  appointed  you.'  The  tax- 
gatherers,  to  whom  the  Romans  farmed  out  the  taxation,  were  extortionate  and 
cruel,  for  they  paid  so  much  to  the  govermnent  and  then  levied  their  own  rates. 
He  did  not  blame  them  for  filling  the  political  office,  but  he  charged  them  to  stop 
all  rapacity,  so  that  a  new  miracle  would  be  foimd,  when  men  should  see  au  honest 
pul)lican.  His  reply  was  of  great  breadth,  forbidding  them  to  confiscate  property 
by  unjust  exaction.  To  the  soldiers  he  replied  :  '  Do  violence  to  no  one,  neither 
accuse  any  falsely  ;  and  be  content  with  your  wages.'  Josephus  shows,  that  at  this 
very  time,  Herod  Antipas  was  sending  an  army  against  his  father-in-law,  Aretas, 
King  of  Arabia  Petrsea,  who  bad  declared  war  in  consequence  of  Herod's  bad 


24  PRE  AC  TUNG    TO    WAIUirOIiS. 

treatment  of  his  (l;iu<;;litcr.  Tliis  being  true,  their  ruute  woukl  lie  directly  tlirouirh 
the  region  wliei-e  -Idhn  was  preaching  and  immersing.  This  historian's  full 
description  of  .lohn  is  in  perfect  accord  with  the  spirit  <.if  the  above  statement. 
Tliese  hearers  of  the  Baptist  were  men  of  the  bow,  the  arrow,  the  sword  and  the 
shield ;  their  trade  was  war.  He  stood  l)efore  them  the  living  image  of  discipline 
and  self-denial,  and  demanded  of  them,  that  they  keep  the  insolent  licentiousness 
and  brutality  of  war  in  check,  and  disi-egard  the  lying  doctrine  that  might  makes 
right.  In  prosecuting  their  hard  craft,  godless  pillage  must  cease.  What  lessons 
of  love  were  these,  enbinx'd  iipoii  rough,  heathen  legions  by  which  an  unarmed 
yomig  Baptist  preacher  tamed  the  iicrceness  of  military  tigers,  and  I'emanded  des- 
perate warriors  back  to  the  camp  and  iii'ld,  made  by  thoir  new  faith  as  harmless  as 
doves.  Last  of  all,  he  threw  the  bridle  over  their  licence  of  riot  and  plunder,  to 
curl)  them  with  a  douhle  bit.  They  must  commit  no  robbery  ujion  the  conquei'ed, 
indulge  no  selfishness,  raise  no  mutiny  against  their  officers  to  get  more  pay,  but 
take  tlieir  three  oholoi  a  day ;  and  be  content. 

Such  a  scene  had  never  been  witnessed  on  earth,  and  the  most  remarkable  thing 
about  it  was,  that  so  sweeping  a  ministry  provoked  no  ])liysical  resistance.  Jewish 
priests  had  shed  streams  of  sacrificial  blood  at  the  altar  for  hundreds  of  years, 
whenever  the  nation  groaned  beneath  the  heel  of  its  foes.  They  sighed  for  the 
tender  mercy  of  God  to  rescue  them  from  tlie  hand  of  their  enemy,  and  guide 
their  feet  anew  into  the  way  of  peace.  But  now,  while  they  felt  the  rankling 
humiliation  of  abated  race,  and  their  lieai-ts  sank  as  they  looked  at  tlie  broken  scep- 
ter of  their  nation,  a  stern  pivaeher  of  their  own  race  stings  them  with  rebuke,  and 
demands  not  sacrifice  but  repentance.  The  Ark  of  the  Covenant  was  no  longer 
there  with  its  Tables  of  Stone.  Urim  and  Thunnnim  were  gone.  The  glory  of 
Bright  Presence  had  departed  forever  from  the  most  Holy  place.  The  Golden  Can- 
dlestick gave  no  light.  Their  ensigns  were  torn,  their  minstrelsy  hushed,  their  roy- 
alty beggared,  and  their  covenant  with  God  broken.  Was  not  this  enough  ?  Their 
hearts  sank  within  them  when  they  remembered  the  past,  in  which  they  were  never 
again  to  take  lot  or  part,  and  the  hatred  of  their  hearts  toward  their  foes  filled  them 
to  the  brim.  Yet,  without  one  word  of  sympathy  for  all  this,  they  were  warned  to 
flee  from  coming  wrath,  to  Innuble  themselves  under  the  mighty  hand  of  God,  to 
bury  all  their  old  sins  with  thoir  bodies  under  the  waves  of  Jordan,  and  to  rise  into 
the  New  Kingdom  ;  and  without  a  nuirmur  it  was  done ! 


D-Ui'l»il    Ul'    JlibL'S. 


_J 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE     BAPTISM     OF     JESUS. 

THE  Evangelist  says  that  Jesus  caiiie  fioin  (ialilee  to  tlie  Jordan  to  Joliii,  to  l)e 
immersed  by  him,  'But  John  sought  to  hinder  liim, saying:  I  liave  need  to  be 
inmiersed  of  thee,  and  dost  thou  come  to  me  ?  And  Jesus  answering  said  to  him : 
buffer  it  now  ;  for  thus  it  becomes  lis  to  fulfill  all  righteousness.  Then  he  suffered 
him.'  In  approaching  this  august  event,  the  foreiiiic  words  of  Godet  attract  our 
attention.     He  says  : ' 

'John  and  Jesus  resemble  two  stars  following  each  other  at  a  short  distance,  and 
both  passing  through  a  series  of  similar  cii-cumstaucus.  The  amiounceuient  of  the 
appearing  of  the  one  follows  close  upon  tiiat  of  the  appearing  of  the  other.  It  is 
the  same  with  their  twin  births.  This  relation  repeats  itself  in  the  commencement 
of  their  respective  ministries,  and  lastly  in  the  catastrophies  which  terminate  their 
lives.  And  j'et,  in  the  whole  course  of  the  career  of  these  two  men,  there  was  but 
one  personal  meeting — at  the  baptism  of  Jesus.  After  this  moment,  when  one  of 
the.se  stars  rapidly  crossed  the  orbit  of  the  other,  they  separated,  each  to  follow  the 
path  that  was  mai'ked  out  for  him.  It  is  this  moment  of  their  actual  contact  that 
the  Evangelist  is  about  to  describe.' 

The  meeting  was  worthy  of  both,  but  pre-eminently  worthy  of  tlic  Father  who 
directed  their  steps.  The  star  of  the  morning  was  herald  to  the  rising  Sun,  and  then 
faded  away  in  the  fullness  of  his  beams.  For  thirty  years  Jesus  was  secluded  in  Naz- 
areth, calmly  awaiting  the  ripe  day  for  his  public  work.  Eagerly  he  watched  the  shade 
on  the  dial,  to  indicate  that  his  hour  had  come  for  release  from  that  holy  restraint 
which  held  back  his  consuming  zeal.  Often  he  knelt  in  prayer  on  the  mountain- 
tops  which  overlook  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  till  the  sentinel  stars  took  their  stations 
ill  the  sky ;  and  then  returned  home,  silent  and  pensive,  to  wait  for  the  dawn  of  his 
ministry.  When  slumber  fell  upon  the  carpenter's  household,  Mary  often  reh.earsed 
to  him  the  ponderings  of  her  own  heart,  the  mysterious  secrets  of  his  birth,  and  the 
dealings  of  God  with  her  cousin  in  Hebron.  The  story  fell  upon  the  soul  of 
mother  and  Son  as  a  radiance  from  heaven,  full  of  sad  beauty  and  divine  love  ;  for 
the  dim  foreshadings  of  separation  moved  their  pure  hearts  to  the  parental  embrace 
and  the  good-night  kiss,  as  in  other  sweet  human  homes.  At  last,  the  moment 
came  when  a  sacred  attraction  drew  him  from  the  little  ui)land  town  and  dwelling 
forever;  save  on  one  brief  visit  to  the  plain  old  sanctuary,  where  his  young  heart 
had  been  warmed  by  the  words  of  the  Law. 

His  journey  from  Galilee  to  the  Jordan,  after  the  touch  of  parting  with  his 


26  JRSUS    aOES    TO    THE  JOItDAN. 

loved  ones,  stirred  heaven  with  a  dcepei-  interest  tlian  the  footsteps  of  man  had  ever 
excited,  for  then  he  recorded  tlie  liallowed  resolution  :  '  Lo,  I  eonie  lu  il^  rhv  will. 
O  God.'  Many  a  hard-fonii'lit  l)attle  hail  soaked  the  plain  whieh  he  crossed,  with 
blood;  but  that  day  he  went  Ini'th  sin^le-linnileil  ti)  the  hardest  war  that  had  ever 
been  waged  upon  this  globe.  After  he  had  swept  the  foot  of  Tabor,  at  every  step 
lie  trod  on  holy  ground.  And  when  he  reached  the  western  slope  of  the  Jordan, 
like  Jarob,  his  great  ancestor,  he  crossed  the  ford  that  he  might  lead  many  pilgrim 
bands  ii\er  a  darker  stream  'to  gloi'y.'  '  All  tbe  ptuple  bad  been  baptized,'  and  he 
])resente(l  himself  as  the  last  arrival  of  that  day,  becau>e  be  was  not  one  of  the  com- 
mon repenting  throng.  He  had  dune  iid  sin,  neither  was  guile  found  in  bis  mouth  ; 
hence,  remorse  never  broke  his  heart.  Yet,  be  numbered  himself  with  the  trans- 
gressors. At  the  close  of  his  ministry  he  was  to  sleep  in  a  sepulcher  wherein  never 
man  had  laid  ;  and  it  was  meet  that  in  opening  his  ministry  he  should  be  buried  in 
the  liquid  grave  alone,  and  separate  from  sinners.  Baptism  was  the  door  by  which 
he  entered  upon  his  work  of  saving  mediation.  The  Baptist  says,  that  u])  to  this 
time  he  'knew  him  not,'  as  if  he  had  not  met  him  liefore,  and  yet,  he  also  says,  '  I 
have  need  to  be  baptized  of  thee,'  as  if  he  knew  him  well.  This  apparent  discrep- 
ancy lias  led  to  large  discussion,  with  this  general  result ;  that  while  John  knew  him 
in  person  as  Jesus,  he  did  not  know  him  in  Messiahship  until  Jehovah  who  sent  him 
to  baptize  in  water  said  to  liim,  before  the  baptism  of  .lesus:  'Upon  whom  tliou 
shalt  see  the  Spirit  descending,  and  abiding  on  him,  the  same  is  be  who  baptizes  in 
the  Holy  Sj^irit.'  But  do  .lolnfs  words  necessarily  imply  that  he  was  ignorant,, 
either  of  the  person  or  Messiahship  of  Jesus,  before  his  bajitism  '.  ( )ne  great  pre- 
rogative of  the  Christ  was,  that  he  should  baptize  men  in  the  Holy  Spirit.  This 
fact  had  not  come  to  John's  knowledge  till  Jehovah  gave  him  the  special  I'evelation 
that  One  should  come  to  him  for  baptism,  on  whom  he  should  see  the  Spirit 
'descending  and  abiding,'  and  that  he  should  be  the  pre-eminent  Baptizer,  who 
should  baptize  in  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  thought  seems  to  have  struck  John  with 
deep  awe,  for  he  carefully  draws  a  contrast  between  his  own  baptism  which  M-as  '  in 
water '  only,  and  that  of  Christ  which  should  be  '  in  the  Holy  Spirit '  himself.  If  John 
did  not  know  him,  in  the  sense  of  the  Baptizer  in  the  Holy  Spirit  till  Jehovah  had 
announced  to  him  the  impending  token  and  its  signification,  then  we  can  well  un- 
derstand why  he  said  :  '  I  have  need  to  be  baptized  of  thee,  and  comest  thou  to 
me  ?'  The  revelation  that  Jesus  should  be  the  Baptizer  in  the  Spirit  was  special  to 
John  :  '  He  M'ho  sent  me  to  baptize  in  water  said  this  to  me.'  And,  it  was  said 
before  the  Baptism  of  Jesus,  for  the  visible  sign  of  the  descending  Spirit  crowned 
the  act  of  his  baptism.  H'  this  be  the  sense  of  John's  words,  the  Fourth  Gospel, 
written  A.  U.  07  or  9S,  throws  a  strong  light  upon  the  First,  written  about 
A.  D.  00. 

It  would  harmonize  exactly  with  the  known  methods  of  Divine  Providence  to 
suppose  that  the  hand  of  God  had  kept  them  apart  till  that  moment.     Jesus  had 


PnFJSEXTfi  HIMSELF  FOR   HAPriSM.  27 

lived  in  tho  north  and  Jolm  in  the  south  of  the  land,  and  we  know  of  no  high 
purpose  which  demanded  a  meeting  previously,  whilst  their  separation  must  silence 
all  sus])icion  of  combination  or  collusion  between  the  servant  and  his  Lord. 
(ialirifl  had  i>ut  ,Iulin  under  the  Nazarite's  vow  from  his  birth,  which  t'.\cm[(ted 
him  from  attendance  at  the  triple  annual  feasts,  so  that  they  had  imt  met  in  the 
metropolis.  Nor  had  John  gone  abroad  in  search  of  him.  This  was  not  his  work. 
He  must  wait  till  God  brought  them  lovingly  together.  That  time  of  manifestation 
to  Israel  would  come  of  itself.  John  went  to  the  Jordan  when  he  was  sent,  saying: 
'That  he  might  be  made  manifest  to  Israel,  lor  this  1  c-ame  baptizing  in  water.' 
Like  a  man  'sent  of  God,'  he  was  waiting  for  his  Master  to  show  himself  fully  and 
proniptly,  and  Jehovah  honored  his  faith  by  the  foretoken  agreed  upon  in  the 
visible  descent  of  the  Spirit.  Hence,  when  the  solitary  stranger  joined  the  throng 
on  the  approach  of  evening,  the  eagle-eyed  Baptist  kenned  him,  and  the  vision 
made  his  whole  being  cjuiver  with  expectation.  When  David  came  to  the  throne  in 
the  garb  of  a  young  shepherd,  the  Lord  said  to  Samuel :  '  Arise,  anoint  him,  this  is 
he !'  And,  why  should  not  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  had  '  prepared '  the  body  of  Jesus, 
and  tilled  the  soul  of  Jolm,  say  this  of  David's  Son  ? 

With  godlike  serenity  and  dignity  the  Prince  of  Peace  presented  himself  for 
baptism.  The  words  of  his  mouth,  the  repose  of  his  body,  the  purity  of  his  face, 
tiie  soul  of  his  eye,  overpowered  John  with  a  sense  of  reverend  princeliness. 
When  the  stern  herald  stood  face  to  face  with  the  Son  of  the  Highest  his  soul  was 
submerged  under  a  rare  humility,  which  extorted  the  cry:  'I  have  need  to  be 
baptized  of  thee,  and  comest  thou  to  me  ? '  Captivated  by  the  dignity  of  the 
Candidate,  and  abashed  by  his  own  inferiority,  he  was  helpless  as  a  child  before  this 
incarnate  God — this  shrine  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  He  who  had  walked  rough-shod 
over  all  pride,  and  had  leveled  all  distinctions  of  human  glory,  was  seized  with  the 
conviction  of  a  worthless  menial,  and  as  a  holy  man,  was  thoroughly  daunted  when 
the  Lord  sought  a  favor  of  his  own  servant.  The  reasons  are  apparent.  He  found 
the  Promised  of  all  pi-omises,  the  Antitype  of  all  types,  the  Expected  of  all  ages, 
standing  bufure  him  in  tiesh  and  blood,  and  he  was  startled  at  the  thought  of 
inducting  him  into  the  new  faith  by  the  new  ordinance;  for  his  baptism  was 
administered  to  the  penitent,  but  the  Nazarene  was  guiltless.  '  Suffer  it  now,  for 
thus  it  becomes  us  to  fulfill  all  righteousness.'  He  defers  to  John's  scruple,  and 
asks  for  the  new  baptism,  not  of  right,  but  on  sufferance.  What  did  Jesus  mean  by 
these  words? 

Viewed  in  any  light  it  seems  strange  that  Christ  should  have  sought  baptism  as 
a  high  privilege  which  he  could  not  forego,  for  what  could  it  confer  upon  him  % 
Augustine  beautifully  replies,  '  To  any  one  who  asks  this  question :  Was  it  needful 
for  the  Lord  to  be  born  ?  Was  it  needful  for  the  Lord  to  be  crucified  ?  Was  it 
needful  for  the  Lord  to  die  ?  Was  it  needful  for  the  Lord  to  be  buried  ?  If  he 
undertook  for  us  so  great  humiliatinn,  might  he  not  also  receive  baptism  '.     And 


VI  I, I' 

{  I.I 


28  WHY  HE  SO  roil  T  JIAPT/S.U. 

\vli;it  profit  was  there  tlmt  he  received  tlie  hajitisiii  of  a  servants  Tliat  thdii 
mi-litest  iK.t  disdain  to  I'eceive  tlie  baptism  of  tlie  Lord,  (iive  heed.  Iieloved 
bretlnvn.--  Jle  elearl.v  intended  to  render  ohe.lienre  to  .onie  law  of  his  Father. 
What  law^  He  had  lionoivd  i>verv  re(|nisition  of  the  Old  Covenant  l.v  elreuincis- 
ion,  obedience  to  parents,  hallowing  the  iSabbath,  temple  worship,  observance  of  the 
feasts,  all  except  in  bringing  the  sin-offerings.  For  a  full  generation  he  had  submitted 
to  every  claim  of  Jeliovali's  law  upon  him,  in  every  institution  and  ordinance.  But 
now  hisFatlier  had  established  tlie  la>t  test  of  obedience  in  the  baptism  of  John,  and 
Jesus,  born  under  ( iod's  hiw.  nm.-t  honor  the  new  divine  precept.  Jesus  himself  gave 
this  i-eason  when  he  accused  the  l^harisees  and  lawyeiv  with  ivjecting  'The  .■ouusel 
of  (iod  toward  themselves'  in  not  having  been  baptize.l  by  John.^  The  will  of  (.od 
was  his  oidy  reason  for  ..beying  any  law;  he  hehl  it  an  act  of  obedience  to  keep  all 
the  Divine  appointments.  Although  not  a  sinner  himself,  he  impleaded  to  be 
treateil  as  a  siniiei- ;  therefore  he  humbled  himself  to  receive  a  sinner's  baptism,  as 
well  as  to  submit  to  a  sinner's  death.  This  dee]i  mark  of  mediatorial  sympathy  and 
mystery  must  have  cJitered  largely  into  his  plea,  'Suffer  it  now.'  "With  great 
clearness  Geikie  puts  this  point:  'J'.aptisnj  was  an  ordinance  of  God  recpiired  by 
his  prophet  as  the  introduction  of  the  new  dispensation.  It  was  a  jiart  of 
"righteousness,"  that  is,  it  was  a  part  of  (iod's  commandments  which  Jesus  came 
into  the  world  to  show  us  the  example  of  fullilling,  both  in  the  letter  and  in  the 
spirit.'''  Ilis  baptism  was  the  channel  through  which  the  Divine  attestation  could 
best  be  given  to  his  Messianic  dignity;  aiul  wlu'u  we  consider  that  lie  had  reached 
the  full  maturity  of  all  his  human  powers  of  mind  and  body,  this  numner  of 
entering  upon  his  public  work  gave  a  mutual  and  jiublic  sanction  to  the  nnssion 
both  of  John  and  Jesus. 

Yet,  with  vuv  Lord's  interpretation  of  his  own  words  befoi-e  their  eyes,  men 
will  insist  upon  it  that  he  was  initiated  into  his  sacrificial  work  by  baptism,  in 
imitation  of  the  mere  ceremonial  ablutions  of  the  Aaronical  priesthood.  Jesiis  was 
not  even  of  Aaron's  line  as  was  John,  much  less  of  his  office,  but  sprang  of  the  tribe 
of  .ludah,  of  which  tribe  'Moses  spake  notliing  concerning  priesthood.'  Did  Jesus 
receive  the  vestments,  the  consecrating  oil,  or  any  other  priestly  insignia  ?  Even 
when  he  made  his  sin-offering,  and  assumed  the  Christian  High.-priesthood.  three 
years  after  his  baptism,  lie  neither  assumed  the  vesture  nor  breastplate,  the  censer 
nor  miter  of  Aaron.  Because  he  was  not  matle  n  IIigh-]iricst  after  the  order  of 
Aaron,  but  after  the  order  of  jMelchizedee,  who  knew  nothing  of  sacred  oils, 
ablutions,  or  vestments.  How  much  better  is  it  than  a  solemn  caricature  to  set 
forth  the  baptism  of  Jesus  as  an  idle,  emjjty,  ritualistic  pageant?  lie  came  to 
abolish  and  cast  aside  forever  the  Aaronical  priesthood  with  the  economy  that  it 
served,  and  how  could  he  do  this  by  submission  to  any  ceremonial  act  which  they 
observed  ?  John  felt  the  binding  force  of  Christ's  words,  when  lie  appealed  to  the 
obligations  of  spotless  holiness,  and   he   threw  aside  his  objections  in  a  moment. 


JESUS  IMMERSED. 


29 


.-^'^ 


With  gratitude  and  grace  he  yiehled  and  obeyed.  He  found  tliut  his  Master  was 
under  the  same  law  of  obedience  as  liiniself,  and  witli  lioly  pi-oniptitude  lie  honored 
the  sacred  trust  which  God  had  put  into  his  own  hands,  but  which  no  other  man  had 
ever  yet  held.  'Then  he  suffered  him.'  O!  sublime  grandeur — awful  honor! 
And  wlien  the  great  Baptist  bowed  tlie  innnaculate  soul  and  body  of  Jesus  beneath 
the  jjarting  wave,  all  the  useless  ceremonies  of  past  ages  sank  together  like  lead,  to 
find  a  grave  in  the  opening  waters  of  the  Jordan,  and  no  place  has  since  been  found 
for  tlicui. 

Tills  traditional  spot  is  fixed  in  hiinian  memory  as  are  points  on  the  Tiber,  the 
Thames,  and  the  Delaware,  where  great  armies  have  crossed.     It  is  a  little  east  of 
Jericho,  near  by  the  conquest  of 
Joshua,  also  where  David  crossed 
in  his  flight.     Christian  pilgrims 
and  scholars  have  visited  it  for 
centuries,  Origen   in   the   third, 
Eusebius  in  the  fourth,  Jerome 
in  the  fifth,  and  millions  of  oth- 
ers down  to  our  day.     Its  thick 
willow  groves  are  used  as  robing 
rooms,  whence  Copts  and  Syrians, 
Armenians  and  Greeks,  go  down 
into   the    Jordan    and    immerse 
themselves    three    times   in   the 
name  of  the  Trinity.     The  place 
so    fascinates    and    subdues    the 
spirit  that  the  visitors  of  every 
land  and   creed,  reverently  descend  into  the  stream  once  a  year.     '  Having  been 
baptized,  Jesus  went  up  immediately  out  of  the  water ;  and  lo.  the  heavens  were 
opened  to  him,  and  he  saw  the  Spirit  of  God  descending,  as  a  dove,  and  coming 
upon  him.    And  lo.  a  voice  out  of  heaven,  saying :  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom 
I  am  well  pleased.'     To  this  account  taken  from  Matthew,  Luke  adds:  That  the 
heavens  were  opened  while  Jesus  was  ^praying,^  that  the  Spirit  took  '  the  hxlihi 
shape'  of  a  dove,  and  the  Baptist  says,  that  he  saw  the  Spirit  ^ahiding  on  him." 

The  time  of  our  Lord's  baptism  may  here  be  examined  with  profit.  Luke 
says :  '  Tiiat  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius  Ctesar,  the  word  of  God 
came  to  John,  the  son  of  Zacharias,  in  the  wilderness;'  at  which  time  he  entered 
on  his  public  ministry.  And,  again,  that  Jesus  began  his  ministry  when  he  was 
about  thirty  years  of  age.^  This  last  statement  has  the  value  of  a  date  in  a  letter. 
The  fifteenth  year  of  Tiberius  dates  from  the  time  that  he  commenced  his  joint  reign 
with  Augu.stus.  'Reckoning  thus,  the  year  70.5,  from  Januai-y  to  January,  as  the 
first  of  Tiberius,  the  fifteenth  is  the  year  779,  from  the  founding  of  Rome.     Some 


.  ...-^ 


REPUTED  SPOT  OF  ( 


rnosELYTh:  haptism. 


tiini',    tlicli,    in   771>,   is  the   lic:;iiniiii<;-  cf   .lulm"; 

<  niini>try  to  1)0  jilaced.     Alltnvini^ 

tliat  his  lahui-s  IkmI   ciiitiniKMl   six  iiK.iitlis   hi'inn 

L'  tlic  Lord    was  baptized,  we   reaoh 

in  tliis  way,  al...,tlic  niuntli  of  .lannarv.  Tsn.      ' 

riiere  is  good  I'eason  to  believe  tliat 

in    Drcfinhcr   ..r  .lanuary.  -lesns    was    l,a|.ti/.c(] 

,  yet  the  day  of  the  montli  is  very 

nncci'tain."''     As  J ol in  and  Jesiis  were  linrn  wii 

thin  six  months  of  each  otliei',  in  the 

year  74'.»,  ( 'iirist's  baptism  must  have  occurivd  S' 

uniewhere  near  the  above  date,  as  lie 

was  then  'about  thirty  years  of  age.' 

AVhat  act  pertornied  by  John  is  called  bajitism:'  John  was  his  proper  name, 
and  the  terni  •lJai)tist"  added  by  the  inspired  writers,  is  a  title  of  otHee,  as  IJloom- 
field  thinks,  'To  distinguish  him  from  John  the  Evangelist.'  By  this  name  lie  was 
known  jire-etninently  as  the  administrator  of  the  religious  rite  called  baptism.  That 
is,  according  to  Lidded  and  Sc(.tt,  "one  that  di|)s;"  oi-  Doiiegan,  'one  who  immerses 
or  submerges.'  Dean  ^Stanley  says:  'On  philological  grounds,  it  is  (piitc  correct 
to  translate  John  the  Baptist,  by  John  the  Imincrser.'  (X:i,.t,,„th  ('mfurii) 
Baptism  is  a  fundamental  jiractice  in  Christianity,  which  has  run  through  all 
its  ages.  Of  baptism,  in  association  with  John,  Kdwar<l  Irving  says:  ''J'liis  is 
the  first  liaptismal  service  upon  record.  The  new  riti'  of  l)a]itisni,  unknown 
under  the  Mosaic  dispensation.' '  Much  has  been  said  on  the  suiiject  of  Proselyte 
Baptism,  whereby  lieatlien  converts  were  inducted  into  the  Jewisli  faith,  and  so, 
many  have  depreciated  John's  baptism  as  a  mere  imitation  of  an  existing  rite. 
But  modern  scholarsliip  has  shown  conclusively  that  the  reverse  of  this  is  true,  and 
that  Proselyte  Baptism  is,  in  fact,  an  imitation  of  the  Christian  rite,  incorporated 
into  Judaism  after  the  Destruction  of  Jerusalem,  A.  D.  70.  It  is  true,  that  tlie 
Jews  from  early  times  used  various  symbolical  lustrations  as  well  as  the  Gentiles, 
but  these  were  always  purely  ceremonial,  and  were  ne\-er  used  as  a  rite  liy  which 
others  were  inducted  into  their  faith.  Josephus  says,  that  many  of  these  washings 
amongst  tlie  Jews  were  purely  of  their  own  wid,  without  direction  from  the  Lord,' 
and  Von  Eohden  denies  that  they  were  ']iei-foi-iiied  by  innnersion.'  He  also  points 
out  these  fundamental  differences:  'The  w-ashings  enjoined  by  the  Law  had  for 
their  object  purification  from  ceremonial  defilement ;  but  the  baptism  of  John  did 
not:  the  one  rite  was  performed  by  the  candidates  themselves  upon  tlieir  own 
persons :  the  other  was  administered  to  its  recipient  by  the  Baptist  himself,  or  by 
one  of  his  disciples  properly  authorized  :  the  former  was  I'epeated  upon  every  occa- 
sion of  renewed  defilement;  the  latter  was  performed  U]ion  the  candidate  only 
once  for  all.  The  two  ceremonies,  therefore,  were  essentially  different  in  their 
nature  and  object.'^  The  first  witness  in  favor  of  Proselyte  Baptism  is  found  in 
the  Coiunieiitary  of  the  Talmud,  which  was  composed  in  the  fifth  century  after 
Christ,  and  it  represents  the  rite  as  existing  in  the  first  century.'"  But  this 
Commentary  is  not  valid  history,  it  is  mere  tradition  at  the  most,  and  does  not 
carry  the  ceremony  back  so  far  as  John  ;  nor  could  it  have  been  known  at  that  time, 
for  had  it  been,  the  Jews  would  have  scouted  John's  baptism,  instead  of  submitting 


DID    THE  JEWS   IMMEIISE?  SI 

to  it,  because  it  would  have  placed  them  on  a  level  with  the  Iieathen  as  converts 
to  the  new  faith.  Proselytes  to  Judaism  were  divided  into  proseUites  of  the  gate, 
and  proscbjtcs  of  righteoumess.  The  tirst  class  had  renounced  idolatry,  and  bound 
tiiemselves  to  keep  the  seven  Noachic  precepts,  against  idolatry,  profanity,  incest, 
murder,  theft,  eating  blood  and  tilings  strangled,  and  permitting  a  murderer  to 
live.  The  second  class  not  only  renounced  heathenism,  but  became  Israelites  in 
every  respect  excepting  birth.  Males  were  admitted  into  Judaism  by  circumcision, 
females  liy  a  IVct'-will  dlTcring:  after  Christ,  the  Jews  added  baptism  for  both  sexes 
admitted  into  their  I'aitli. 

Dr.  Lightfoot  thus  describes  this  baptism,  as  tlie  Jews  practiced  it  in  after 
Christian  times:  'As  soon  as  he  grew  whole  of  the  wound  of  circumcision,  the}' 
bring  him  to  baptism,  and  being  placed  in  the  water,  they  again  instruct  him  in 
some  weightiei-  and  in  s(jme  lighter  conunands  of  the  law' — then,  'he  plunges  him- 
self, and  comes  up,  and  behold,  he  is  an  Israelite  in  all  things.  The  women  place  a 
woman  in  the  waters  up  to  the  neck,  and  two  disciples  of  the  wise  men  standing 
without,  instruct  her  about  some  lighter  precepts  of  the  law,  and  some  weightier, 
while  she,  in  the  meantime,  stands  in  the  waters.  And  then  she  plungeth,  and  they, 
turning  away  their  faces,  go  out  while  she  comes  up  out  of  the  water.' '^  Mai- 
nionides  gives  this  circumstantial  account  also:  'Every  person  baptized  (or  dipped, 
whether  he  were  washed  from  pollution,  or  baptized  into  proselytism)  must  dip  his 
whole  liddy,  now  stripped  and  made  naked,  at  one  dipping.  And  wheresoever  in 
till'  Law.  washing  of  the  body  or  garments  is  mentioned,  it  means  nothing  else  than 
the  washing  of  the  whole  body.  For  if  any  wasli  liinisclf  all  over  except  the  very  tip 
of  his  little  finger,  he  is  still  in  his  uncleanness." '•  ( )n  the  same  sul^ject,  Geikie 
well  says :  '  Bathing  in  Jordan  had  been  a  sacred  symbol,  at  least,  since  the  days  of 
Naaman,  but  immersion  by  one  like  John,  with  strict  and  humbling  confession  of 
sin,  sacred  vows  of  amendment,  and  hope  of  forgiveness,  if  they  proved  lasting, 
and  all  this  in  preparation  for  the  Messiah,  was  something  wholly  new  in  Israel.''^ 
In  this  case,  circumcision  availed  nothing,  nor  did  uncircumcision,  but  a  new  creature. 
Jew  and  heathen  must  alike  be  immersed  into  the  new  faith,  or  they  could  not  be 
numbered  amongst  its  votaries.  This  view  is  presented  also  by  Godet.  He  says : 
'The  rite  of  baptism,  which  consisted  in  the  plunging  of  the  body  more  or  less 
completely  into  water,  was  not  at  this  period  in  use  among  the  Jews,  neither  for  the 
Jews  themselves,  for  whom  the  law  only  prescribed  lustrations,  nor  for  proselytes 
from  paganism,  to  whom,  according  to  the  testimony  of  history,  baptism  was  not 
applied  until  after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem.  The  very  title,  Baptht,  given  to  John, 
sufficiently  proves  that  it  was  he  who  introduced  this  rite.  This  follows,  also,  from 
John  i,  25,  where  the  deputation  from  the  Sanhedrin  asks  him  by  what  right  he 
baptizes,  if  he  is  neither  the  Messiah  nor  one  of  the  jn-opliets,  which  implies  that 
this  rite  was  introduced  by  him  ;  and  further,  from  John  iii,  2*1,  where  the  disci- 
ples of  John  make  it  a  ciiarge  against  Jesus,  that  he  adopted  a  ceremony  of  which 


32 


LIXDSAY   ON  .IE WISH   r.M'TIsM. 


till'  institution,  and  consequently,  acconling  to  tlieni,tlie  monopoly,  belonged  to  their 
master; '^^ 

It  is  cleai'  enough,  that  .Inlin  did  not  pick  up  and  use  an  old,  effete  institution, 
and  adopt  it  as  the  door  into  tlie  New  x\ge  of  the  great  salvation,  but  that  his  'baptism 
was  from  heaven,'  as  directly  fmni  (  u»\  as  iiis  commission  to  pi-eacli.  The  preaching, 
tlie  baptism,  and  the  man,  were  all  newly  sent  from  God  to  ushei'  in  the  Gospel  Day. 

Prof.  Lindsay,  of  Glasgow,  says :  '  The  connection  between  the  baptism  of  John 
and  the  Jewish  baptism  of  proselytes,  of  which  a  great  deal  has  been  made,  is  also 
founded  on  assumptions  which  cannot  be  proved.  This  very  plausible  theory  fii'st 
assumes  that  proselytes  were  baptized  from  the  early  time  of  the  Jewish  Chui'ch, 
although  the  Old  Testament  tells  us  nothing  about  it,  and  then  supposes  that  Jt)hn 
simply  made  use  of  this  ordinary  rite  for  the  purpose  of  declaring  syndiolically  that 
the  whole  Jewish  nation  were  disfranchised,  and  had  to  be  readmitted  into  the  s])ir- 
itual  Israel,  by  means  of  the  same  ceremony  \\hich  gave  entrance  to  members  of 
heathen  nations.  I'ut  the  subject  ot  the  baptism  uf  proselytes  is  one  of  the  most 
hopelessh  obscure  m  the  \\hole  lound  ot  Jewish  aiitiipiitu  s.  and  can  never  be  safely 
assiuned  m  an\  alignment,  an<l  tin  i;(  neial  K  suits  ot  in\  csti:;ation  seem  to  prove  that 

the   bapti 


JcWJsll  , 

dl(  suits 

proseljtes  was 
not  one  of  the 
Jewish  ceremo- 
nies until  long 
atter  the  coming 
of  Christ,  while 
there  is  much 
to  suggest  that 
this  tft^wish  I'ite 
owes  its  origin 
to  Ciiristian 
baptisu].''"  And 
__^^  Ilerzog  w  1  ites 
~  Z^  '  The  later  ori- 
gin of  ]irosel_\te 
Tin  FOhiis  OF  joii.vN  baptism  is  to  be 

accepted."'' 
The  place  where  he  administered  tlie  ordinance  de- 
mands our  attention,  namely :  the  great  river  of  Palestine, 
the  Jordan.  Some  of  the  most  interesting  associations  of 
sacred  story  cluster  around  this  stream.  Israel  first  knew 
it  when  they  crossed  its  channel  dry-shod,  in  their  flight 
from  bondage.  From  that  moment  it  was  the  silver 
thread  on  which  the  historic  memories  of  the  nation  were  strung,  as  pearls  on  a 
necklace;  John  and  Jesus  being  the  brightest  gems  that  ever  shone  in  the  line.  It 
takes  its  source  in  about  33°  25'  of  north  latitude  in  a  fountain  near  Hasbeiya,  west 
of  Mount  Hermon.  although  Josephus  locates  its  rise  in  the  larger  fountains  near 
Cfesarea-Philippi ;  and  then  it  passes  through  the  lake,  or  what  is  called  in  Josh.  xi. 
.">-7,  '  the  waters  of  Merom.'  Emerging  thence,  it  flows  rapidly  through  a  narrow 
and  rocky  ravine,  till  it  empties  into  the  lake  of  Galilee,  and  from  the  southern  end 


THE  SACRED    IlIVi:!!.  S3 

thereof  it  flows  through  the  valley  down  to  the  Dead  Sea,  into  which  it  empties,  in 
lat.  31°  46'.  The  distance  from  the  lake  of  Galilee  to  the  Dead  Sea  is  about  56 
geographical  miles,  but  the  many  windings  of  the  channel  make  about  150  miles 
between  these  points.  Its  width  will  average,  according  to  Schaff,  'from  60  to  100 
feet,  and  its  depth  from  5  to  12  feet.'  The  valley  of  the  Jordan-  runs  from  five  to 
six  miles  in  width,  and  is  inclosed  by  mountains;  in  many  places  it  is  remarkable  for 
its  luxuriant  fertility.  The  exact  spot  where  John  first  used  this  Divine  baptistry 
cannot  now  be  positively  identified.  Anciently,  it  was  known  as  'Bethabara,'  sup- 
posed to  be  about  three  miles  from  Jericho,  and  his  second  baptismal  scene  was 
farther  north,  being  known  as  'Eiion,  near  Salem.'  Each  eminent  writer  and  trav- 
eler now  lixcs  upon  some  picturesque  locality,  often  selected  largely  on  j^oetical 
taste;  but  all  conjecture  fails  to  point  it  out  definitely.  Some  pitch  on  a  lino 
between  Gilgal  and  Jericho,  and  some  still  farther  north,  at  the  ford  where  (Jideou 
threw  up  fortifications  against  his  foes.  But  as  the  whole  valley  was  filled  with 
crowds  of  candidates,  from  the  Salt  Sea  to  the  head-waters,  it  is  most  likely  that  he 
used  various  places,  especially  as  John,  x,  49,  speaks  of  the  ])lace  where  he  ^ first 
baptized.'  Frequently,  reckless  writers  rush  into  random  statements,  and  assert 
that  its  depth  would  not  allow  of  immersion,  utterly  regardless  of  all  topographical 
exploration,  such  as  that  made  by  Lieutenant  Lynch,  of  the  United  States  Navy. 
Yet,  Jehovah  found  it  necessary  to  divide  the  waters  for  Israel  and  Elijah,  while 
Pococke  and  other  explorers  estimate  its  daily  discharges  into  the  Dead  Sea,  to  be 
about  6,000,000  tons  of  water,  i' 

Dr.  SchafE  ('Through  Bible  Lands,  1S78)  speaks  thus  :  'At  the  bathing  place 
of  the  Pilgrims,  the  traditional  site  of  Christ's  baptism,  the  river  is  80  feet  broad 

and  9  feet'^deep \fr.T  the  salt  batli  In  tlic  lak.'  of  .leatli  it  wa>  like  a  bath  of 

regeneration.  I  ininii'ivr.l  iii\>.'ll'  /, //  time-,  and  I'cir  >n  (■(.mt'oitalili'.  that  I  almost 
imagined  I  wasmiraculou-ly  ilclivrriMl  iVum  rliciiiiiati-in.  I  ha\'r  |iliiiii:cil  into  many 
a  river  and  many  a  lake,  and  into  the  waters  of  tlie  ocean,  but  of  all  the  baths,  that 
in  the  Jordan  will  linger  longest  in  my  memory.' 

Was  John's  baptism  a  burial  in  water  or  not  ?  Candid  minds  can  scarcely 
doubt  what  this  action  was,  when  they  weigh  the  meaning  of  the  Greek  word 
haptizo,  the  places  where  he  administered  it,  and  all  its  attendant  circumstances. 
John,  as  well  as  all  other  sacred  speakers  used  words  in  their  commonly  accepted 
sense,  of  their  times,  and  this  is  as  true  of  this  word  as  of  any  other.  Its  sense  is 
easily  found.  Conant,  the  great  philologist  and  translator,  gives  a  complete  mono- 
graph of  the  root  word,  in  his  '■  Baptizein^  taken  from  the  best  known  Greek 
authors,  running  from  B.  C.  500  to  the  eleventh  century  A.  D. ;  and,  in  168  exam- 
ples fi-om  the  Greek  literature,  covers  both  the  literal  or  physical,  and  the  tropical 
or  figurative,  sense  of  the  word.  Their  whole  scope  shows  that  the  ground  meaning 
of  the  word  is  :  'To  immerse,  immerge,  submerge,  to  dip,  to  plunge,  to  imbathe,  to 
whelm.'  A  few  of  these  examples,  taken  from  objects  already  in  water,  will  clearly 
illustrate  its  sense  : 


34  MEANING    OK  liAl'TTZO. 

Pindar,  horn  B.  C.  522  years,  in  likening  liiuiBclf  to  a  cork  floating  on  the  top 
of  a  net,  says  :  '  When  the  rest  of  the  tackle  is  t'jiiing  deep  in  the  sea,  I,  as  a  cork- 
above  the  ilet,  am  niihaptizcd  (inidii)]ic.l)  in  the  hnne';!*"  Aristotle,  burn  B.  C.  384, 
speaking  of  discovri'ics  iii:idr  licvdiid  tlic  i'ilhirs  of  Hercules,  says,  that  the  Plie- 
iiician  colonists  of  (indiiM.  •(■.■imc  (..  cri-tnin  dc~ii-r  jilacesfuU  of  rushes  and  sea-weed  ; 
which,  when  it  is  ebb-tide,  ai'u  not  hnjitr.,  ,1  (ovcrllowed),  but  when  it  is  flood-tide  are 
overflowed.'-"  Polybius,  born  l!.  C.  I'n:,.  speaking  of  the  sea-battle  between  Philip 
and  Attains,  tells  of  one  vessel  as  •  jiiei-eed,  and  being  baptized  (iinmergeil)  by  a 
hostile  ship.^'  Again,  in  his  account  of  tlie  naval  engagement  between  the  Konians 
and  ("aithaginians,  he  accords  the  greater  skill  to  the  latter.  'Kow  sailing  round 
and  now  attacking  in  flank  the  more  advanced  of  the  pursuers,  while  turning  and 
eiiibarnissed  on  account  of  the  weight  of  the  shi|>s  and  the  iinskillfulncss  of  the 
erews,  tliey  made  continued  assaults  and  ••  A./y-//,:- (/"  (>uid<)  niaiiv  nf  the  ships. '-- 
Sti-abo,  iH.'rn  B.  C.  60,  says  that  abuut  Agrigeiituni,  in  Sieily,  tlicTe'are  '  Marsh-lakes, 
having  the  taste  indeed  of  sea- water,  iiut  of  a  dillerent  nature  ;  for  even  those  who 
cannot  swim  are  not  hnjiti-id  (^innnerscd),  floating  like  pieces  of  wood.'-^  In  the 
same  work  he  speaks  of  Alexander's  army  marching  on  a  narrow,  flooded  beach 
of  the  Pamphilian  Sea,  in  these  words:  'Alexander  hajipening  to  be  there  at  the 
stormy  season,  and,  accustomed  to  trust  for  the  nu:)st  i)art  to  fortune,  set  forward 
before  the  swell  subsided  ;  and  they  marched  the  whole  day  in  water ;  hupthed 
(iiuinei-sed)  IIS  far  as  to  the  waist.'^i  'Diodorus,  who  «-rote  about  B.  C.  60-30,  reports 
tlu'  ( 'aitliauiiiian  aiiiiy  defeated  on  the  bank  of  the  river  Crimissus  ;  and  that  many 
of  them  perislied  lieeause  the  stream  was  swollen  :  'The  river  rushing  down  with 
the  eui-rent  inereasetl  in  violence,  baptized  (submerged)  many,  and  destroj'ed  them 
attempting  to  swim  through  with  their  armor.' ^  "He  also  describes  the  annual 
overflow  of  the  Nile  thus  :  'Most  of  the  wild  land  animals  are  surrounded  by  the 
stream  and  perish,  being  huptiziil  (sulimerged) ;  but  some,  escaping  to  the  high 
grounds,  are  saved.' -^ 

These  examples  bring  us  down  to  John's  dav  and  ftdlv  sustain  the  learned 
Devlin-ius.  when  he  savs  of  him:  'He  received  th'e  name  f,,'n  fluptisi.,,,,  fn.ni  the 
otKee  of  solemn  ablution  and  inuuersion,  in  whi<-h  he  otlielaled  l,v  a  (li\  iiie  .-ommaud. 
For  the  word  hn^ifl-rst/uii,  in  the  usage  of  (ireek  authoi>.  .-i-liitie--  immersion  and 
demersion.'"'  Josephus,  born  A.  D.  37,  frequemlN  ii>r~  thi-  w.rd,  and  always  in 
the  same  sense.  The  following  are  noteworthy  examples  :  Ari>tobulus  was  drowned 
by  his  companions  in  a  swimming  bath,  and  in  relating  the  murder  he  says:  'Con- 
tinually pressing  down  and  hiiptizlmj  (innnersing)  him  while  swimming,  as  if  in 
sport,  they  did  not  desist  till  they  had  entirely  suifocated  him.'-*  He  also  describes 
the  contest,  in  his  'Jewish  War,'  between  the  Ivomans  and  the  Jews,  on  the  Sea  of 
Galilee,  and  says  of  the  Jews  :  '  They  suffered  harm  before  they  could  inflict  any, 
and  were  haptizc-d  (submerged)  along  with  their  vessels.  .  .  .  And  those  of  tlie 
baptized  who  raised  their  heads,  either  a  missile  reached,  or  a  vessel  overtook.' 
Again,  in  desci'ibing  his  own  shipwreck,  he  says  :  '  Our  vessel  having  been  baptized 
(sunk)  in  the  midst  of  the  Adriatic,  being  about  six  hundred  in  number,  we  swam 
through  the  whole  night.'  Lucian,  born  about  A.  D.  135,  in  a  satire  on  the  love  of 
the  marvelous,  tells  of  men  that  he  saw  running  on  the  sea.  The}'  were  like  him- 
self except  that  they  had  cork-feet.  He  says  :  '  We  wondered,  therefore,  when  we 
saw  them  not  baptized,  (immersed)  but  standing  above  the  waves  and  traveling  on 
without  fear.'^s  Dion  Cassins,  born  155  A.  D.,  says  of  the  defeated  forces  at  t'tica 
who  rushed  to  their  ships  and  overloaded  them,  that :  some  of  them  were  '  thrown 
down  by  the  jostling,  in  getting  on  board  the  vessels,  and  others  baptized  (sub- 
merged) in  the  vessels  themselves,  by  their  own  weight.'^"  In  the  same  work  he 
gives  an  account  of  the  sea-fight  between  Marc  Antony  and  Augustus,  at  Actium, 
when,  near  the  close  of  the  battle,  men  esca]icd  from  the  burning  ships.  He  says: 
'  others  leaping  into  the  sea  were  drowned,  or  struck  by  the  enemy  were  bap>tized, 
(submerged).'  ^"^ 


TESTIMONY   OF  SCIIOl.AIiS.  35 

These  citations  from  classic  Greek  writers,  covering  about  700  years,  includiiio; 
the  Apostolic  Age,  unite  in  describing  things  on  which  water  was  poured,  or  wliicli 
were  partially  innnersed,  as  n}il>aj)tlzecl  ,•  while  others,  which  were  dipped  or  plunged 
in  water  and  overwhelmed,  they  declare  to  have  been  baptized ;  showing,  that  when 
the  sacred  peuuien  use  the  same  word  to  describe  the  act  of  John  in  the  Jonluii. 
they  use  it  in  the  same  sense  as  otlior  Greek  uuthors,  namely  :  to  express  tlic  art 
of  dipping  or  immersion. 

This  cumulative  evidence  fully  justifies  Calvin  in  saj'ing  :  'Baptism  was  admin- 
istered by  John  and  Clirist,  by  the  submersion  of  the  whole  body."  ^-  Tertullian, 
the  great  Latin  fatluT.  A.  T).  l'0(I,  als..  siys  :  '  Xur  is  tlinv  any  matiTial  difference 
between  those  wlioin  .loliii  dipped  in  the  Jordan,  and  tlio.-e  wIkhii  i'eter  dipped  in 
the  Tiber.' ^  So  Lightfoot :  '  That  the  baptisu)  of  .lolni  was  by  the  inunersion  of 
the  body,  seems  evident  from  those  things  which  are  related  concerning  it;  namely, 
that  he  baptized  in  the  .]or<lan,  and  in  Enon,  because  there  was  much  water,  and 
that  Christ  being  bapti/til  went  np  i>nt  of  the  water."*  MacKnight  says  the  same 
thing:  'Christ  submitted  to  be  l)aptized,  that  is,  to  be  buried  under  the  water  by 
John,  and  to  be  raised  out  of  it  again.'  ^  Olshausen  agrees  with  these  interpreters, 
for  he  says:  'John,  also,  was  baptizing  in  the  neighborhood,  because  the  water  there 
being  deep,  afforded  conveniences  for  submersion.'^  De  AVette  bears  the  same 
testimou}- :  '  They  were  baptized,  immersed,  submerged.  This  is  the  proper  mean- 
ing of  the  frequentative  form  of  haj)to,  to  immerse.'  ^'  And  Alford,  on  Matt,  iii,  (5, 
says :  '  The  baptism  was  administered  in  the  day-time  by  immersion  of  the  whole 
person.' 

Tliese  authorities  al)undantly  show  that  our  Lord,  in  recpiiring  the  first  act  of 
obedience  on  the  pait  of  his  new  disciple,  employed  a  Greek  word  in  common  use 
for  expressing  tlie  most  familiar  acts  of  every-day  life.  And  the  testimony  of  the 
Septuagint,  the  Greek  version  of  tlie  Gld  Testament,  completed  B.  C.  285,  harmonizes 
exactly  with  this  use.  When  ipioting  tlie  Hebrew  Scriptures,  Jesus  and  his  apostles 
generally  used  this  version.  Here  the  Greek  word  '  elaptisato^  is  used  to  translate 
the  Hebrew  word  'tavaV  (2  Kings  v,  1-i),  where  the  English  version  also  renders  it 
by  the  word  'dipped,'  to  express  the  act  of  Naaman  in  the  river  Jordan.  The  word 
'■tavaV  is  used  fifteen  times  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  is  rendered  in  our  common 
English  version  fourteen  times  by  'dip,'  and  once  (Job  ix,  31)  by  'plunge.'  In 
Gen.  xxxvii,  31,  the  Jewish  scholars  who  made  the  Septuagint  version  rendered 
'inohino^  to  stain,  the  effect  of  dipping,  as  in  dyeing,  this  being  the  chief  thought 
whicli  the  translator  would  express.  It  is  also  worthy  of  note  that  the  preposition 
'<n'  is  rendered  'mi'  before  Jordan  in  all  the  eoinnioiily  received  versions  of  the 
English  New  Testament  (Matt,  iii,  6),  namely:  in  that  of  Wiclif,  1380:  Tyndal, 
1534;  Cranmer,  1539;  Geneva,  1557;  Rheims,  1582;  and  King  James,  Kill.  In 
the  last  named  '?/'///*'  was  afterward  substituted  for  '//;,'  but  it  is  restored  by  the 
late  Anglo-American  revisers. 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE    BAPTIST'S    WITNESS    TO    CHRIST. 

JOHN  gave  a  tlircefold  testinioiiy  to  Clirist.  As  a  pi-npliet,  lie  piMclaimed  tlie 
kingdom  of  (iod,  through  the  Messiah;  as  a  preadier,  lie  led  the  pe(ii)le  to 
preparation  for  the  Messiah;  and  as  a  witness,  lie  pointed  out  Christ  in  person 
as  tlie  Messiali.  The  people  believed  that  the  j;a])tist  was  (he  veritable  Elijah.  The 
Sanliedrin  was  bound  ti.>  prevent  any  false  prophet  fi^.nn  misleading  the  people,  and 
in  order  to  subject  Jolm  to  a  rigid  examination,  they  sent  a  deputation  of  officials 
from  Jerusalem  to  question  him.  Tliey  asked  him  :  '  Who  art  thou  i  The  Christ  I 
Elijali?  The  Prophet?'  He  answered:  'No.'  But  his  ministry  so  stirred  the 
people  that  they  found  a  pledge  therein  of  deliverance  from  Eoman  rule,  and 
'  I'easoned  in  their  hearts  whether  he  were  not  the  Christ.'  The  dejratation  was  of 
the  Pharisees,  who,  stinging  under  his  rebukes,  sought  to  pay  him  back  by 
entangling  him  in  political  difficulties,  craftily  supposing  that  they  could  bring  him 
to  account  if  they  could  throw  his  fiery  ministry  into  a  false  position.  Their 
cunning  only  succeeded  in  bringing  out  the  humility  and  modesty  of  his  character. 
Bold  as  a  lion  before  men,  he  was  a  timid  lamb  in  the  shadow  of  his  Lord,  and 
nonplussed  them  by  saying :  '  I  am  not  tlie  Christ,  nor  Elijah,  but  simply  the  voice 
of  a  crier.'  Unable  and  nnwilling  to  lead  the  eager  throngs  to  a  contest  with  their 
oppressors,  he  lifted  up  his  voice  and  proclaimed:  'There  stands  one  in  the  midst 
of  you,  whom  ye  know  not,  the  latchet  of  whoso  sandal  I  am  not  worthy  to  loose.' 

Beautiful  message-bearer  of  (Jiir  (io(l  and  Saviour.  Pure  truth,  gentle 
modesty,  blushing  humility,  marked  few  of  his  contemporaries ;  l)ut,  while  he  would 
not  play  the  role  of  a  false  Messiah,  he  longed  for  the  honor  of  stooping,  with 
suppressed  bi'eath  and  trenuilous  hands,  to  do  the  work  of  a  slave  for  the  true 
Christ.  His  glory  was  to  throw  himself  into  the  background,  to  tie  the  sandals  of 
Jesus  when  he  went  abroad,  and  loose  the  dusty  leathern  thong  when  he  returned. 
His  reply  rebuked  the  pride  and  scoi-ncd  the  vanity  of  the  whole  viper-brood. 
Their  haughtiness  is  censured,  and  their  fawning  repelled  by  the  servant  of  the  Son 
of  the  Highest  prostrate  in  the  dust  at  his  feet.  This  holy  chivalry  makes  a  true 
man  a  broken  reed  in  the  presence  of  Jesus,  while  it  tempers  his  sinews  with  steel 
in  dealing  with  men.  '  I  am  not  your  Messiah — I  go  before  him — he  stands  among 
you — he  is  mightier  than  I — I  am  a  stranger  to  his  prerogatives — I  immerse  your 
bodies  in  water  to  symbolize  your  soul's  purification,  but  he  shall  overwhelm  your 
souls  in  the  Holy  Spirit.'     This  sharp  distinction  brought  out  for  the  first  time  the 


THE  LAMB   OF  OOD.  37 

fullness  of  Christ's  Gospel,  or  as  Mark  expresses  it,  here  was  '  The  beginning  of  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.'  This  said,  and  tlie  Baptist  delivered  from  the  snare  of  the 
fowler,  he  reasserts  himself  in  new  strength.  The  rulers  tlattered  themselves  that 
they  would  be  the  golden  grain  of  Jlessiah's  husbandry,  the  elite  wheat  that  should 
fill  his  garner.  John  mocks  that  expectation,  casts  it  to  the  winds,  and  tells  thuni 
that  Jesus  will  treat  them  as  the  Palestine  farmer  treats  his  harvest,  when  it  is  cut 
down,  trampled  under  the  hoofs  of  oxen,  torn  '  by  instruments  with  teeth,'  till  the 
kernel  is  severed  from  the  'chaff'  and  then  winnowed  that  it  may  be  Imrnud. 
They  could  never  be  gathered  as  the  pure  grain  of  the  kingdom.  Another  liajjtisni 
awaited  them,  that  of  repentance  in  the  Jordan,  when  the  Messiah  should  toss  wheat 
and  chaff  into  the  empty  air,  that  the  grain  might  fall  back  free  of  refuse,  while  the 
wind  would  take  the  chaff  into  quenchless  fire.  These  terrible  words  express  John's 
cardinal  idea  of  Christ's  nature  and  prerogatives.  They  attribute  to  him  the  scrutiny 
of  motives,  the  purification  of  character,  and  the  condemnation  of  the  impenitent ; 
in  a  word,  the  prerogatives  of  God.     But  this  was  not  all. 

The  '  next  day,'  the  Baptist  saw  Jesus  and  cried  :  '  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God, 
that  takes  away  the  sin  of  the  world  !  This  is  he  of  whom  I  said :  After  me  conies 
one  who  is  preferred  before  me ;  because  he  was  before  me.'  ^  '  I  have  seen  and 
have  l)orne  witness  that  this  is  the  Son  of  God.  I  saw  the  Spirit  descending  as  a 
dove  out  of  heaven,  and  it  abode  upon  him.'  Here  he  affirms  Christ's  pre-existence. 
John  was  born  six  months  before  Jesus,  yet  he  says  '  He  was  before  me.'  The 
Greek  terms  here,  l)oth  translated  '  before,'  express  not  only  pre-eminence  in  rank 
and  dignity,  but  priority  of  time.  This  enigma  was  to  the  startled  Jews  the  first 
hint  given  by  any  New  Testament  speaker  of  Christ's  personal  pre-existence,  and 
unveils  him  in  the  Bosom  of  the  Father,  before  he  became  flesh.  Then  follow 
Christ's  attestation  by  the  Holy  Spirit, — his  mediatorial  character  and  his  divine 
Sonship.  And  he  gave  grandeur  to  his  testimony  in  that  he  '  cried,^  with  vehe- 
mence in  tluir  avowal.  He  tells  us  that  the  Holy  Spirit  justified  these  claims  as  he 
set  them  forth.  Indeed,  the  most  remarkable  thing  in  the  Baptist's  ministry  is  the 
prominence  which  he  gives  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Spirit,  in  its  new  form. 

He  introduced  the  second  Person  in  the  Trinity  to  the  world,  and  held  relations 
to  the  Third  which  no  man  before  him  had  filled.  Next  to  the  coming  of  Christ, 
his  ministry  held  a  place  and  formed  an  epoch  of  the  highest  possible  importance  in 
the  history  of  redemption.  It  was,  in  the  Gospel  sense,  the  beginning  of  the 
Spirit's  administration  in  the  personal  salvation  of  men,  as  it  first  brings  out  his 
separate  personality  with  great  clearness.  The  Dove  came  from  the  Father,  and  on 
the  banks  of  the  Jordan  remained  upon  the  Son,  making  him  thenceforth  the  sole 
Baptizer  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  one  source  through  whom  he  has  since  acted  in 
administering  salvation  to  men.  All  this  was  directly  opposite  to  the  history  and 
tendencies  of  Judaism,  liut  it  identifies  John  with  the  very  soul  of  the  Gospel  a;; 
nothing  else  could.     It  was  not  the  baptism  of  Jesus  in  the  Jordan  which  anointed 


38  JEsrs  puA  r.s  for  the  spirit. 

liiiii  tVii'  liis  work,  for,  says  Peter :  '  God  anointed  Jesus  of  Nazareth  with  the  Holy 
S[iiritaii(l  jiower.'  This  prodigy  of  the  descending  Dove  and  Christ's  inscrutable 
unction  enabled  John  to  say :  'I  saw,  and  bear  record  that  this  is  the  Sou  of  God.' 
Tlie  Spirit  made  him  a  witness  to  the  Messiah,  when  the  Lord's  anointed  was  sol- 
oinnlj  invested  with  his  divine  office.  Through  the  Spirit,  the  Father  dwelt  in  the 
Stin  and  the  Sun  in  him.  Luke  gives  the  splendid  piece  of  information,  that  when 
-lesus  was  '  praying  '  at  his  baptism,  the  heavens  were  opened.  Through  the  cleft 
vault  his  eyes  were  fixed  upon  his  Father's  throne.  lie  penetrated  into  the  fullness 
of  divine  light  and  life,  and  uttered  the  first  sigh  of  humanity  for  that  ])erfect  in- 
dwelling of  God  whicli  aceuniplislied  redemption.  This  pledge  of  his  final  triumph 
was  given  when  his  lindy  was  dripping  with  the  waters  of  baptism.  A\"lien  he  was 
setting  aside  all  empty  institutions  his  liand  knocked  at  lieaven's  gate,  and  by  the 
will  of  the  Father  it  was  opened  ;  for  he  was  well  pleased  with  the  obedience  of 
his  beloved  Son. 

How  sweetly  insi)iring  is  the  thought,  that  the  first  breatli  which  passed  his 
newly  baptized  lips  asked  for  tlie  Holy  Spirit ;  who  at  once  was  given  to  him.  And 
not  in  measure,  but  without  degree ;  in  him  '  dwelt  the  fullness  of  the  Godhead 
bodily.'  To  him  tlie  Spirit  was  not  given  as  to  the  Apostles,  through  the  emblem 
of  unconscious  flame  in  divided  sheets,  but  tlu'ough  the  oi'ganic  and  sensitive  symbol 
of  life  in  a  hovering  dove.  From  the  blue  vault,  from  infinite  leagues  of  ethereal 
space,  came  forth  a  delicate,  tiumrous  nature  and  lit  upon  the  only  pure  sprit  on 
this  earth,  the  Sacred  Head,  while  his  locks  were  yet  wet  from  the  tremulous 
wave.  When  the  guilty  earth  was  baptized  in  the  deluge,  a  dove  flew  over  the 
waste  of  waters  and  brought  the  hope  of  a  new  world  to  Xoah,  in  a  frail  olive- 
branch  rescued  from  the  flood.  But  the  New  Testament  Dove  winged  his  way  to 
the  New  Testament  Ark,  the  type  of  a  life-giving  energy,  which  said :  '  Behold,  I 
make  all  things  new,'  when  Jesus  came  up  out  of  the  stream  and  stood  upon  the 
dry  land.  Here  is  the  seven-fold  symbol  of  chaste  purity,  peace  and  hope,  for  the 
gentle  emblem  seems  invested  with  the  infinite  powers  of  new  birth.  The  expres- 
sion :  '  The  Spirit  lighted  and  abode  upon  him,'  conveys  that  idea  of  a  hovering 
motion  implied  in  the  Hebrew  word  b}'  which  Moses  describes  the  mode  of  crea- 
tion ;  '  The  Spirit  was  hroodinc/  over  the  face  of  the  waters,'  as  a  bird  over  her 
young  in  incubation,  imparting  vivifying  warmth  in  each  shudder  passing  from  the 
pulse  of  one  animated  being  to  another.  The  white-winged  messenger  in  corporeal 
form,  from  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  came  not  on  his  celestial  mission  to  make 
Jesus  holy,  nor  to  invest  him  with  grace  and  beauty,  but  with  infinite  enei-gy  as  the 
Plead  of  an  endless  race  :  '  He  shall  see  his  seed.' 

Prediction  had  said  :  '  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  shall  rest  upon  him  ;  the  Spirit 
of  wisdom  and  might,  and  shall  make  him  of  quick  nnderstanding.'  The  body  of 
Jesus  was  his  offspring,  and  his  soul-powers  were  developed  by  the  same  Spirit ; 
then,  from  the  moment  of  his  baptism,  the  Holy  Spirit  dii-ected  his  life,  his  words, 


77/a;    TIUXTTY   UEVEALED.  39 

and  his  woik.  Ue  hiinself  (Icchircil  :  •  TIic  Spirit  of  tlie  I.nrd  is  upon  me  ;  l)ecause 
lie  anoiiitoii  iiic  to  preach  good  tidings  to  the  poor  ;  to  proclaim  the  acceptable  j'ear 
of  tlie  I, on!.'  Nor  is  tills  all.  Fi-om  the  moment  of  his  baptism  'he  began  to 
l)reac]i  tlu-  good  news  of  the  kingdom  ;'  to  'heal  the  sick  ;'  to  'cast  out  demons  by 
the  Spirit  of  God.'  lie  also  warned  men  against  "the  blasphemy  of  the  Spirit;" 
promised  that  '  the  Spirit  should  teach  them  what  to  say '  in  persecution,  and 
breathed  upon  his  disciples,  saying :  '  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Spirit,'  and  they  re- 
ceived him.  But,  above  all,  at  Pentecost  he  sent  the  Spirit  to  fill  his  own  place  on 
earth.  Nor  may  we  suppose  that  either  John  or  Jesus  were  not  filled  with  the  Spirit 
in  the  largest  sense  simply  because  John  (vii,  39)  says:  'The  Holy  Spirit  was  not 
yet  [(/{ven\  because  Jesus  was  not  yet  glorified.'  The  word'  given'  is  not  in  the 
Greek  text,  which  simply  reads  'was  not  yet,'  the  word  'given  '  is  supjilied  to  com- 
plete the  sense.  Luther  says  on  the  passage  :  '  One  must  not  fall  into  such  sense- 
less thoughts,  as  to  sujipose  that  the  Holy  Spirit  was  only  created  after  Christ's 
resurrection  from  the  dead ;  what  is  written  is,  "  The  Holy  Spirit  was  not  yet,''  that 
is,  was  not  in  his  office.'  Stillingfleet  says  the  Spii-it  was  not  yet  found  in  the 
extraordinary  gift  of  tongues  and  other  miracles.  But  Jesus  tells  his  disciples  that 
they  '  knew  him,'  that  '  he  abides  with  you,'  and  that  his  Father  would  '  give  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  those  who  ask  him.'  The  Spirit  had  qualified  Old  Testament  men 
for  extraordinar}'  work,  but  he  was  to  be  poured  out  on  '  all  flesh''  in  Gospel  times. 
The  sovereignty,  therefoi-e,  of  the  Spirit  dwelt  in  Jesus,  by  which  he  raised  all  men 
to  a  high  level  in  the  Gospel.     This  doctrine  the  Baptist  preached. 

Hence,  with  the  sight  of  the  descending  Spirit  he  heard  the  attesting  voice  of 
divine  Fatherhood  and  Sonship  :  '  This  is  my  Son.'  That  august  voice  which  rent 
the  empty  heavens  above  the  Jordan  told  John  of  God's  complacency  in  his  Son  : 
'  In  him  I  am  well  pleased.'  This  voice  sank  into  the  inner  being  of  the  Baptist, 
and  thi-ills  the  hearts  of  his  brethren  to-day  in  all  the  dialects  of  the  earth.  Jehovah 
has  honored  no  other  great  institute  as  he  has  Christ's  baptism,  when  he  used  the 
new  rite  to  mark  his  inauguration  as  Head  of  the  Gospel  Church.  The  anointing  of 
his  Only  Begotten  Son  by  his  Holy  Spirit,  sanctified  the  new-born  ordinance. 
Therein  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit  were  revealed,  and  from  that  day  to  this, 
whenever  true  Christians  visit  Christ's  baptism,  they  sing :  '  God,  even  thy  God, 
has  anointed  thee  with  the  oil  of  gladness  above  thy  fellows.'  There  we  have  the 
first  distinct  revelation  of  the  Godhead.  There  the  whole  Trinity  united  in  laying 
the  fonndatioii  of  the  (iospel  Church,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and 
of  the  Holy  Spii-it.  All  true  Baptists  may  point  to  Christ's  Baptism,  and  say  with 
Augustine  to  Marcion  :  '  Go  to  Jordan  ami  thou  shalt  see  the  Trinity." 

The  next  great  cognate  truth  which  John  was  the  first  to  i)nlilish.  was  Christ's 
vicarious  sacrifice.  This  he  comprehended  from  the  first,  although  his  own  Apostles 
never  understood  it  till  after  his  resurrection.  From  the  beginning,  the  Baptist 
proclaimed   him  as  the   Sin  bearer.     He  cried  :    '  Behold   the   Lamb   of   (iod    tliat 


40  THE  LAMB    TO   BE  SLAIN. 

tnkctli  uway  tlir  pin  of  tlie  world  I"-  Tliuse  sacrilicial  words  liave  been  descanted 
uiMiii.  pi-oli:ililv  iiioiv  tliaii  :iiiv  lomid  in  the  New  Testament,  and  they  seein  to  have 
niovud  all  .loliirs  Ijuiii-'.  lie  liad  previously  given  testimony  to  the  abiding  of  the 
Sjiirit  with  the  Son,  and  now  tliat  great  tratli  gave  birth  to  tliis.  The  more  he  saw 
of  Josus,  the  more  the  deep  spring  of  truth  welled  up  within  him.  His  theologic 
eye  was  ..pciuMl  at  tin-  -Tunlaii,  and  lie  so,,ii  saw  wonderful  things  in  his  Master.  At 
tii'st,  the  Dove,  syniboliral  among  birds  for  tiie  purpi.ises  of  thank-offering  and  cere- 
monial purification,  was  the  extent  of  liis  discovery.  IS'ow,  he  proclaims  him  as  the 
Lanil>,  of  {{ud's  choosing,  from  his  own  liork,  the  image  of  spotlessness  and 
cleansing  merit.  The  Dove  spoke  of  the  heavens  whence  he  came,  the  Lamb  spoke 
of  the  altar  wiiere  he  takes  away  the  sin  <if  the  world.  This  sublime  picture 
revealed  Isaiali's  Lamb  on  his  way  to  slaughter,  llis  language  neither  expresses  an 
act  of  the  past,  nor  one  of  the  future,  but  one  which  forever  continues.  Tlie 
mediatoi-ial  work  had  begun,  the  morning  sacrifice  liad  been  offered.  In  his  baptism 
(lod  had  inspected  him,  had  pronounced  him  well  pleasing,  had  accepted  him  as  his 
own  Sill-victim,  and  now  the  sacrificial  work  was  in  process  :  '  Taketh  away  the 
sill"  abstractly  and  concretely,  'of  the  world.'  The  Apostles  have  since  elaborated 
the  saving  ijoctrine,  with  exquisite  clearness  and  power,  but  they  caught  their  key- 
note from  .lolin,  who  first  announced  the  astounding  revelation.  The  Evangelist 
John  placed  his  throbbing  temples  on  the  bosom  of  the  Lamb,  but  not  till  the  Bap- 
tist John  had  told  him  twice,  how  piu'c,  and  soft,  and  warm  it  was.  This  doctrine 
won  tlie  Evangelist  in  a  moment.  When  the  Baptist  told  him  this  lie  was  one  of 
John's  disciples,  but  the  moment  that  John  told  him  of  God's  Lamb  to  expiate  liis 
sin,  lie  became  a  follower  of  Jesus.  Since  that  day  the  son  of  Zebedee  lias  been 
crying  -with  one  breath  :  '  I  love  him  because  lie  first  loved  me ! '  and  with  the  next : 
'  Behold  the  Lamb !     Behold  the  Lamb  ! ' 

If  possible,  the  Baptist's  next  testimony  to  Christ,  brought  him  into  greater 
Gospel  fullness  still,  for  he  gave  it  under  tlie  severest  trial.  Two  years  had  passed 
since  he  opened  his  ministry,  when  his  disciples  were  thrown  into  a  controversy 
'  with  a  Jew  about  purifying.'  Then,  his  disciples  said  to  him  :  'Babbi,  he  who  was 
with  thee  beyond  the  Jordan,  to  whom  thou  hast  borne  witness,  behold  he  baptizes, 
and  all  come  to  him.'  This  dispute  was  neither  amongst  his  disciples  themselves, 
nor  between  the  disciples  of  John  and  Jesus,  about  the  merits  of  their  baptisms,  as 
some  pretend,  nor  did  it  concern  baptism  at  all.  '  A  Jew,'  who  belonged  to  neither 
set  of  disciples,  tried  to  draw  John's  disciples  into  a  debate  on  the  question  of  legal 
ablutions,  for  the  traditionists  were  bewitched  to  torture  every  body  with  their  petty 
quibbles,  and  so  this  '  Jew '  baited  John's  disciples  to  set  them  at  variance  with  the 
elders,  as  the  Pharisees  attacked  Christ's  disciples  for  not  washing  their  hands 
before  eating,  afttn-  the  tradition  of  the  elders.  Irving  forcibly  covers  this  case 
thus:  'It  was  not  a  dispute  concerning  their  relative  baptisms  I  judge  from  this, 
that  the  word  is  "  pui'ifying,"  not  baj^tism.     The  word  for  purifying  is  never  applied 


JOHN'S  DISCIPLES  PERPLEXED.  41 

cither  to  tlie  baptism  of  Joliu  or  of  Christ's  disciples,  or  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  or  any 
other  baptism.  The  word  "  baptism  "  is  in  one  place  applied  to  jjurifying,  as  tlie 
baptism  of  cups,  pots,  and  tables ;  and  once  in  the  Hebrews,  where  it  is  rendered 
"the  doctrine  of  baptisms,"  I  think  it  nnich  l)rtter  to  translate  the  baptism  of  doc- 
trine, or  the  purifying  influences  of  ductrinc.  i>ut  the  word  "  purifying"  is  never, 
on  the  one  hand,  used  for  baptism,  and  on  that  account  cannot  be  so  taken  in  this 
place,  without  violence  to  every  rule  of  interpretation.'' 

Although  this  artful  attempt  failed,  John's  disciples  allowed  a  sj^irit  of  rivalry 
to  enter  their  bosoms,  because  Christ's  disciples  baptized  more  persons  than  Jolin. 
This  drew  from  him  new  and  clearer  testimony  for  Christ.  '  Kabbi,'  they  said,  '  lie 
who  was  with  thee  beyond  the  Jordan,  to  whom  thou  hast  borne  witness,  behold  he 
immerses,  and  all  come  to  him.'  This  clause,  '  borne  witness,'  carries  the  thouglit, 
that  John's  testimony  to  Jesus  had  given  dignity  to  him,  and  made  him  John's 
debtor.  The  words,  '  he  was  with  thee,'  imply  that  they  considered  Jesus  a  follower 
of  John,  like  themselves,  and  '  he  baptizeth '  suggests,  that  they  thought  he  was 
usurping  John's  work  and  high  calling.  What  appeared  worse  than  all  to  them,  he 
was  using  the  distinction  which  John  luul  given  him  to  draw  John's  following  to 
bis  own  standard,  and  so  building  up  his  own  name  on  John's  decaying  cause  ;  '  all 
men  come  to  him.'  That  is,  they  charge  Jesus  with  building  up  a  rival  P>a])tist 
sect.  It  was  a  keen  trial  to  ,Iohn  to  see  this  distrust  and  envy  of  Christ  in  his 
own  family.  His  soul  was  stirred  when  he  saw  that  his  own  testimony  to 
the  Redeemer's  character  and  work  was  misunderstood,  and  with  a  minute, 
verbal  clearness  which  lie  had  not  used  before,  he  proceeded  to  silence  forever  this 
misleading  suspicion  in  his  followers.  To  this  end  he  gave  this  noblest  reply 
which  ever  fell  from  the  lips  of  mortal ;  and  with  these  words  turned  both 
them  and  his  own  work  over  into  the  hands  of  Jesus  forever,  as  his  divinely 
appointed  superior. 

'John  answcrcil  mikI  said  :  A  man  can  receive  nothing,  except  it  be  given  him, 
from  heaven.  Ye  yourselves  l)ear  me  witness,  that  I  said,  I  am  not  the  Ciirist,  but 
I  am  sent  before  iiim.  He  that  has  the  bride  is  the  bridegroom.  But  the  friend 
of  the  bridegroom,  who  stands  and  hears  him,  rejoices  greatly  because  of  the  bride- 
groom's voice.  This  my  joy  therefore  is  made  full.  He  must  increase,  but  I  must 
decrease.  He  that  comes' from  above  is  above  all ;  he  that  is  from  the  earth  is  of 
the  earth,  and  speaks  of  the  eartli ;  he  that  comes  from  heaven  is  above  all.  And 
what  lie  has  seen  and  heard,  that  he  testifies ;  and  his  testimony  no  one  receives. 
He  that  received  his  testimony  has  set  his  seal.  That  God  is  true.  For  he  whom 
God  sent  speaks  forth  the  words  of  God  ;  for  he  gives  not  the  Spirit  by  measure. 
Tlie  Father  loves  the  Son,  and  has  givex  .\i,l  things  into  his  hand.  He  that 
believes  on  the  Son  has  everlasting  life,  and  he  that  believes  not  the  Son  shall  not 
see  life,  but  the  wrath  of  God  abides  on  him.''* 

Here  John  not  only  points  his  discij)les  and  all  subsequent  believers  to 
Christ  for  "everlasting  life,"  ijut  he  shows  his  own  exact  relation  to  '  the  Son,' as 
being  that   of  the  groomsman  to  the  Bridegroom.     As  the  '  friend  of  the  Bride- 


42  SATA-ATION  BY  FAITH. 

grooin'  he  had  jirepared  fur  the  nian-iagc  of  (iod's  Son,  and  as  his  work  was  now 
finished,  his  'joy  was  full,'  and  In.'  ivtiii'd,  leaving  the  liriilo  in  the  care  of  the 
Eridegroom.  '  He  must  increase,  but  1  must  decrease,'  is  iiis  ])ro|ihetic  forecast. 
'  God  loves  him ;  and  has  given  all  things  into  his  hand.'  Then  and  there,  drop- 
ping his  special  commission  as  a  herald,  he  became  the  first  New  Testament 
preacher  of  a  present  trust  in  Christ  for  salvation,  or  of  salvation  by  faith,  declaring 
that  lie  who  '  believes  not  the  Son  shall  not  see  life,  but  the  wrath  of  God  abides 
on  him.'  AVe  have  .-^een,  that  not  only  was  .Tolin  tlie  first  to  preach  the  pre- 
cxistence  and  divinity  of  Christ  as  one  who  had  eonie  'from  al)0ve,'  and  was  now 
'above  all  ;'  to  preavh  .lesus  as  Cod's  saerili.-ial  victim  for  sin,  his  'Lamb'  bearing 
away  the  'sin  of  the  w.rld  ;'— but  on  the  banks  of  the  same  Jordan  where  he  had 
bajitized  him,  he  declares  him  the  Saviour,  to  whom  his  (.jwn  disciples  and  all  other 
men  must  now  look  for  salvation  from  •  the  wrath  of  Cod.' 

No  passage  in  the  New  Testament  more  clearly  points  out  the  glorious  truth 
that  men  are  saved  only  by  trust  in  Christ  than  John's  words :  '  He  that  believes 
on  the  Son  has  everlasting  life.'  And  none  more  powerfully  shows  that  the  des- 
tiny of  man  is  left  in  the  hand  of  Christ,  than  the  fearful  \v(  irds :  '  He  that  believes 
not  the  Son  shall  not  see  life,  but  the  wrath  of  God  aljides  on  him.'  There  is  no 
possiltility  of  misconstruing  John's  doctrine  of  eternal  retribution  here.  Human 
ingenuity  and  gloss  have  tried  to  explain  away  all  Christ's  words  on  this  subject,  but 
the  tei'rible  decision  of  the  Baptist's  words  defy  all  the  attempts  of  sophistry. 
From  the  first,  he  held  that  the  obdurate  rejector  of  Christ  must  endure  a  baptism 
in  '  unquenchable  fire.'  John  spoke  of  a  baptism  in  the  Spirit  for  the  good,  but 
Christ's  fire-baptism  is  always  spoken  of  as  destructive,  as  '  chaff '  is  consumed  by 
fire.  Neauder  says  :  '  The  Messiah  will  immerse  the  souls  of  believers  in  the  Holy 
Spirit,'  but  '  those  who  refused  to  be  penetrated  by  the  Spirit  of  the  divine  life 
should  be  destroyed  by  the  fire  of  the  divine  judgments.'^  Yon  Rohden  so  under- 
stands .1  dim's  preaching:  'The  baptism  of  fire,  then,  refers  to  the  desti-uction  of 
those,  who,  under  the  Messianic  government,  should  refuse  to  receive  the  baptism 
of  tlie  Holy  Spirit,  those  who  shoiild  oppose  themselves  to  the  reign  of  the  Mes- 
siah.' «  When  Luke  speaks  of  the  '  promise  of  the  Father '  (Acts  i,  5),  he  omits 
John's  words,  '  and  with  fire,'  for  they  couched  a  threat,  not  a  promise.  Even  the 
symbolical  tongues  which  rested  upon  the  Apostles  at  Pentecost,  were  not  of  fire,  but 
oidy  '  like  as  of  fire.'  Hence,  in  John's  last  testimony  to  Christ,  he  presents  not 
simply  the  '  Lamb '  in  his  saving  aspects,  but  also  in  his  Leonine  administration,  and 
vindicates  his  honor  against  the  sin  of  rejecting  him. 

Throughout,  John's  testiniony  to  Christ  presents  his  character  in  a  glorious 
light,  by  showing,  that  he  is  thankful  to  be  distanced  in  the  race,  if  the  glory  of 
Christ  be  advanced.  Bright  as  a  star  himself,  he  is  content  that  his  own  light 
should  be  lost  in  the  noontide  glory  of  the  firmament.  The  prospect  of  extinction 
awakened  triumph  in   his  breast,  that  he   might  be  nothing  and  Jesus  all  things. 


JOHN  DECREASING.  43 

His  only  grief  was,  that  meu  ruceived  not  his  testimony.  What  a  wonderful  suni- 
niar}-  of  Christian  doctrine  and  consecration  he  gives.  What  are  the  struggles  of  a 
patriot  for  his  country,  compared  with  his  eager  devotion  to  lay  down  his  life  for  liis 
Friend,  and  to  see  his  own  glory  die  in  the  splendor  of  his  Master  ?  His  meridian 
was  past,  and  his  sun  was  setting,  and  now  when  the  shadows  of  night  fell  upon 
him,  his  ecstasy  was  this:  '  He  that  cometh  from  heaven  is  above  all.'  Beautiful 
Baptist !  The  first  great  New  Testament  tlieologian.  For  thousands  of  years  all 
study  amongst  Jews  and  Gentiles  liad  failed  to  unveil  the  doctrines  which  lie 
brought  to  light,  and  all  after  study  has  failed  to  exhaust  them.  '  More  than 
a  prophet,'  none  have  discoursed  so  grandly  on  his  Iledeemer's  person,  office  and 
love :  and  what  new  doctrine  lias  any  inspired  writer  revealed  since  ? 

The  imprisonment  and  martyrdom  of  the  Baptist  must  now  be  noticed.  The 
faithful  son  of  Zaeharias  was  hated  for  his  fidelity.  Herod  Antipas,  the  tetrarch  of 
Galilee,  was  a  son  of  Herod  the  Great,  and  had  married  a  daughter  of  Aretas,  King 
of  Arabia-Petrtea,  who  was  to  him  a  faithful  wife.  Antipas  had  a  half-brother, 
Herod  Philip,  not  by  the  same  mother,  who  had  married  Herodias,  the  daughter 
of  Aristobulus,  still  another  brother.  Herodias,  therefore,  was  granddaughter  to 
Herod  the  Great  and  niece  to  Anti})as.  But  Antipas  fell  in  love  with  her,  per- 
suaded her  to  abandon  her  husband,  divorced  his  own  wife,  and  then  married  her. 
This  woman  took  her  young  daughter,  Salome,  Philip's  child,  with  her  ;  and  as  tlie 
adulterous  queen  of  Antipas,  came  to  the  Galilean  tetrarchy  and  shared  with  him 
his  vice-regal  palace,  where  she  reveled  in  guilty  splendor.  When  the  Baptist 
lieard  of  this  disgusting  crime  it  stirred  his  indignation,  and  he  bluntly  rebuked  the 
incestuous  paramour  in  terms  as  stern  as  his  upbraidings  of  the  scornful  Pharisees. 
As  God's  messenger  he  thundered  in  the  ears  of  Antipas :  '  It  is  not  lawful  for  thee 
to  have  thy  brother's  wife  ! '  Luke  adds  that  he  reproved  him  :  '  For  all  the  evils 
wliich  Herod  did  ;'  a  long  and  black  list  of  crimes.  For  this  cause  he  seized  John 
and  threw  him  into  the  dismal  fortress  of  IMachaerus,  the  '  Black  Castle,'  east  of  the 
Dead  Sea,  an  outrage  instigated  by  Herodias  ;  for  she  w-as  angry  with  him,  and 
fastened  on  him  like  some  ferocioii>;  animal  clinging  to  its  prey.  She  desired,  says 
Mark,  to  put  him  to  death  but  could  iiut,  tor  llerod  feared  John,  knowing  that  he 
was  a  just  and  Imly  man.  The  imperiousness  of  truth  which  lifted  John  above  the 
fear  of  rank  and  of  death,  made  his  person  so  sacred,  that  the  stony  heart  of  the 
adulterer  was  overawed.  One  glance  of  pui-ity  made  the  adulterous  tyrant  writhe 
in  dread  fetters.  John  was  unarmed  and  alone.  Herod  was  compassed  by  royal 
guards.  Yet  John  hurled  subtile  arrows  from  an  invisible  quiver,  wliich,  piercing 
the  armor  of  steel,  made  the  king's  heart  faint. 

'  It  is  not  lawful  for  thee  to  have  her,'  was  the  metal-point  which  made  John's 
barb  so  keen.  The  .Icwish  laws  had  thrown  a  colos-al  rainpart  around  tlie  sanctity 
of  marriage,  a  holiiu^s  which  tin-  wliok-  llcnHJian  iainily  had  set  at  naught,  in  one 
way  or  another.     In  the  person  of  Antipas,  the  Baptist  brought  that  whole  house- 


Imlcl  11] 

p  t,.  the 

tlie  Sr, 

^l,,w.l- 

■ilitui-al 

IlilU^L'll 

lit    ])un 
•tinnly 

fawn,  1 

nialilc  1 

.m   L,■^ 

;.    xviii, 

JOHN'S  APPEAL    ro    rilE  BIBLE. 

i-utiny  i.if  the  Bible  standard.  His  tci-rihlc  n]ipeal^  were  made  to 
Ik'  tiirew  tiie  whole  question  hack,  nut  (Ui  jmhlic  scandal  or  tlie 
ilif  feehn-;-,  but  on  tlu' supronuu-y  nf  (idd'swonl.  There  he  planted 
tlie  eliMjuence  of  lanientatiuu,  pinte^t,  and  demand.  Unwilling  to 
to  varnish,  lie  put  one  finger  on  the  ulcer,  and  with  tlie  other  resting 
10,  he  demanded  obe<lience  to  Divine  authority.  Whatever  the 
enactments  of  men  miglit  say  in  the  case,  the  Law  of  God  was  the  first  and  last 
source  of  his  ajipeal.  The  craven  Saiihediin  Icucw  as  well  as  .John  that  Ilerod  was 
trampling  the  law  of  God  luider-foot  and  defying  Jehovairs  mandate,  but  all  its 
members  sealed  tlieir  lips  to  the  barefaced  di>gi-ace.  .lohii  frowned  upon  tlie  triple 
crime  through  a  '  thus  saith  the  Lord  ;'  and  his  daring  iidelity  to  Kcvelation,  as  tiie 
only  rule  of  life,  wrote  his  name  at  the  head  of  a  long  roll  of  JJaptist  martyrs,  wlio 
have  sealed  the  Truth  w  ith  their  lilood. 

At  length  Herod's  birthday  dawned,  that  day  in  the  calendar  around  which  he 
should  have  suninioned  all  the  years  of  his  life  for  a  sweet  song,  that  Jehovah  had 
sent  him  into  the  world  an  innocent  babe.  But  instead,  its  celebration  wrote  this 
dark  entry  on  his  I'ccord  :  •  It  were  better  for  him  that  he  had  never  been  born!' 
Well  might  he  have  prayed  with  Job  :  '  That  day,  let  not  God  from  above  seek  for 
it.  Let  it  not  rejoice  among  the  days  of  the  year,  nor  come  into  the  number  of  the 
months,  neither  let  it  behold  the  eyelids  of  the  morning  I '  But  with  his  birthday 
came  the  revelry  of  a  court  festival.  Instead  of  sackcloth  and  ashes  for  his  sins, 
and  the  turning  over  of  a  new  leaf  with  the  merciful  anniversary,  he  gathered  his 
generals  and  peers  around  liini,  took  uiion  him  his  most  hilarious  mood,  gave  reins 
to  his  vanity  and  o.stcntatiini,  spread  his  feast  and  lavished  his  wine,  drowned  his 
fear  in  the  fumes  of  the  cu]>  and  the  strains  of  music,  and  wlien  his  brain  began  to 
I'eel  under  the  adulation  of  nobles  and  the  wassail-bowl,  then  a  revengeful  woman 
turned  the  day  of  birth  into  the  night  of  death. 

Wild  abandon,  wanton  voluptuousness,  and  hot  carousal,  now  ruled  the  royal 
banquet,  and  the  call  was  issued  for  the  pantomimic  dance.  Ilerod  winced  under 
John's  rebukes,  yet  could  bear  them.  Herodias  could  not.  Her  pride  would  not 
brook  them,  and  revenge  rankled  in  her  heart.  Her  crafty  soul  knew  that  the 
ballet  dancer's  would  be  asked  for  when  the  guests  were  well  flushed  with  madness, 
and  her  dainty  foresight  had  prepared  for  theni  a  special  treat.  Vengeance  had 
drawn  its  bow  to  the  double  strain  and  set  its  fiery  arrow  to  a  true  wing,  its  blis- 
tering eye  had  spied  the  vulnerable  point  in  the  harness  and  laid  its  hand  to 
launch  the  bolt.  And,  in  ic}'  hatred  she  sent  lier  beautiful  young  daughter,  the 
future  mother  of  kings,  to  dance  for  the  company  ;  her  rage  reminding  us  of 
science  freezing  water  in  a  red-hot  capsule.  The  grace  and  condescension  of  Great 
Herod's  granddaughter  so  charmed  the  high-bred  revelers  of  Galilee,  that  the 
drunken  king  swore  to  give  her  aught  she  asked,  to  '  the  half  of  his  kingdom.' 
The    courtly  throng  were  all  ear  for  her  request.      One  thought  that    she  would 


THE  FrnsT  nAPrrsr  MARTrn.  46 

ask  for  gems  to  furtlicr  iulurii  her  luiiidsoiue  person,  another  knew  tliat  she 
would  demand  the  finest  estate  in  tlie  reahn,  and  a  third  was  sure  that  she  wouhl 
covet  a  marriage  dower  worthy  of  a  princess.  Delight  intoxicated  her,  and  she 
rushed  to  her  mother's  chamber  for  instructions.  The  royal  dancer  returned  with 
the  irony  of  fate  upon  her  pale  lips.  Guilty  plot  and  vengeful  blood-thirst  threw 
tragedy  into  the  feast;  the  delicate  girl  craved  the  Jiead  of  John  tlic   liiiptist  on 

a  dish!      But  she  proved  her  true  Ilerudian    M 1,  when   she   hetraycd   haste   to 

stain  the  escutcheon  of  her  forefathers  witli  a  new  blot,  l>y  tlie  iin])erative  behest 
that  the  boon  should  be  delivered  then  and  there.  '  I  will,  tliat  immediately  thou 
give  nie  on  a  plate,  the  head  of  John ! '  She  would  carry  the  ghastly  gift  to 
her  mother  in  her  own  hands,  lest  the  head  of  a  slave  be  palmed  off  upon  her  for 
John's,  and  so,  her  maternal  soul  should  shudder  and  faint  for  the  shedding  of 
innocent  blootl. 

The  thought  that  John's  pulse  .should  cease  to  beat  on  the  day  that  his  own 
caught  the  throb  of  life  from  the  heart  of  his  mother,  sobered  the  drunken  sovereign 
and  brought  him  to  his  senses.  But  for  his  oath's  sake  he  ended  the  struggle  in  his 
own  breast,  consented  to  the  horrible  demand ;  the  executioner  was  commissioned.  A 
shrill  cry  made  the  dismal  dungeon  ring,  and  the  gory  head  of  the  great  preacher 
lay  gasping  in  the  hall  of  the  festal  carouse,  silenced  forever.  The  sacred  pen  has 
left  a  veil  over  John's  last  feeling,  his  last  word,  his  last  act.  Was  he  excited  or 
serene?  Did  he  ]iray  for  his  murderers  or  depart  in  silence?  Only  this  we  know, 
the  sword  left  his  trunk  bleeding  in  the  prison,  and  sent  his  head  to  the  feast. 
The  celestial  dreamer  would  have  written  :  '  I  saw  a  chariot  and  a  couple  of  horses 
waiting  for  Faithful ;  who,  as  soon  as  his  adversaries  had  dispatched  him,  was  taken 
up  into  it,  and  straightway  was  carried  up  through  the  clouds,  with  soi;nd  of  trumpet, 
the  nearest  way  to  the  Celestial  Gate.'  Whether  the  viper  uncoiled  and  stung 
the  bosom  of  the  murderess  we  have  no  record.  Tradition  says,  that  when  the 
head  of  the  martyr  was  brought  to  her  and  its  glazed  eyes  pierced  her,  she  ti-ans- 
fixed  the  tongue  with  a  bodkin  in  revenge  for  its  rebukes. 

Her  shameful  deeds,  and  those  of  her  husband,  drove  them  into  obscurity  and 
exile.  Not,  however,  is  the  veil  of  revelation  entirely  drawn  over  Herod  at  this 
point,  for  Mark  tells  us,  that  in  beheading  John  he  slew  his  own  peace.  When  the 
news  reached  him  that  Jesus  was  working  every  sort  of  good  and  benevolent  work 
amongst  the  people,  the  specter  of  the  murdered  man  stalked  through  his  con- 
science, and  he  exclaimed  :  '  John,  whom  I  beheaded,  is  risen  from  the  dead.'  Go 
where  he  would,  or  do  what  he  might,  in  slumber  or  revelry,  the  stain  of  the  Bap- 
tist's blood  would  not  out,  and  the  startling  eye-balls  of  his  image  haunted  him  ; 
those  eyes  through  which  holy  love  had  gleamed,  and  heaven's  fire  had  shot.  All 
that  was  sensitive  in  him  had  long  been  seared  as  with  a  hot  iron,  yet  twinges  of 
pain  crept  through  the  festering  canker  in  every  apjwrition  of  this  heartless  tragedy. 
This  son  of  him  who  restored  the  Temjile  to  beauty  and  strength,  found  the  sanct 


46  A    II AUNT  En   SOiri. 

iiai-y  of  his  own  soul  in  ruins,  and  heard  every-where  the  echoes  of  a  still  sniali 
voice,  mucking  the  criminal  who  had  broken  its  pillars  and  jailed  uj)  its  ruins.  His 
spirit  was  in  mutiny  with  itself  ;  it  wandered  in  chill,  and  damp,  and  dark  places, 
where  the  shriek  of  nnirdt'r  made  his  ears  tingle  at  every  turn.  His  sire  had  heard 
the  slirill  scream  nf  tlie  l)alics  in  Bethlehem,  and  thirsted  for  the  blood  of  the  re- 
dccuiini;-  Infant,  wlieii  Kaehel  aroused  from  her  slumbers  in  her  sepulcher,  groaned 
and  wept,  and  refused  to  Ije  comforted,  because  the  unrelenting  butcher  soaked  the 
turf  above  her  in  the  gore  of  her  offspring.  Nor  did  she  resume  her  sleeii  of  death 
till  the  echo  of  their  piercing  cry  died  away  in  her  tomb,  and  instead  thereof,  her  cold 
ear  caught  the  songs  of  her  little  ones,  who  had  soared  from  Bethlehem  to  the  skies, 
singing  hosannas  to  the  new-born  King;  a  chant  from  the  first  infant  martyrs  to  the 
child  born  and  the  Son  give?;.  Then  was  she  quiet;  for  Jehovah  soothed  her  to  rest, 
saying  :  '  Kcfraiii  tli\-  \(iicc  fi'oiii  weeping,  and  thine  eyes  from  tears  :  for  thy  work 
shall  be  rewarded,  and  thy  children  shall  come  again  from  the  land  of  the  enemy.' 
All !  lint  there  was  no  such  soothing  for  godless  Antipas.  The  blighted  monarch 
saw  nothing  but  the  open  door  in  the  world  of  spirits,  through  which  the  headless 
Baptist  had  come  back  to  turment  him  before  his  time. 

This  was  the  sole  reward  for  his  heartlessness,  his  indulgence  of  a  woman  more 
abandoned  than  himself.  His  caprice  had  made  him  a  slave  to  his  paramour's  rage, 
and  left  him  as  helpless  in  her  hands  as  the  head  of  the  Baptist  on  the  cruel 
trencher.  ITerod's  folly  had  entrapped  him  so  completely,  that  while  his  conscience 
stickled  in  mock  honor  to  break  a  rash  and  forceless  oath,  he  could  deliberately  per- 
petrate the  blackest  crime  known  to  mortals.  His  example  of  false  shame  is  the 
most  contemptible  in  history.  Bather  than  brook  the  implication  that  he  really  was 
capable  of  a  moral  scruple,  he  went  the  full  length  of  crime.  What  a  choice ; 
rather  than  allow  a  set  of  drunken  men  to  shoot  the  lip  at  an  empty,  broken  word, 
he  would  carry  the  blood  of  holy  innocence  in  his  skirts  through  life.  Did  a  min- 
ister of  his  court  ever  look  in  his  face  again,  without  reading  his  specti-al  fear  of  the 
slain  prophet?  Clearly  enough,  after  this,  the  ministry  of  Jesus  himself  was  to 
him  the  'savor  of  death  unto  death.'  His  heavenly  words  and  Godlike  acts  were 
never  reported,  but  Herod  saw  the  dead  man  clothe  himself  afresh  in  all  the  sancti- 
ties of  his  being ;  he  was  '  John  risen  from  the  dead  ! '  How  could  the  tormented 
monarch  know  any  interpreter  of  benevolence  but  the  contortions  of  a  trunkless 
head? 


CHAPTER   IV. 

CHRIST'S    WITNESS    TO    THE     BAPTIST. 

WHEN  Jdlm  knew  tluit  liis  departiire  was  at  IkukI.  lie  loviii-lv  sent  two  ofliis 
disfiples  to  ask  whether  Je.sus  were  tlie  Mes^iali,  or  should  they  look  ioi' 
another.  This  act  touched  the  heart  of  Jesus  tenderly.  John  was  not  angry  with 
Herod  for  his  imprisonment,  nor  did  he  distrust  his  own  mission  or  that  of  Christ ; 
but  for  the  sake  of  his  disciples  he  sent  them,  that  liis  own  testimony  might  be 
confirmed,  that  their  convictions  might  be  established,  and  that  now  tliey  might 
cling  to  Jesus  only.  Our  Lord  re-assured  them  by  an  appeal  to  their  sense  of  sight 
and  hearing.  '  Go  tell  John  the  things  that  ye  see, — the  Ijlind,  tlie  lame,  tlic  deaf 
are  restored,  and  the  dead  are  raised.  Tell  him  the  things  that  you  hear,  to  the 
poor  the  glad  tidings  are  preached.'  If  he  cannot  believe  the  first  he  must  accept 
this  last  evidence,  for  no  teacher  but  one  from  heaven  would  begin  with  the  poor. 
This  testimony  confirmed  their  faith,  aiid  their  Master's  witness.  "When  they  were 
gone,  Jesus  said  to  the  multitude  :  '  What  went  ye  out  into  the  wilderness  to  see  ? 
A  reed  shaken  with  the  wind  ? '  He  wished  them  to  know,  that  the  rough  proj^het 
who  dwelt  amongst  savage  beasts,  did  not  quail  now  that  he  was  in  the  grasp  of  the 
tyrant.  Though  confined  within  a  dungeon  of  solid  masonry,  he  was  no  more  like 
a  lithe  reed,  tossed  by  every  gust,  than  when  he  thundered  against  the  sins  of  the 
nation.  This  errand  of  inquiry,  so  far  from  indicating  that  John  quailed,  confirmed 
his  integrity,  and  showed  him  to  be  the  same  self-conscious  athlete  as  ever,  just  as 
resolute  and  firm.  '  AVent  ye  out  to  see  a  man  clothed  in  soft  raiment?  They  that 
wear  soft  clothing  aie  in  king's  houses.'  John  was  decreasing,  but  Jesus  testified 
that  he  was  no  self-indulgent,  easy-going  preacher  at  the  coui't  of  (talilee,  seeking 
luxury,  and  fiiwning  to  pomp,  because  he  was  without  that  moral  fiber,  which  men 
call  steel.  No,  this  son  of  the  hoary  desert  was  still  hardy.  Delicate  living  and 
gorgeous  clothing  were  in  the  palace  of  Antipas,  while  the  fortress  of  Machaerus 
was  happy  in  the  old  austerities.  Then  Jesus  gave  his  cliina.x  :  'Went  ye  out  to  see 
a  prophet  ?  Yea,  and  more  than  a  prophet.  Verily  I  say  to  you.  Among  those 
born  of  woman  there  has  not  risen  a  greater  than  John  the  Baptist.  But  he  who  is 
least  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  greater  than  he.' 

A  greater  than  all  the  prophets  is  not  easily  terrified,  and  Jesus  pronoimced 
John  greater.  No  one  prophet  had  prophesied  concerning  another ;  but  other 
prophets  had  foretold  John,  as  '  the  messenger  who  should  prepare  the  way  of  the 
Lord.'     His  cliai'acter  and  office  had  both  been  predicted.     Nay,  he  had  foretold  the 


48  cniiTST's  EULoarrM  ox  .loiix 

iflurj  of  Clirist, — li:id  seen  liiiii  in  Lis  lioiuity, — IkhI  lived  contemporary  witli  liim, — 
was  liis  blood -relative, — and  liad  iiiiliictcd  iiiin  into  his  Messianic  office.  Did  Jesus 
exaggerate  when  he  pronounced  .idhn  i^i-eater  than  all  those  born  of  woman,  and 
more  than  a  prophet  ?  Is  this  the  panegyric  of  an  nngnarded  enthusiast  ?  Need 
we  say  tliat  Jesus  weighed  his  words  ;  and  enstaniped  John's  character  forever  in 
sentences  of  end)nin>'.ed  truth  '.  He  inade  the  Baptist  a  very  gem  of  divine  reality, 
sent  from  his  Katlier's  crown-jewel  r.>um.  Jehovah  had  hlled  him  with  light  in  the 
mine,  and  Herod  was  Ijringing  it  out  in  the  cutting. 

How  reverentially  the  Evangelist  tells  us,  that  when  John  looked  no  longer 
through  his  prison  bars,  '  His  disciples  came,  took  up  his  corpse,  and  laid  it  in  a 
tomb  ;'  but  lie  adds  significantly,  that  tliey  '  went  and  told  Jesus.'  After  their 
master's  body  was  buried,  they  found  no  grave  for  their  griefs  but  in  the  warm 
heart  of  his  master  ;  and  from  that  moment  they  transferred  their  discipleship  to  his 
ranks.  Then  Jesus  not  only  pronounced  this  holy  eulogy  :  '  He  has  borne  witness 
to  the  truth,  he  was  a  burning  and  a  shining  light ;'  but  he  prophesied  that  posterity 
.should  do  him  justice,  'wisdom  must  be  justified  on  the  part  of  her  children.' 
Truly,  John's  character  and  claims  have  been  justified  in  his  posterity,  as  history 
has  defended  those  of  no  other  man.  Yet  says  Jesus  :  '  He  that  is  least  in  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  is  greater  than  he.'  These  words  cannot  have  reference  to  John's 
moral  and  spiritual  character ;  for  none  of  our  Lord's  disciples  have  outstripped 
him  in  spirituality  'who  was  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  even  from  his  birth.' 
Clearly,  Jesus  speaks  of  his  official  position,  as  John's  prophetic  character  is  the 
only  point  of  which  he  is  treating.  As  crying  'prophets'  the  lowliest  fishermen 
amongst  the  disciples  formed  a  great  contrast  with  John.  The  Bajjtist's  own  fol- 
lowers, Andrew  and  John  the  Evangelist,  outstripped  their  old  master  in  all  his 
proclaiming  privileges.  He  preached  a  Saviour  who  had  come  to  do  his  -work,  they 
preached  him  crucified,  buried,  and  risen  from  the  dead.  Filled  as  he  was  with  the 
Spirit,  he  wrought  no  mighty  works ;  but  the  fishermen  did  the  same  works  that 
were  done  by  their  Master.  Stirring  as  was  John's  ministry,  it  was  shut  up  to  the 
narrow  home  of  the  Jews,  while  the  Apostles  were  sent  to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 
In  these  respects  the  least  of  them  was  greater  than  he. 

Jesus  enlarged  his  witness  to  John,  at  this  point,  by  settling  the  mooted  ques- 
tion of  his  relation  to  Elijah  :  '  If  ye  are  willing  to  receive  it,  he  is  the  Elijah  that 
should  come.'  Some  think  that  John's  imprisonment  made  him  sad  and  impatient, 
and  so,  that  he  desired  Jesus  to  come  and  liberate  him  by  miracle.  If  this  be  cor- 
rect, then  the  true  magnaninuty  of  Christ  is  seen  in  rising  above  John's  waning 
popularity  in  the  nation,  to  make  his  dungeon  an  eternal  Teinple  of  Fame.  Like 
as  the  star  of  Bethlehem  hung  a  witness  to  himself  over  his  stable-cradle,  so  he 
hung  this  lamp  over  gloomy  Machaerus  in  the  darkest  hour  of  John's  life  :  '  This  is 
the  Elijah  that  was  to  come ! '  Gabriel  had  said  that  John  shoxild  come,  '  In  the 
spirit  and  power  of  Elijah.'     The  nation  supposed,  that  when  Messiah  came  the 


FA. U All  HAS    COME.  49 

|nu])lirt  tif  Cartnel  wuiild  (Icscfiiil  in  tlic  awful  niaiiiicr  of  his  ascent.  Uiit  tliu 
luuMiis  hail  iKir  rc-iiiii.'iii<l,  imr  tliu  wiiirlwind  rei^atlicred,  nor  the  chariots  flashed 
down  alila/.i',  to  tiiuoiui;ical  .I('ri<'h().  Nu  retinne  of  angels  had  brought  back  the 
rcvurend  ]iru))la't,  to  ti'll  with  bated  breath  that  he  could  not  remain  in  mansions 
above,  whik'  his  brethren  were  crushed  to  the  earth.  They  expected  to  sec  him 
wrap  his  old  mantle  about  him  once  more,  and  with  a  double  portion  of  his  own 
roval  spiiit.  jiroclaim  tlie  coming  Lord  God  of  Elijah.  Here,  they  were  sadly  mis- 
taken ;  (Tod's  true  Elijah  was  in  prison,  not  in  Paradise. 

John  was  not  the  venerable  seer  of  lloreb,  but  was  like  him  in  spirit  and 
power  and  character.  He  is  named  Elijah  for  the  same  reason  that  Jesus  is  called 
'  David,"  not  to  point  out  that  monarch  personally,  but  to  declare  his  kingship. 
Tliei'e  was  a  unity  of  purpose  between  Elijah  and  John,  betokening  the  same  com- 
mission in  both.  Each  bent  his  energies  to  the  same  sacred  work  of  reformation. 
IJoth  walked  \vith  God  in  the  desert,  in  abstinence  and  solitude,  bound  the  same 
rough  garment  around  their  sturdy  frames,  and  suddenly  broke  on  the  nation  asleep 
in  its  sins,  when  its  crimes  were  crying  aloud  for  vengeance.  They  both  reproved 
the  incorrigible,  rebuked  kings,  and  warned  the  land  of  coming  wrath.  They 
silenced  religious  wranglings,  tore  men's  delusive  sophistries  to  shreds,  and  de- 
manded new  holiness  of  heart  and  life.  Yet,  Jesus  pronoxmced  John  :  '  More  than 
a  prophet,'  among  all  that  had  been  born.  The  Baptist  was  greater  than  Elijah. 
Elijah  fled  from  persecution,  John  met  it  face  to  face.  Jezebel  terrified  Elijali,  and 
hiding  in  the  desert  under  a  clump  of  broom-sedge,  he  prayed  God  to  take  his  life, 
.lolm  bearded  power  in  a  palace,  and  quailed  not  before  brutal  Ilerodias,  though  the 
(pieen  demanded  his  head.  And  John  was  greater  than  Elijah  in  that  he  went  to 
heaven,  a  martyr's  wreath  upon  his  brow  flecked  with  his  own  blood,  while  Elijah 
rose  to  the  skies  in  a  chariot  of  ease. 

Our  Lord's  witness  to  John  was  weighty  in  words,  but  if  possible,  his  deeds 
were  weightier  still.  He  ratified  John's  baptism  as  divine,  by  submitting  to  it  himself 
and  never  seeking  any  other;  then,  he  adopted  it  as  a  part  of  the  Gospel  system, 
unaltered  and  \inalterable  with  his  consent,  to  the  end  of  time.  The  Evangelist  tells 
us  the  mind  of  Jesus  in  this  matter  when  he  says:  'There  was  a  nian  sent  from 
(iod  whose  name  was  John.  The  same  came  for  witness,  to  bear  witness  of  the 
light,  that  through  him  all  might  believe.'  John  says  that  God,  '  Sent  me  to  bap- 
tize, in  water.'  So  marked  was  his  authority  from  the  Fatiier  to  do  this,  that  an 
inspired  Evangelist  found  it  needful  to  disavow  that  he  was  'The  Light'  himself, 
lest  men  should  be  confused  as  to  which  of  them  was  the  Christ.  Because  John 
was  so  directly  from  God,  Jesus  not  only  took  his  own  baptism  from  his  hands,  but 
received  John's  disciples  into  his  own  Apostleship,  without  administering  any  other 
baptism  to  them.'  The  identity  and  validity  of  thi'ir  lia|)tism  ln'  put  .side  by  side 
with  his  own,  not  only  marking  it  as  from  heaven,  but  pi-ononncing  it,  'The  Coun- 
sel of  (iod.'      lie  charges  i;uilt   uiion   the  Pharisees  and   lawyers  in   rejeetinif  that 


so  nnspEj,  n APT  ISM  cnnisrrAN. 

counsel,  by  refusing  baptism  at  JdIim's  bands.-  Tlie  very  purpose  for  wbich  tbe 
Baptist  was  sent  into  the  world  was,  'That  tlimuyh  bini  all  might  believe'  on 
CliristJ  Paul  declares  that  John  said  to  the  people,  'That  they  should  believe 
on  Jesus."  In  person,  Jesus  then  stood  amongst  them;  in  office,  he  was  'to  come 
after  him,'  and  accept  his  work.  The  phrase  'to  come'  cannot  relate  to  Christ's 
bii'tli,  for  he  had  already  baptized  him  as  a  man  of  thirty,  but  must  relate  to  his 
future  Messianic  reign.  John  lived,  preached  and  ba|)tized  after  Christ  had 
entered  on  his  Messianic  work,  just  as  much  as  any  of  Christ's  Apostles  did.  The 
Baptist  preached  repentance  in  the  presence  of  Jesus,  and  l)aptized  converts  to  him 
for  about  two  years  after  he  had  baptized  him;  for  his  martyrdom  took  place  but  a 
few  months  before  Ciirist's  crucifixion.  John  saw  his  glory,  noted  his  miracles, 
'  rejoiced  in  his  light,'  proclaimed  the  atonement  that  he  was  about  to  make  as  God's 
'  Lamb,'  and  demanded  that  all  penitents  should  '  believe  on  him  '  who  then  stood 
amongst  them.  Saving  that  Gospel  ministers  now  preach  Christ's  redeeming  acts 
as  finished,  John  preached  all  that  we  now  preach  or  can  preach,  the  agency  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  the  Gospel  Church  included. 

With  these  facts  on  the  very  face  of  the  four  gospels,  the  question  whether 
John's  baptism  were  Christian  or  not,  is  retluced  to  a  disjnite  about  words,  wliich 
only  easts  discredit  upon  Christ's  own  baptism,  as  if  it  had  no  binding  force  upon 
his  own  churches.  Those  who  reject  Christ's  puisonal  baptism  and  that  of  his 
Apostles  by  John,  as  wanting  in  some  vital  Christian  element,  do  so  because  it  was 
administered  before  Pentecost.  Of  course,  this  not  only  implies  that  Christ's  bap- 
tism and  theirs  were  defective,  but  that  all  the  baptisms  administered  by  the  Apostles 
before  Pentecost  were  defective,  as  Christian  baptisms  !  What  was  the  inexplicable 
mishap  in  these  baptisms,  a  deficiency  which  Christ  himself  did  neither  detect 
nor  rectify  ?  The  Evangelist  says,  That  Jesus  '  made,'  or  discipled  the  converts 
whom  his  disciples  baptized."*  Also  he  says,  That  they  were  baptized  in  Christ's 
presence:  'He  tarried  with  them  and  l)aptized.'^  Then  what  had  Pentecost  to  do 
anyhow  with  the  ratification  of  the  baptisms  which  he  had  authorized,  as  Christian? 
Under  credentials  from  God,  the  baptism  practiced  by  John  and  Jesus  was  identical 
at  any  rate.  But  neither  the  Father,  the  Son,  nor  the  Spirit,  added  one  injunction 
on  baptism  after  Pentecost.  Christ  administered  both  baptism  and  the  Supper 
before  his  death,  and  his  Apostles  practiced  baptism  under  his  own  eye.  Was  this 
a  distinct  institute  from  that  which  his  Father  had  ordained  for  John  ?  and  from 
that  which  followed  Pentecost  too  ?  In  that  ease,  we  have  three  sorts  of  baptism  in 
the  New  Testament,  one  for  John,  one  for  Jesus  and  his  Apostles,  and  still  another 
for  all  the  ages  after  Pentecost!  To  say  that  either  of  these  acts  were  not  Christian 
in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word,  is  to  throw  endless  perjjlexity  about  the  right  obe- 
dience of  the  New  Testament  converts. 

Clearly,  there  was  no  vital  difference  between  the  manner,  the  obligation,  the 
object,  or  the  value  of  baptism,  before  Pentecost  and  after.     The  difference  be- 


JOHN'S  DISPENSATIOy   CHRIS T\S.  SI 

tween  the  first  and  later  baptisms  by  Christ's  Apostles  related  only  to  their  enlarged 
field.  At  first  Christ  sent  tlieni  to  '  the  lost  sheep  of  Israel,'  but  his  post-resurrec- 
tion commission  enlarged  their  sphei-e  to  '  all  nations.'  Either  his  Apostles  baptized 
none  before  his  resurrection ;  which  canimt  he,  for,  "They  baptized  more  disciples 
than  John  ; '  or  they  baptized  without  his  autiiority  at  that  time  ;  or  else  he  gave 
tiiem  two  separate  commissions  to  ba[)tize,  one  liefun'  his  ri'.-urrectinu  ami  une 
after,  and  so  their  first  baptisms  were  defective  as  (•(unpared  with  their  last.  If 
any  of  their  first  baptisms  were  defective,  wliidi '.  and  in  wliat  respect?  The  post- 
resurrection  commission  of  Jesus  gave  tiieni  im  iiulicatidu  that  tlie  rite  was  new, 
nor  that  it  was  a  re-establishment  of  the  old  rite.  Both  its  wording  and  spirit 
imply  that  it  was  the  simple  continuance  of  a  rite  with  which  they  were  familiar, 
already  existing  by  divine  appointment,  and  now,  by  the  same  appointment  made 
outreaching  to  'all  the  world.'  He  then  gave  permanent  type  to  the  formula, 
adding  the  name  of  the  Spirit  to  his  own  and  to  that  of  the  Father,  for  very  obvious 
I'easons.  On  the  authority  of  tlie  Father,  the  Christian  age  and  institutions  began 
with  the  baptism  of  the  Son,  its  first  and  primary  design  being  to  manifest  him  to 
the  world.  It  was  adopted  and  sanctioned  by  the  Son  all  through  his  ministry,  and 
enforced  on  others  through  his  Apostles.  The  Holy  Spirit  had  ratified  it  by  his 
descent  upon  the  Son  in  his  baptism,  and  when  the  Spirit  should  fill  Christ's  place 
on  earth  after  his  ascension,  it  was  but  meet  that  it  should  thencefortli  be  admin- 
istered in  the  Triune  Name. 

Can  absurdity  be  more  al)surd  than  that  which  supposes  John  to  have  stood  in 
a  nondescript  dispensation  of  his  own  wiien  he  baptized  Jesus  ;  while  Jesus,  when 
lie  received  his  baptism,  stood  in  still  another  dispensation.  John's  ministry  had 
nothing  in  conunon  with  the  economy  of  Moses,  for  Jesus  himself  says  that  the 
'Law  was  until  John,'  from  which  time  the  'good  news  of  the  kingdom  is 
preached,  and  every  man  presses  into  it ; '  the  same  kingdom  tliat  both  John  and 
Jesus  preached.  And  what  other  kingdom  is  preached  to-day  ?  Christ  was  never 
baptized  in  water  but  once;  and  will  men  say  that  his  baptism  was  not  in  the 
Christian  dispensation,  simply  because  he  was  baptized  before  he  ascended  to 
heaven  ?  For  the  same  reason  they  may  read  the  Lord's  Supper  out  of  tiie  Chris- 
tian dispensation,  for  '  the  Spirit  had  not  come '  on  the  night  of  its  first  celebration. 
John  and  Jesus  both  preached  the  same  '  kingdom  of  heaven '  at  the  same  time, 
and  to  the  same  people,  either  in  the  Christian  age  or  out  of  it,  certainly  ;  so  that  if 
John's  preaching  and  baptism  were  neither  Mosaic  nor  Christian,  neither  could 
those  of  Jesus  be;  .as  authoi'ized  by  God  to  introduce  the  Gospel,  they  stand  or  fall 
together. 

The  cases  of  Apollos  and  the  twelve  Ephesians  are  directly  in  point  here, 
although  out  of  their  chronological  onli  r.  ApdUos  (Acts  xviii,  2-1-28)  '  knew  only 
the  baptism  of  John;'  meaning  that  he  liad  been  baptized  by  John  or  one  of  his 
followers.     The  narrative  shows  that  Apollos  had  found  that   repentance,  faith  in 


S2  APOLLOS  AND   Kl'lIKSIANS. 

Christ,  and  personal  holiness  iinder  John's  teaching,  which  led  him  to  speak  and 
teach  'correctly  the  things  concerning  Jesus.'  On  these  he  had  received  baptism, 
as  ap]K';n-s,  without  knowing  every  thing  concerning  Christ  historically,  for  Priscilla 
and  A(|uila  'taught  iiim  the  way  of  the  Lord  more  j^erfectly.'  Among  other 
tilings,  however,  they  did  not  teach  him  to  repudiate  his  baptism  fi'om  John,  on  the 
ground  tliat  tlicrt'  wi're  two  sorts  of  baptism  and  two  sorts  of  baptizers,  and  so, 
tliat  iiis  baptism  \\-(,uld  not  admit  iiim  into  a  i)ost-Pentecost  Gosjjel  Church,  for 
before  lie  .-ould  lie  ivccivcd  there,  he  must  seek  a  new  liaptism.  They  simply  gave 
him  fuller  light  'on  tlie  way  of  the  Lord,'  as  the  Apostles  had  received  new  light 
from  time  to  time,  and  as  do  all  devout  souls. 

Dr.  llrown,  Professor  of  Theology  at  Aberdeen,  treats  this  case  happily,  tiius  : 

'  He  comes  to  Ephesus  already  instructed  in  the  way  of  the  Lord,  fervent  in 
the  spirit,  and  mighty  in  the  Scriptures,  though  yet  only  on  the  Joannean  plat- 
form ;  and  what  Priscilla  and  Aquila  did  for  him  seems  to  have  been  simply  to 
impart  to  him  those  facts  of  the  new  economy,  with  which  he  was  unacquainted. 
And  just  as  those  disciples  who  passed  from  the  ranks  of  the  Baptist  to  those  of 
Christ  needed  and  received  no  new  baptism,  so  tliis  already  distinguislied  Christian 
teacher,  having  merely  received  a  riper  view  of  those  great  evangelical  truths  wjiich 
he  already  believed  and  taught,  neither  needed  nor  received  rebaptization.' 

On  his  faith  and  baptism  he  passed  from  John's  discipleship  into  the  Apo^olic 
Churcli  at  Ephesus,  was  commended  to  them  as  a  (Christian  teacher,  and  became  a 
champion  of  the  faith,  'watering '  where  Paul  '  jdaiitcd.'  Instead  of  the  Church 
setting  aside  his  baptism  from  John  as  defective,  in  any  I'espect,  it  was  adopted  as 
thoroughly  satisfactory  in  every  respect,  and  that  without  <piestion.  Here  we  tind 
a  full  justification  for  the  strong  words  of  Calvin,  when  he  says: 

'  It  is  very  certain  that  the  ministry  of  Jolm  was  precisely  the  same  as  that 
which  was  afterward  committed  to  the  Apostles.  For  their  baptism  was  not  dif- 
ferent, though  it  was  administered  by  different  hands;  but  the  sameness  of  their 
doctrine  shows  their  baptism  to  have  been  the  same.  John  and  the  Apostles  agreed 
in  the  same  doctrine.  Both  baptized  to  repentance,  both  to  remission  of  sins;  both 
baptized  in  the  name  of  Christ,  from  whom  repentance  and  remission  of  sins 
proceed.  John  said  of  Christ :  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  who  taketh  away  the 
sin  of  the  woi-ld  ;"  thus  acknowledging  and  declaring  him  to  be  the  sacrifice  accept- 
able to  the  Father,  the  procurer  of  righteousness,  and  the  author  of  salvation. 
What  could  the  Apostles  add  to  this  confession  ?  AVherefore,  let  no  one  be 
disturbed  by  the  attempts  of  the  ancient  writers  to  distinguish  and  separate  one 
baptism  from  the  other ;  for  their  authority  ought  not  to  have  weight  enough  to 
shake  our  confidence  in  the  Scripture.  .  .  .  But,  if  any  difference  be  sought  for  in 
the  Word  of  God,  the  only  difference  that  will  be  found  is,  that  John  baptized  in 
the  name  of  him  who  was  to  come,  the  Apostles  in  the  name  of  him  who  had 
already  manifested  himself.' 

Touching  the  case  of  the  twelve  believers  whom  Paul  found  at  Ephesus  (Acts 
xix,  1-7),  we  need  to  bring  great  candor  and  docility  to  its  examination ;  for  its 
interpretation  is  more  difficult,  and  it  has  been  the  subject  of  much  controversy. 
High  sacramentarians  have  always  disparaged  John's  baptism,  in  order  to  exalt  their 


THE    TWELVE  EPIfESTAXS.  S3 

own  as  tlio  only  Christian  -sacranRMit.'  With  this  in  view,  tlic  Council  of  Trent 
decreed:  '  If  any  one  shall  say  that  the  liaptism  of  .lohii  had  the  same  efficacy  as 
the  baptism  of  Christ,  let  hiui  be  anathema.'''  On  the  other  hand,  Protestants 
generally,  at  the  Reformation,  held  that  they  were  essentially  the  same,  for  the 
Apostle  does  not  raise  the  question  concerning  the  baptism  of  these  'twelve'  with 
reference  to  their  admission  into  Christianity ;  like  Apollos,  they  were  Christians 
already.  Paul  addresses  them  as  having  'believed,'  and  Luke  calls  them  'dis- 
ciples ; '  nor  were  they  seeking  fellowship  with  Christians  when  the  Apostle  met 
them  ;  they  were  already  numbered  amongst  Christians.  Liddon  says:  '  They  must 
have  acknowledged  a  certain  relation  to  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Master,  or  the  name 
"disciple"  would  not  have  been  given  them.  .lesus  was  in  some  sense  their 
Master;  they  were  his  disciples.'  Paul's  question  related  to  their  reception  of  the 
miraculous  gifts  of  the  Spirit  when  they  exercised  faith  on  Christ,  and  they  limited 
their  answer  accordingly :  '  We  did  not  so  much  as  hear  whether  the  Holy  Spirit 
was.'  Not  that  they  were  ignorant  of  the  Spirit's  existence.  This  cannot  be  the 
meaning,  since  the  personality  and  office  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  connection  with 
Christ,  formed  an  essential  subject  of  the  Baptist's  teachings.  Literally  :  '  We  did 
not  even  hear  whether  the  Holy  Spirit  was'  [given],  that  is,  at  the  time  of  their 
baptism.     Calvin  says : 

'It  is  not  probable  that  Jews,  though  they  had  never  been  l)aptlzed  at  all, 
would  have  been  destitute  of  all  knowledge  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  is  celebrated  in 
so  many  testimonies  of  Scripture.  ...  I  grant  that  the  bajitisni  they  had  received 
was  the  true  baptism  of  John,  and  the  very  same  with  the  baptism  of  Christ,  but  I 
deny  that  they  were  baptized  again.  ...  If  ignorance  vitiate  a  first  baptism,  so 
that  it  requires  to  be  corrected  by  a  second,  the  first  persons  who  ought  to  have 
been  rebaptized  were  the  Apostles  themselves,  who,  for  three  years  after  their  bap- 
tism, had  scarcely  any  knowledge  of  the  least  particle  of  pure  doctrine  ;  and  among 
us,  what  views  would  be  sufficient  for  the  repetition  of  ablutions  as  numerous  as  the 
errors  which  are  daily  corrected  in  us  by  the  mercy  of  the  Lord.' ' 

This  great  divine  presses  his  point  more  strongly  still  in  his  Commentary  on 
Acts  xix  : 

'Paul  doth  not  speak  in  this  place  of  the  Spirit  of  regeneration,  l)ut  of 
the  special  gifts  which  God  gave  to  others  at  the  beginning  of  the  Gospel.  .  .  . 
Because  the  men  of  old  had  conceived  an  opinion  that  the  baptism  of  John  and  of 
Christ  were  diverse,  it  was  no  inconvenient  thing  for  them  to  be  baptized  again, 
who  were  only  prepared  with  the  baptism  of  John.  But  that  diversity  was  falsely 
and  wickedly  believed,  it  appeareth  by  this,  in  that  it  was  a  pledge  and  token  of 
the  same  adoption,  and  of  the  same  newness  of  life  which  we  have  at  this  day  in 
our  baptism,  and  therefore  we  do  not  read  that  Christ  did  baptize  those  again  who 
came  from  John  unto  him.  Moreover,  Christ  received  baptism  in  his  own  flesh, 
that  he  might  couple  himself  with  ns,  by  that  visible  sign  (Matt,  iii,  15).  But  if 
that  feigned  diversity  be  admitted,  this  singular  benefit  shall  fall  away  and  perish, 
that  baptism  is  common  to  the  Son  of  God  and  to  us,  or  that  we  have  all  one  bap- 
tism with  him.  But  this  opinion  needetli  !io  long  confutation  ;  because  to  the  end 
they  may  parade  that  these  two  baptisms  be  diverse,  they  must  needs  show  first 
wherein  the  one  dilleretli  from  the  other;  but  the  most  excellent  likelihood  answer- 


54  MATTHIAS   CHOSEN. 

etli  to  brith  parts,  and  also  the  agreement  and  conforniity  of  tlie  parts,  wliich 
causeth  ns  to  confess  tliat  it  is  all  one  baptism.  .  .  .  Now  the  <pu'>tioii  i-,  whether 
it  were  lawful  to  repeat  the  same,  and  furious  men  in  this  our  \yj:y  tni-tin^  to  this 
testimony,  went  about  to  bring  in  baptizing  again.  I  deny  that  thi:  bajitisni  of 
water  was  repeated,  because  the  words  of  Luke  import  no  such  thing,  save  only  that 
they  were  baptized  with  the  Spirit.  .  .  .  And  whereas  it  followeth  immediately 
that  when  he  had  laid  his  hands  upon  them,  the  Spirit  came,  I  take  it  to  be  added 
by  way  of  interpretation.' 

Then,  as  in  all  other  cases  where  baptism  in  the  Spirit  occurred,  '  they  spoke 
with  tongues,'  a  '  sign '  which  few  believers  received ;  it  does  not  appear  that  even 
Apollos  possessed  this  distinction.  The  same  free  Spirit  which  had  converted  and 
kept  them  now  bestowed  miraculous  gifts  upon  them. 

In  this  transaction  Paul  did  not  raise  the  question  of  the  validity  of  John's 
baptism  ;  why  should  he,  more  than  with  his  fellow- Apostles  themselves  ?  With 
him  the  vital  point  covered  only  the  endowment  of  the  Ephesian  believers  with 
miraculous  gifts.  The  question  of  conversion  to  Christ  is  not  raised  in  the  narra- 
tive ;  but  as  these  gifts  sometimes  preceded  baptism  and  sometimes  followed  it, 
Paul  simply  asked  whether  or  not  they  received  them  when  they  '  believed.'  Dr. 
Bi'own  sums  up  the  cases  of  Apollos  and  these  twelve  thus :  '  There  is  no  evidence 
to  show  that  our  Lord  caused  those  disciples  of  John,  who  came  over  to  him,  to  be 
rebaptized ;  and  from  John  iv,  1,  2,  we  naturally  conclude  that  they  were  not. 
Indeed,  had  those  who  first  followed  Jesus  from  among  the  Baptist's  disciples  re- 
quired to  be  rebaptized,  the  Saviour  must  have  performed  the  ceremony  himself,  and 
such  a  thing  could  not  fail  to  be  recorded ;  whereas  the  reverse  is  intimated  in  the 
passage  just  quoted.'  Hence,  it  follows  that  these  Ephesians  needed  not  a  new  water 
baptism  any  more  than  the  twelve  Apostles.  And  it  is  remarkable  that  in  Peter's 
statement  of  qualifications  needed  in  the  candidate  who  should  fill  the  place  of 
Judas,  was  this,  namely,  that  he  should  have  corapanied  with  them  from  the  time 
of  John's  baptism  to  Christ's  ascension.  His  intimacy  with  John  and  Jesus  from 
the  '  beginning '  made  him  eligible.  They  then  made  prayer  to  Jesus  the  great 
Heart-Knower  to  determine  who  it  should  be,  and  he  appointed  Matthias.  But  not 
a  word  is  said  about  his  need  of  rebaptism  either  before  or  after  Pentecost,  in  order 
to  a  valid  filling  of  the  Apostleship  with  the  eleven.  Matthias,  Apollos,  and  the 
twelve  at  Ephesus,  seem  to  have  held  much  the  same  relation  both  to  John  and 
Christ.  It  seems  impossible  to  determine  whether  these  '  twelve '  were  rebaptized 
or  not.  Calvin  best  expresses  the  writei''s  idea,  but  such  high  Baptist  authority  as 
Drs.  Hackett  and  Hovey  take  the  opposite  view.  If  they  were  rebaptized,  the  reason 
is  not  found  in  any  defect  in  John's  baptism  as  Christian,  but  in  their  personal  want 
of  the  full  qualifications  for  receiving  baptism.  Dr.  Hackett  puts  this  view  of  the 
case  in  these  strong  words:  'Their  prompt  reception  of  the  truth  would  tend  to 
show  that  the  defect  in  their  formei'  baptism  i-elated  not  so  much  to  their  positive 
error  as  to  their  ignorance   in   regard  to  the  proper  object  of  faith.'     Such  igno- 


JOHN   rilK    TYPICAL   BAPTIST.  53 

ranee,  however,  did  not  obtain  in  tlie  cases  of  tlie  Apostles  clioseii  by  Christ,  of 
Matthias  (Acts  i,  22),  nor  of  Apollos,  who  received  baptism  from  the  same  source, 
and  were  not  rcbaptized,  their  examples  showing  that  baptism  before  and  after  Pen- 
tecost differs  only  as  noon  differs  from  morning. 

In  this  sketch  of  John,  harl)inger,  preaelier,  thcolot;i;in  ;in(l  martyr,  next  ti)  bis 
Master,  we  find  the  great  typical  Baptist  of  all  ages.  It  is  more  than  a  blundei-  to 
place  him  on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan,  with  his  face  toward  Sinai  and  Egypt,  as  a 
perfect  pei-sonification  of  the  Mosaic  age.  His  face  was  turned  toward  Tabor, 
Calvary,  Olivet,  and  the  New  Jerusalem,  as,  next  to  his  Master,  the  embodiment  of 
the  New  Testament.  John  and  Jesus  looked  only  forward,  eye  to  eye.  His  min- 
istry glided  into  that  of  Christ,  as  a  mountain  tarn  soon  loses  itself  in  the  deep  sea. 
Frederick  Robertson,  with  his  usual  scope  and  beauty,  says : 

'  He  left  behind  him  no  sect  to  which  he  had  given  his  name,  but  his  disciples 
passed  into  the  service  of  Christ,  and  were  absorbed  in  the  Christian  Clnii-ch. 
Words  from  John  had  made  impressions,  and  men  forgot  in  after  years  where  the 
impression  first  came  from  ;  but  the  day  of  judgment  will  not  forget.  John  laid 
the  foundations  of  a  temple  and  others  I)uilt  upon  it.  He  laid  it  in  a  struggle,  in 
martyrdom.  It  was  covered  up  with  the  rough  masonry  below  ground ;  but  when 
we  look  round  on  the  vast  Christian  Church,  we  are  looking  at  the  superstructure 
of  John's  toil." " 

That  is  narrow  and  pitiable  cant  which  makes  him  the  mere  incarnation  of  his 
age.  "Was  he  such  an  embodiment  of  surface  life  ?  The  New  Testament  says  that 
he  resisted  his  age,  reformed  his  age,  and  overturned  its  old  things  that  all  things 
might  become  new.  Could  the  worst  age  of  Judaism  produce  the  holiest  man  in 
the  Gospels  ?  Yes,  as  much  as  the  densest  darkness  can  create  a  quenchless  light. 
The  later  Judaism  produced  scribes,  Pharisees,  hypocrites,  but  John  the  Baptist 
never.  He  was  sent  of  God  to  his  age,  and  gave  it  much,  but  borrowed  nothing. 
He  interpreted  it,  and  tried  to  save  it,  and  it  slaughtered  bini  in  recompense.  No 
man  in  the  Bible  brought  so  many  new  truths  from  God,  truths  virgin  to  the  soul 
of  man,  and  which  still  stir  the  best  spirits  on  earth  with  their  freshness.  The  sure 
and  certain  sound  which  echoes  through  all  lands  to-day,  as  loudly  as  ever,  was  his 
first  trumpet-call.  His  personal  piety  opens  to  us  his  inner  life.  Tertullian  thinks 
that  he  brought  in  a  new  method  of  prayer,  which  led  the  Apostles  to  say  :  '  Lord, 
teach  us  to  pray,  as  also  John  taught  his  disciples.'  Whence  came  that  model 
prayer:  '  Our  Father,'  etc.  Far  from  being  the  nondescript  which  narrow  modern 
interpretation  makes  him,  he  was  the  leader  in  the  great  moral  upheaval  which  first 
demanded  personal  loyalty  to  Christ.  Pointing  out  salvation,  not  by  hereditary  in- 
stitutions, or  by  birds  and  beasts,  he  demanded  a  radical  revolution,  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  new  kingdom  :  '  Not  of  birth,  or  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh, 
nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God.' 

The  Baptist  was  not  a  book,  but  a  voice ;  not  a  functionary  of  the  old  age,  noi 
yet  a  representative  of  the  Law  and  the  Prophets.     They  represented  themselves. 


56  'A  nunmNff  and  siuNmn  lamp: 

As  :i  viiicc,  he  wns  livini;-,  .strnnir,  clear ;  ;ui<l  'Jesus  '  was  the  '  Word  "  that  lie  spoke 
with  all  liis  iiiii^ht.  S<.  well  did  he  preach  Jesus,  that  his  Lord's  lips  pronounced 
luMi  'A  Imrniii--  and  shiniiii;-  lamp.'  words  which  he  uttered  of  none  other.  So 
huninously  did  he  lUTacli  Christ,  that,  like  a  lauijt,  he  threw  lii;ht  on  liis  theme.  So 
fervently  did  he  pnach  him  that  his  nuuistry  l.urnt  with  the  ].unj;-ency  of  a  flame. 
'  KejK'Ut,  ohey  the  living-  King-,'  he  crit'd,  and  when  (iod  :;ave  his  hearers  repent- 
ance unto  life,  he  immersed  their  lioilics  in  the  Jordan.  He  focused  sin  as  it 
appears  in  the  New  Testament,  in  all  its  odiou.sness ;  and  in  this  respect,  Jesus  had 
closer  alHnity  with  him  than  with  a)iy  of  his  Apostles.  And  that  emba.ssador  of 
Christ  in  our  times,  who  has  the  most  of  Jolin's  courage,  love  for  Christ  and  zeal 
in  pushing  the  great  truths  whicli  he  preached,  does  the  best  service  in  his  Master's 
work.  Such  a  man  is  a  '  scribe,  well  instructed  in  the  kingdom  of  God,'  a  true 
antitype  of  Christ's  greatest  witness. 

Like  John,  Baptists  have  found  through  long  centuries,  that  when  they  have 
dared  to  enforce  the  wliole  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  they  have  commonly  sealed 
their  own  death-warrants.  The  first  Baptist  of  his  race  is  not  the  only  man  of 
that  race  whose  fidelity  has  invoked  murder  in  cold  blood.  More  heads  of  that 
household  than  his  have  gasped  on  a  lordly  dish,  things  of  beauty  for  crowned 
heads  and  delicate  princesses  to  gloat  their  eyes  upon.  Standing  at  the  head  of  the 
noble  army  of  Baptist  martyr.s,  his  tragic  fidelity  to  God  has  been  the  standing  sign 
of  their  own  end.  No  story  in  history  is  so  sad  as  his,  and  none  so  paints  criminal 
splendor  and  sacred  bravery  in  their  true  colors.  John  sets  fortli  the  sterling  mis- 
sion of  true  Baptists  in  sterling  ideal.  He  was  Jehovah's  royal  minister  and  man's 
hated  culprit.  Needed  not  the  world  a  '  kind  of  first-fruits '  in  God's  messengers 
for  its  ferocity,  and  who  could  meet  the  need  so  well  as  John?  In  ante-Gospel 
times  the  Lord  enrolled  a  long  array  of  brilliant  names  in  his  book  of  remembrance, 
and  these  wei'e  his  jewels.  But  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life,  John  heads  his  list  of 
martyr  names.  Did  the  Lamb  himself  refer  to  this  record,  and  coujile  these  names 
with  his  own  slaughter,  when  he  said  of  John  :  '  They  knew  him  not,  but  did  to 
him  whatever  they  would.  So  also  is  the  Son  of  Man  about  to  suffer.'  John's  sun 
has  long  since  set  in  Palestine,  but  his  glory  lays  upon  the  world  from  its  Dan  to  its 
Beersheba.  The  people  could  not  forget  him  when  his  frame  moldered  under  the 
turf,  Jesus  could  not  forget  him,  his  Apostles  could  not  forget  him  ;  he  lived  in 
their  thoughts,  a  palpable  entity.  Jesus  asked  the  twelve :  '  Whom  do  men  say  that 
I  am  ? '  They  answered  :  '  John  the  Baptist.'  No  apostle  of  Christ  ever  met  with  a 
eulogy  like  that.  So  Christlike  was  he  as  to  be  taken  for  the  Son  of  God  himself, 
by  the  very  people  who  knew  them  lioth.  And  all  this  was  when  the  God-man 
addressed  them  daily,  and  the  heailless  body  of  the  Baptist  rested  in  the  soil  which 
they  trod.     '  Such  honor  have  not  all  his  saints.' 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE    KING    IN    ZION.— LAWS   OF   THE    NEW    KINGDOM. 

GENEVA,  like  Jernsiilom,  is  eiiciirluil  with  mountains,  Alp  rising  on  Alp. 
There  is  the  stretch  of  the  nii,<rhty  Jura,  and  towering  above  all, 
solemn  Mont  Blanc.  lie  looks  down  from  azure  heights  in  a  purity  of  awe 
which  breathes  the  spirit  of  eternity  on  all  below.  Yet  his  summits  and  battle- 
ments of  alabaster  are  so  dwarfed  by  distance,  that  several  princes  of  his  court  are 
easily  mistaken  for  the  king  himself.  Still  the  practiced  eye  cannot  be  misled. 
When  once  the  sun  kisses  his  brow  and  steals  down  his  visage,  a  pink  tint  warms 
him  into  the  radiance  of  life ;  then,  like  an  archangel  asleep,  a  smile  plays  on  his 
face,  and  each  courtier  around  his  chair  of  state  catches  the  glow  of  his  beatitude. 
So,  when  we  look  back  to  the  blue  sky  on  which  the  Rock  of  Ages  outlined  him- 
self, encompassed  with  Evangelists  and  Apostles,  we  may  readily  rob  Jesus  of  his 
majesty  and  put  the  Baptist,  or  Peter,  or  Paul  on  the  monarch's  throne.  But  when 
the  sunlight  of  God's  glory  floods  the  Sacred  Head,  at  once  the  man  of  Tabor  looms 
up,  the  Sovereign  of  the  group.  Then,  once  more,  Joseph's  '  eleven  '  sheaves  and 
'  thirteen '  celestial  orbs  arise  and  bow  to  him  who  is  King  of  kings. 

The  Baptist  put  the  diadem  on  tlie  rightful  brow,  for  when  the  people  saw 
Christ's  glory  they  said  :  '  All  things  that  John  spake  of  this  man  were  true.'  His 
career  glided  into  the  ])ublic  ministry  of  Jesus,  not  making  the  one  the  fortuitous 
after-execution  of  the  other,  but  as  a  part  of  one  grand  design — a  far-sighted  method 
of  God's  eternal  love,  for  a  strange  unity  covers  their  history.  Their  ministries  are 
two  voices  attuned  to  one  strain,  and  their  key-note  is  '  the  kingdom  of  God.'  Jesus 
took  up  the  theme  where  John  dropped  it,  and  in  a  more  joyful  key.  He  gave  the 
exact  burden  of  John  to  his  Apostles  in  their  Judean  mission  :  '  As  ye  go  preach, 
saying.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand.'  Here  is  a  progressive  and  Godlike 
unfolding  of  the  same  doctrine,  the  good  news  of  Christ's  reign  upon  the  earth. 
Kingship  here  is  not  a  celestial  institution,  but  a  moral  sovereignty  over  all  earthly 
institutions,  the  establishment  of  a  spiritual  empire  on  the  earth.  Bengel  forcibly 
groups  the  events  from  Christ's  Baptism  to  his  Ascension,  in  his  treatment  of  the 
favorite  word  Gospel  in  Mark  :  '  The  heglnnlng  of  the  Gospel  is  in  the  Baptist,  the 
Gospel  in  the  whole  book,'  to  the  Great  Commission.  The  Apostles  passed  the 
mutilated  body  of  John  stretclied  on  the  threshold  of  Christianity,  when  sent  on 
their  errand  of  struggle  and  victory  ;  and  they  wei-e  inspired  to  endurance  by  the 
fall  of  the  strong,  pure,  young  martyr.     Jesus  lifted  up  the  standard  of  Jehovah 


58  A   NEW  REALM. 

wliuii  it  fell  from  John's  liands,  and  it  has  iievcr  fallen  since.  lie  took  up  the  very 
words  of  .loliii  and  i,''ave  them  eternal  meaning,  ])y  becoming  his  own  herald  at  the 
head  of  the  new  kingdom.  The  unity  of  the  New  Testament  in  all  its  truths  and 
principles  sliows  but  one  mind  ;  its  forecasting  and  fulhiess  are  all  of  a  piece. 
Hence,  wliat  John  preached  and  practiced  has  never  been  superseded,  or  even  sus- 
pended, to  this  day.  Because  it  included  the  substance  of  Christian  truth,  it  is  still 
moving  on  in  its  progressive  completeness.  There  was  no  rent  in  John's  garment, 
and  our  Lord  put  into  it  no  new  piece  of  cloth,  but  only  enlarged  the  same  divine 
web. 

Pilate  asked  Jesus:  'Art  thou  a  king  then?'  and  he  honestly  told  the  jiolitic 
Roman  that  he  was  the  King  of  the  Truth.  '  Thou  sayest  it  because  I  am  a  King. 
To  this  end  I  came  into  the  world,  that  I  may  ])ear  witness  to  the  truth.'  Yet  he 
disavowed  that  his  kingdom  was  of  this  world  :  '  If  my  kingdom  wei-e  of  this  world 
then  would  my  servants  iight.  But  my  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world.'  His  coun- 
trymen looked  for  a  king  in  pomp  and  circumstance,  who  should  come  literally  in 
the  clouds  of  heaven.  But  the  kingship  of  Jesus  was  to  sway  its  power  over  the 
souls  of  men.  Look  at  his  answer  to  the  political  question,  on  the  lawfulness  of 
paying  the  poll-tax  to  the  Romans.  He  took  the  coin  in  which  it  was  paid,  bearing 
the  image  and  inscription  of  Csesar  Augustus,  in  such  a  year,  after  the  conquest  of 
Judea.  This  proving  their  subjection,  he  said  :  '  Give  CiEsar  that  which  belongs  to 
him,  and  render  unto  God  that  which  is  his.'  He  made  a  part  of  their  duty  lie  in 
loyalty  to  their  protecting  government,  and  having  done  this,  they  must  obey  God 
in  all  things.  Here  he  laid  down  the  great  law  of  his  own  kingdom,  duty  to  God 
above  all  human  policy,  and  a  sacred  regard  for  all  wholesome  human  law. 

He  would  form  a  community  for  other  purposes  than  those  of  national  exist- 
ence, but  would  not  interfere  with  human  governments.  He  would  select  its  sub- 
jects, make  its  officers,  enact  and  enforce  its  laws,  and  go\-ern  it  uader  the  will  of 
God.  With  the  founding  of  such  an  empire  in  view,  he  needed  no  assistance  from 
human  sources,  as  other  men.  His  servants  would  neither  fight  for  supremacy  nor 
ask  political  Powers  to  fight  for  them.  His  kingdom  should  conquer  by  choice  and 
not  by  force — it  should  be  taken  from  every  stock  and  race,  and  held  together  by 
love.  It  should  grant  no  special  privileges  to  any  class,  or  blood,  or  nation  ;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  races  hostile  to  each  other,  speaking  different  tongues  and  following 
different  interests,  should  be  compacted  into  a  harmonious  whole.  No  man's  courage 
had  dared  to  take  principles  as  deep  and  broad  as  human  nature  itself,  for  the 
corner-stone  of  human  conduct.  Self-will,  defiance,  war  and  blood-ties  had  been 
built  upon,  but  disinterested  love  never.  This  was  to  take  men  out  of  one  world 
into  another,  while  they  remained  in  the  same.  It  was  to  create  in  man  a  new 
feeling,  interest  and  pursuit,  a  new  spirit,  principle  and  end.  Here  sight  was  to 
give  place  to  faith,  the  visible  to  the  unseen,  the  selfish  to  the  benevolent,  and  the 
circumstantial  to  the  rightful.     Citizens  in  his  Commonwealth  were  to  be  elevated 


PIIYSrCAL   FORCE  HERE  IMMORAL.  S9 

above  the  animal  ;  they  were  to  move  in  a  new  moral  imiverse,  because  they  loved 
with  a  pure  heart  fervently.  They  were  to  make  each  other  strong  and  good,  and 
were  to  stimulate  all  about  them  to  the  bravery  of  blessing.  The  weak  were  to  be 
borne  up,  as  the  oak  bears  the  ivy  that  it  may  become  stronger ;  and  tlie  stout  were 
to  stand  firmly  alone  with  the  stout,  as  the  fir  and  elm  stand  alone,  but  keep  com- 
pany with  each  other. 

Jesus  distinctly  renounced  all  temporal  power.  Legal  coercion  is  powerless  to 
command  the  assent  of  a  soul  to  his  doctrines,  or  the  obedience  of  a  life  to  his  laws. 
lie  was  the  King  of  souls,  to  reign  over  intellect,  affection,  conscience ;  and  his 
conquests  were  to  be  moral,  not  physical.  His  throne  must  be  set  up  in  the  willing 
soul,  for  here  is  his  palace.  The  question  of  tribute  was  intended  to  place  him 
between  two  fires.  Either  he  must  declare  for  Csesar  against  tlie  turbulent  Jews, 
or  against  Cajsar,  and  so  meet  the  charge  of  sedition.  He  refused  to  be  made  a 
king,  or  to  touch  civil  authority.  In  the  modern  sense  of  the  word,  there  was  no 
Church  or  State  in  the  Jewish  Theocracy.  They  were  one  and  the  same  institution, 
and,  therefore,  there  was  no  such  alliance  as  we  are  acquainted  with.  It  knew  no 
distinction  between  the  religious  and  the  political,  for  Jehovah  was  its  only  Deity 
and  Magistrate.  Jesus  prohibited  all  civil  penalties  in  his  Gospel  kingdom,  as  at 
variance  with  its  first  principles.  No  man  can  persecute  another  on  religious  ques- 
tions from  a  sense  of  duty  to  Christ,  but  only  on  his  own  arrogant  inclinations. 
When  Peter  drew  his  sword  in  defense  of  his  persecuted  Master,  Jesus  deprecated 
his  act,  and  commanded  him  to  put  it  back  into  its  sheath.  Duty  to  God  cannot  be 
an  offense  against  society  ;  therefore,  to  persecute  men  for  the  discharge  of  that 
duty,  uiuler  the  directions  of  moral  conviction,  is  to  violate  the  law  of  natural 
morality.  And,  if  under  the  guise  of  religion  men  violate  secular  authority,  they 
must  be  punished,  not  as  religionists,  but  as  abettors  of  civil  crime.  Offenses 
against  God  which  are  not  offenses  against  man  cannot  be  noticed  by  a  secular 
tribunal,  without  trenching  on  those  prerogatives  of  God  which  he  has  delegated  to 
no  power  on  earth.  Nor  can  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  by  his  authority,  coerce  any 
temporal  power,  or  interfere  in  its  jurisdiction.  The  State  is  the  natural  channel 
for  reaching  all  ends  contemplated  by  the  State.  The  very  idea  of  alliance  between 
the  Church  and  the  State  implies  their  distinct  character  primarily,  and  their 
native  independence  of  each  other.  They  may  form  a  compact  for  each  other's 
moral  sujiport,  but  Christ  has  proliibited  the  interchange  of  their  original  rights  as 
unlawful.  Consent  or  dissent,  as  before  the  civil  power,  are  not  to  be  named  nor 
thought  of,  much  less  the  establishment  of  religion,  or  even  its  toleration.  The 
power  to  tolerate  is  the  essence  of  intolerance.  It  implies  disapproval  tempered 
with  charitable  restraint,  to  punish  independent  thought  and  practice,  as  if  these  were 
wrong  in  themselves  ;  and  that  then  tolerance  were  an  act  of  very  gracious  kindness. 
But  if  independence  be  wrong,  then  not  to  punish  it  is  to  declare  it  no  offense,  and 
to  declare  it  right  is' to  recognize  Christ  as  the  only  King  in  the  Gospel  kingdom. 


All  this  shuws  that  Jesus  d 

id  what 

;  no  1 

jecting,  namely,  the  fnuinliiii;-  of  ; 

I  kino-d 

Olll    ol 

and  not  on  the  iiiatei-ini  ;  mi  iiiwa 

rd  life. 

and 

to  say,  he  gave  man  power  over  1 

limself. 

so  th 

passions  and  jxiwers  under  the   1 

aw  of  ; 

L   saiH. 

not   know  that  they  were   sons  of 

(iod. 

,.r   th; 

they  know  tliat  they  eouhl   all  he 

kin-s  ; 

imoiii 

lators   he   made   not  the   letter   of 

the   h 

iw  hi^ 

person,  which  covered  hoth  its  let 

ter and 

spiri 

tive  of  Christ  in  character.      He 

loved   ; 

dl    m 

60  CHMlArTRn    THE    TKST   OF   rilUTsTIANTTY. 

an"s  originality  had  thought  of  pro- 
character:  on  the  mental  and  moral, 
it  on  exterior  organization.  That  is 
t  his  self-control  should  hring  all  his 
ified  nuudiood.  Until  tin's,  men  did 
:  they  were  lirothers  ;  mncli  less  did 
X  men.  Differing  fn mi  other  legis- 
staiidai'd  of  ohedienee,  bnt  iiis  own 
A  Christian  is  to  he  a  representa- 
II  and  nations,  and  in  jn-oportion  as 
they  should  become  true  copies  iif  himself,  sliould  they  heconie  nohler  men.  lie 
laid  his  law  of  citizenship  on  the  plane  of  selection.  .Men  of  high  character,  judged 
by  this  standard,  were  to  be  winnowed  out  from  men  of  low  character.  lie  would 
organize  them  into  communities,  having  made  them  worthy  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Then,  under  this  new  code,  right  character  was  to  be  created  by  new  exactions 
enforced  upon  the  individual  man.  Truth  should  be  aiijilied  under  their  individual 
search  for  truth,  without  regard  to  old  levels.  Ilis  law  was  not  traced  by  the  finger 
of  a  child  on  the  saiiil  of  the  sea,  but  was  graven  deep  on  the  tablets  of  his  own 
inner  life.  Every  element  in  his  followers  must  be  substance,  as  in  himself,  justice, 
mercy,  purity,  self-sacrifice.  They  must  be  real  men  and  not  images;  and  the 
higher  their  spiritual  tone  the  nearer  would  they  approach  to  the  reality  of  God's 
Son.  He  had  come  to  unveil  true  character  by  revealing  God  to  man,  full-orbed. 
He  came  to  show  the  Father  in  the  express  likeness  of  his  person,  and  to  recover 
man  to  his  paternal  government. 

Also,  he  spoke  with  authority  and  certainty,  because  he  found  these  profound 
laws  embodied  in  himself.  The  genuine  pearl  in  his  hand  had  been  brought  up 
from  the  dejitlis  of  his  own  nature.  The  fruit  was  good  because  the  tree  was  good. 
Men  read  the  one  by  the  other.  The  iimer  recesses  of  his  soul,  its  secret  motives 
and  genuine  life,  are  photographed  in  his  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Ilis  sphere  of 
government  being  the  soul,  he  governs  the  outer  life  through  its  thinking  and  will- 
ing, and  through  the  truth  which  molds  the  motives  and  controls  the  entire  exist- 
ence. This  method  of  ruling  clothes  his  word  with  power.  When  he  laid  bare  a 
depth  of  life  to  which  men  were  strangers,  they  found  it  impossible  to  resist  the 
hidden  majesty  with  which  he  spoke.  His  plain  forms  of  expression  were  the 
more  mysterious  in  their  force,  from  the  fact,  that  he  used  no  means  to  captivate 
men  but  the  invitation,  '  Come  unto  me,'  words  which  spi'ang  from  the  deei:)est 
fountain  of  his  tenderness.  His  subject-matter  is  truth  from  above;  but  he  uses 
human  words  to  tell  of  heavenly  things,  and  they  sink  into  the  soul.  As  the  great 
Master  of  thought  and  language,  he  brought  Divine  volitions  from  the  hush  of  his 
Father's  guest-chamber,  that  he  might  enshrine  them  first  in  the  temple  of  his  own 
manhood,  and  then  in  the  life  of  his  disciples.     The  signet-ring  of  God  had  set  his 


CHRIST   TUE  MODEL.  61 

seal  to  tlio  fact  tliat  Jesus  was  true  ;  for  lie  cnihodied  all  that  he  required  in  otiier 
men,  and  as  their  perfi'ct  jiattei-n.  deiiiaiided.  that  each  man  should  seek  a  close  con- 
formity to  himself.  lie  would  recoustruct  in  each  a  iii'W  humanity,  and  so,  man  by 
man,  the  whole  race  should  hecome  new.  This  moral  and  spiritual  renewal  must 
amount  to  a  new  creation. 

Christ  diiiei'ed  from  Moses,  the  great  lawgiver,  in  that  he  penned  no  law.  The 
law  of  life  was  in  himself.  This  makes  all  his  exactions  weighty  and  imperious 
upon  tlie  citizens  of  the  new  kingdom.  The  King  himself  leads  his  subjects  in  the 
thick  of  the  contest,  making  himself  the  text-book  of  service,  and  liis  infectious 
leadership  in  danger,  the  word  of  connnand  to  the  front.  Character  and  deeds 
form  tlie  body  of  laws  for  the  new  commonwealth  ;  for  his  life  exposes  all  dark 
snares — silences  all  lurking  passions — quickens  all  health — adoi-ns  all  beauty — recon- 
ciles all  contradiction.  To  each  faint  disciple  his  character  is  a  rock  of  strength ; 
he  is  the  Brother  in  adversity,  the  torch  of  truth,  and  the  incarnation  of  nobility. 
He  is  the  ideal  God,  and  yet,  in  his  march,  he  draws  men  after  him  as  in  the  foot- 
steps of  an  ideal  man.  To  be  like  him  is  to  be  a  Christian.  This  is  the  profound 
philosophy  which  led  him  to  brush  aside  all  theories  of  life,  to  live,  which  threw 
him  into  the  mid^t  of  moral  chaos,  in  order  to  commit  the  new  life,  not  to  writing, 
but  t((  the  law  of  actual  guardianship.  When  other  men  asked,  'What  is  truth,'  he 
answered  :  '  [  am  the  Truth.'  Any  theory  that  lie  might  have  written,  even  as  the 
King  in  Zion,  could  and  would  have  been  misrepresented.  But  when  he  made  his 
own  character,  example,  and  obedience  the  standard  of  his  law  for  others,  his 
authority  was  simply  beyond  mistake,  and  living  beyond  doubt.  The  law  of  Moses 
made  no  man  perfect,  because  it  gave  no  perfect  nmdel  of  its  teachings;  but  that 
of  Jesus  did,  because  in  the  true  God-philosophy  he  said  :  '  Learn  of  me.' 

Yet,  he  did  not  destroy  the  old  law,  or  even  set  it  aside,  as  if  it  were  a  failure, 
but  he  proved  its  success  for  its  own  purposes,  by  fulfilling  its  demands.  Had  men 
chosen  to  keep  it,  it  had  brought  them  to  God.  But  when  Jesus  kept  it,  he  showed 
it  to  be  holy,  and  just,  and  good,  and  then  gave  himself  to  be  tlie  new  law  of  con- 
formity, and  so  was  made  the  end  of  the  law  by  bringing  in  his  own  joyful  life. 
By  perfect  obedience  he  could  calmly,  confidently,  and  jjerpetually  say  :  '  Thus,  and 
thus  it  is  written,'  in  a  sense  far  beyond  the  ordinary  ken.  It  is  not  a  little  remark- 
able that  he  so  often  refers  to  the  Law,  the  Prophets  and  the  Psalms,  as  illustrated 
by  his  acts,  his  person  and  spirit,  until  the  Written  Word  of  the  Old  Testament  is 
enshrined  in  the  Living  Word  of  the  New.  The  Jews  honored  the  letter  of  their 
holy  books  when  they  counted  their  words,  and  so  invested  them  with  sacredness. 
But,  how  infinitely  more  he  honored  them,  when  he  translated  their  spirit  into 
the  oracle  of  his  Living  Self,  to  become  the  vital  Epistle  of  Moses  and  David, 
Isaiah  and  the  Prophets. 

Never  was  the  Old  Testament  understood  till  the  Lamb  took  the  roll  and  broke 
its  seals.     Since  then,  it  is  an  o))en  book  which  the  wayfaring  man   may  read  while 


62  ins  LIFE    TlIK   LAW. 

he  runs.  His  whole  life  was  prewritten  in  the  volume  of  the  Book,  and  was  then 
tianscriliiMl  into  him  so  clearly,  that  his  first  biographer  caught  the  picture  perfectly, 
an(|  ma<le  his  Gospel  literally  the  Gospel  of  fulfilled  prophecy.  He  traces  these 
predictions  in  the  virgin  mother,  the  place  and  time  of  his  birth,  and  in  his  name, 
'  Immanuel.'  He  even  listened  to  Rachel's  sobs  around  the  manger,  when  they 
gave  new  anguish  to  the  sad  dirge  of  Jeremiah.  And,  when  the  Magi  returned  to 
the  East,  they  left  a  brighter  dawn  than  had  ever  flushed  on  the  Syrian  sky,  in  the 
vision  of  Israel. 

What  fullness  dwells  in  the  words  :  '  I  came  down  from  heaven  not  to  do  my 
own  will,  but  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me.'  In  this  sense,  as  well  as  in  a  higher 
sense,  he  lived  out  of  himself  in  the  Father,  and  the  Father  lived  in  him.  The  law 
of  Jehovah  which  had  been  revealed  from  the  beginning  in  deathless  principle  and 
written  statute,  he  reproduced  in  flesh  and  blood,  and  made  eternally  binding  in  all 
its  integrity.  His  soul  was  radiant  with  its  simple  clearness  and  glowing  warmth, 
and  it  dominated  the  whole  sweep  of  his  legislation  and  teachings.  Hence,  his  in- 
flexible reverence  for  the  mind  of  God,  and  his  august  loathing  of  the  nullifying 
traditions  of  man.  He  threw  every  type  of  men's  antique  dictation  to  the  four 
winds,  with  a  deliberate  contempt  which  brought  rank  and  culture,  assumption  and 
pride  of  lording  to  a  dead  stand-still,  before  the  inexorable  bar  of  him  who  says : 
'  Thus  it  is  written.'  Quietly,  he  tore  up  by  the  roots  that  conceit  of  autocrats  who 
deem  themselves  the  licensed  law-mongers  of  humanity,  with  full  power  to  hawk 
their  venal  wares  in  the  market-place  against  the  enstamped  commands  of  God,  and 
to  push  his  Word  aside. 

Then,  Jesus  followed  that  holy  veneration  which  never  questioned  one  jot  of 
inspired  truth,  with  a  sacriiicial  submission  which  would  not  gloss  a  line  or 
haggle  with  a  principle  thereof  in  disobedience.  His  all-pervading  spirituality  led 
him  with  cheerfulness  into  death  itself,  if  moral  obligation  issued  the  mandate. 
When  his  steadfast  eye  laid  bare  tlie  path,  his  willing  feet  trod  therein.  His  obe- 
dience wound  its  way  through  type  and  shadow,  the  longings  of  hope  and  the  pene- 
trations of  promise,  and  ended  in  the  Valley  of  Death.  But  with  mental  self- 
possession  and  divine  calmness,  he  paid  the  cost  of  obedience  in  pain  and  hardship. 
Ti-ue,  in  the  presence  of  death  itself  he  became  weak  as  a  smitten  lamb,  and  great 
drops  of  blood  stained  his  brow,  so  that,  an  immaculate  angel  who  had  never  broken 
a  precept  of  heaven's  law,  or  felt  the  faintness  of  death,  appeared  to  strengthen  him. 
But,  when  the  palm  of  this  soft  hand  wiped  our  Lord's  temples,  the  holy  touch  but 
changed  each  clot  into  a  passion-flower  of  Paradise,  and  each  fleck  of  gore  into  a 
ruby.  Then,  under  the  dark  olives  of  Gethseraane,  the  first  Son  of  man  who 
had  ever  kept  Jehovah's  law,  wore  his  own  diadem  of  obedience,  which  all  the 
cursed  thorns  of  the  next  day  failed  to  blacken  or  disgrace. 

Having  kept  the  law  himself  as  the  Holy  of  God,  his  gentleness  imposed  the 
same  dutiful  yoke  upon  all  his  fellows,  that  they  might  share  the  satisfactions  of  his 


HIS   I. A  \V   r(>s)r<il>()l.irAN.  63 

own  life  ami  love.  Lovu  hail  drawn  liiai  fruni  hid  Father's  throne  for  them,  and 
now  it  would  lift  them  up  to  God,  for  oneness,  and  fellowship,  and  friendship. 
This  pure  purpose  drew  him,  at  times,  into  those  rythmic  bursts  of  joy  which  cele- 
brated tlic  iviurn  of  prodigals,  and  the  adoption  of  l)al)rs  into  Ills  Fathers  house. 
The  refrain  of  tliis  anthem  sounded  up  and  down  Jiis  entire  life  :  '  It  is  meet  that 
we  should  be  mei-ry  and  glad,  for  this  our  brother  was  dead  and  is  alive  again,  was 
lost  and  is  found.'  And,  this  love  he  extended  to  all  men,  Gentiles  as  well  as  Jews. 
The  sweep  of  his  net  drew  fish  of  every  kind,  and  the  sheep  of  his  flock  were 
housed  from  every  fold.  Here  again,  God's  Viceroy  is  instinct  with  Jehovah's 
high  benevolence.  All  power  was  given  into  his  hands,  without  the  display  of 
thunders  and  lightnings,  and  the  voice  of  trumpets,  but  in  the  conscious  conviction 
that  he  represented  all  that  dwelt  in  the  bosom  whence  he  came.  With  him  eternal 
principles  were  not  only  axioms  of  the  Divine  mind,  but  jiractical  ideas.  Because  they 
were  vitalized  with  the  immortality  of  God,  his  invitations  were  Jehovah's  decrees. 
Purity  and  love  made  his  whole  spiritual  code  sternly  absolute.  It  is  this  which 
makes  his  influence  so  visibly  distinct,  so  definitely  potent.  He  never  opens  his  lips 
but  fresh  truth  distills  from  them,  in  apt,  keen,  loving  words.  Fichte-,  w^ho  argued 
that  character  is  simj)le  self-development,  thinks,  that  by  the  mere  purity  and  eleva- 
tion of  Christ's  character,  he  was  carried  into  that  region  of  eternal  morality  which 
men  seldom  reach.  Carlyle,  who  doubted  the  Divine  in  Christ,  calls  his  life  a  '  per- 
fect ideal  Poem,'  and  says :  '  The  greatest  of  all  heroes  is  One  whom  we  do  not  name 
here.  Let  sacred  silence  meditate  that  sacred  matter.'  Renan,  who  colors  the  fiicts 
of  Gospel  history  by  fancy,  calls  him  :  '  The  incomparable  being  to  whom  the  uni- 
versal conscience  has  decreed  the  title  of  The  Son  of  God.'  But  Bayne.  true  to  the 
manhood  of  Christ,  w-ith  greater  boldness  still,  asks  of  his  miracles  :  '  Whether  from 
the  moral  character  of  Christ,  it  would,  or  would  not,  have  been  a  greater  miracle 
than  these,  that  in  asserting  himself  to  wield  creative  power,  he  lied.'' 

And,  why  not?  He  himself  demands  :  "Which  of  you  convicts  me  of  sin?' 
A  challenge  which  is  spirit  and  life.  But  no  man  charges  home  the  miracle  of 
falsehood  on  Jesus  Christ — no  man  throws  the  name  of  one  vice  into  his  face.  The 
thought  that  he  could  lie  freezes  the  blood  in  all  men's  veins,  as,  in  itself,  a  greater 
miracle  than  to  grind  the  stars  into  diamond-dust  between  two  millstones. 
Serenely,  without  excitement,  and  apparently  without  preparation,  he  lays  his 
truths  before  men,  in  secluded  places  or  public  walks,  and  the  more  men  look  at 
them  the  more  they  wonder  at  their  native  depth.  When  mankind  first  heard  them, 
the  haughty  became  humble,  the  grasping  benevolent,  the  crafty  honest,  and  the 
narrow  large  hearted.  Like  himself,  his  laws  were  cosmopolitan,  lifting  the  truth 
indifferently  above  all  national  distinctions,  and  drawing  followers  to  his  great  soul 
simply  as  men,  in  the  free  garb  of  all  their  social  habits.  The  tones  of  his  call  were 
holy,  demanding  separation  from  all  unholy  society,  social  and  civil ;  and  yet,  men's 
only  isolation  the  one  from  the  utiier,  was  to  be  by  a  liiu'  of  holiness.     His  was  to 


64  CONVICTION  NOT  VKHSECUTION. 

he  :i  Clmrcli  witlidut  liludd-ivhitioii.ship,  hulJ  togetliur  by  love,  coniinoii  aims  and 
coiiiiiion  li(ij)es  ;  tlic  Diily  two  (jualities  necessary  for  admission  being,  humanity  of 
birth  and  divinity  of  rcn(iv;ition.  The  two  great  pillars  in  his  Palace  of  Truth  are 
1,.VL-  to  (nxl  and  lovi'  t(.  man.  These  he  hewed  out  and  polished  after  a  heavenly 
similitude,  for  no  man  lia<l  .'-een  them  before.  They  were  foundation  doctrines,  not 
dogmas.  Dogmas  ai'e  iailiiile  interpretations  of  infallible  truths,  and  his  infallibility 
excluded  dngnia  alii<e  fnim  his  utterances  and  acts.  But  while  inflexibly  absolute, 
he  was  the  life  of  all  f(irbeaiariee.  lie  persecuted  no  man,  and  allowed  not  his  dis- 
ci ph's  t(i  iiei-seeute.  Even  when  they  would  resent  affronts  by  force,  he  rebuked 
them  as  ignorant  of  their  own  sj)irit ;  fur  that,  the  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  destroy 
men's  lives,  but  to  save  them,  lie  made  seltishness,  malignity  and  revenge  out  of 
place  amongst  his  devotees. 

Persecution  runs  in  the  blood  of  nature.  Not  only  do  the  wolf  and  tiger  per- 
secute, but  all  living  things,  small  and  great.  The  sweetest  lark  that  sings  in  the 
sky  will  dive  down  upon  his  l)i'otlier  songster  and  tear  him,  and  the  least  minnow 
in  the  brook  will  toi'inent  his  fellow.  But  Jesus  strengthened  the  last  tilier  that 
held  the  reed  together,  and  revived  the  last  spark  in  the  smoking  wick.  Yea,  and 
his  purpose  was  to  give  this  gentle  pre-eminence  to  all  his  redeemed  peoj^le.  True 
men  of  God  cannot  persecute  until  their  heavenly  tempers  are  subdued  by  their 
carnal  passions.  Jesus  never  raved,  but  often  wept  over  the  erring,  for  oidy  the 
Good  Shepherd  would  lay  down  his  life  for  the  sheep,  while  the  hireling  steals  and 
kills.  Reared  amongst  bigots  his  triumph  was  :  'Whom  the  Son  makes  free  he  is 
free  indeed  ;'  and  his  Gospel  Republic  is  the  lirst  government  from  Adam  wliich 
could  accord  entire  independence  of  thought  and  act,  even  in  morals.  Jesus 
appeals  directly  to  the  convictions  of  men  and  allows  no  man  to  interfere  with  those 
convictions.  He  rebukes  prejudice  in  liis  followers,  and  proposes  to  draw  all  men  to 
himself  by  the  exercise  of  conscience  and  reason  ;  an  exercise  as  free  as  the  breath  of 
the  winds  around  the  Alpine  flowers,  or  as  the  rays  of  the  morning  sun  which  fly  to 
kiss  them  in  mid-heaven. 

When  Jesus  put  the  leaven  into  three  measures  of  meal,  the  fourth  quarter  of 
the  globe  was  undiscovered,  and  of  Asia,  Africa,  and  Europe,  he  chose  Asia,  the 
largest  division  of  the  earth  then  known,  as  the  spot  where  it  was  to  begin  its 
assimilating  process.  Palestine  lay  on  the  extreme  western  edge  of  that  huge  con- 
tinent, closely  adjacent  to  Europe  and  Africa,  and  almost  in  the  center  of  the  world 
as  it  was  to  be  and  is  now.  Asia  contains  a  greater  variety  of  climates  than  either 
of  the  other  divisions  of  the  Eastern  Pleniisphere,  united  with  great  advantages, 
especially  in  its  countless  littoral  islands,  its  vast  rivers,  and  endless  kinds  of  prod- 
ucts, from  its  temperate  and  tropical  zones.  Its  majestic  mountain  chains  and 
table-lands,  the  wealth  of  its  soil  and  its  streams  emptying  into  the  sea,  open  it  to 
agriculture,  arts,  trade  and  commerce  in  every  direction  ;  and  its  easy  division  into 
large  emjiires  fitted  it  pre-eminently  for  the  spread  of  dominion  liy  the  Great  King. 


THE  FIELD   IS   THE    KOIU.D.  6S 

Africa  lies  almost  entirely  in  the  torrid  zone,  has  \wn  ^l•(•;lt  ri\i'i-s.  ilic  Niger 
and  the  Nile,  with  a  desert  of  sand  stretcliiiii;-  from  the  Ited  Sea  to  the  Atlantic, 
and  covering  one  fifth  of  the  continent.  Only  its  northern  part  was  known  to 
the  ancients,  and  figures  in  their  history.  l»ut  the  liomau  Empire,  which  at  that 
time  ruled  Europe,  civilized  and  barbarian,  liad  also  conquered  the  greater  part  of 
civilized  Asia  and  Africa,  holding  sway  over  the  world  west  of  the  Euphrates. 
The  Jews,  whose  civilization  was  most  in  hariuony  with  Cliristianity,  were  scattered 
almost  every-where  through  the  empire,  and  were  very  powerful.  Egypt  was  full 
of  them,  as  well  as  Rome  itself,  while  in  Antioch  they  formed  more  than  a  third  of 
the  population.  Our  Lord  intended  to  take  each  individual  man,  however  rude  or 
polished,  to  change  his  character  and  habits,  to  lift  him  out  of  vice  into  purity  ; 
and  by  spiritual  forces  to  bring  him  under  his  royal  law,  until  his  perfection  was 
marked  by  a  translation  out  of  moral  degradation,  into  the  full,  free  and  pure  citi- 
zenship of  his  kingdom.  All  his  parables  show  the  smallness  of  his  beginnings,  and 
the  secret  growth  of  his  reign.  A  blade  of  wheat,  out  of  which  an  endless  harvest 
shall  spring, — a  grain  of  mustard-seed,  from  which  outspreading  trees  shall  grow, 
and  five  other  parables,  were  employed  by  him  to  show  the  noiseless,  gradual,  but 
resistless  advance  of  his  Empire.  It  was  to  be  broad  and  many-sided,  severe  in  its 
power  and  calm  in  its  elevation.  Tiny  in  its  beginning,  it  was  to  outgrow  all  rivals, 
until  out  of  the  hidden,  its  visibility  was  to  be  world-wide,  because  it  inclosed  the 
germs  of  all  true  life ;  and  its  aim  was  to  be  a  jjractical  universality. 

He,  himself,  was  a  veritable  man,  born  of  a  woman.  A  babe  is  the  weakest 
thing  in  nature,  yet  it  is  endowed  with  all  the  potentialities  that  man  can  know. 
And,  contrary  to  all  received  religious  philosophy,  woman's  gentle  nature  and  voice 
were  brought  under  the  mysteries  of  revelation,  and  her  spirit  was  knit  into  incom- 
prehensible converse  with  God  to  accomplish  his  holy  purpose.  Christ  appealed  to 
her  strongest  interests,  enforced  her  noblest  duties,  and  led  her  by  enchanting  prom- 
ises into  the  great  moral  revolution,  through  the  surpassing  marvel  of  an  incarnate 
God.  By  a  select  imagery,  which  none  but  God  could  invoke,  immensity  was  con- 
tracted to  a  span,  and  eternity  inclosed  in  an  hour  ;  divine  power  was  enwrapped 
in  the  softest  weakness,  and  deathless  love  was  hidden  in  the  new-born  Babe  of  an 
honored  woman.  This  made  it  meet  that  man  should  be  intrusted  with  the  spread 
of  his  kingdom.  Six  couples  of  plain,  honest,  receptive  men  were  sent  forth. 
They  wei-e  of  various  habits  and  affinities  of  temperament,  called  from  the  lowest 
strata  of  society,  where  the  strongest  foundations  of  humanity  are  laid.  He  threw 
them  in  all  the  dependence  of  their  lowly  origin  upon  the  sympathy  and  justice  of 
their  fellow-men  for  their  daily  bread,  in  return  for  their  toils,  and  made  their  only 
protection  the  spoken  truth. 

They  were  Galilean  fishermen  too,  taken  from  the  only  region  of  Palestine 
which  had  not  been  corrupted  by  the  Rabbis,  for  these  lield  Galilee  accursed  and  let 
it  alone.     Hence  they  were  unsojihisticated,  simple,  and  spiritual,  but  positive  and 


66  MATTER  OF-FACT  AI'OSTI.KS. 

firm,  confronting  the  world  in  tlie  istrengtli  of  conviction.  Tiiis  coiiinicndud  tliem 
to  their  brother  men.  They  were  the  select  band  of  students  to  wliom  -Ic-us  had 
minutely  expounded  his  doctrines,  and  now,  their  life-work  was  to  c\|ioiiiid  them 
on  the  house-tops.  The  radical  truths  wliidi  liail  pervaded  his  own  mind,  were  to 
be  saving  in  their  results  on  others  to  wliom  they  were  sent.  The  perceptions,  con- 
stitutional peculiarities,  and  personal  dependence  of  these  cjioice  minds  fitted  them 
to  influence  others,  and  to  reproduce  in  them  what  they  were  themselves.  Tlie 
same  laws  of  condensation  whicli  el(.»tlK>.  steam,  frost  and  electricity  with  power, 
obtain  more  distinctly  in  mind,  and  so,  lie  compressed  the  mightiest  elements  of 
spiritual  effectiveness  in  these  few,  instead  of  broad-casting  his  truths  at  once  before 
the  incohesive  multitude.  Judged  by  human  standards,  they  were  unfit  for  their 
work.  But,  he  saw  more  than  human  fitness  in  sending  a  handful  of  rustics  from 
an  inland  lake,  who  were  willing  to  die  for  the  truth.  Any  learneil  man  of  that 
age,  priest  or  layman,  if  chosen  as  an  Ajxistle,  would  have  mixed  up  current 
notions  with  the  Gospel,  in  spite  of  himself,  and  would  Ikinc  thwarted  its  design,  by 
corrupting  its  simplicity.  Christ's  sensitive  nature  ^vas  often  brought  into  painful 
contact  with  the  brusqueness  of  his  Apostles,  and  their  coarse  jaiiglings  jarred  upon 
his  lofty  fellowships ;  j-et,  he  could  trust  their  blunt  and  unfaltering  fidelity, 
unmixed  as  it  was  with  the  vagaries  of  the  times.  Firmness  of  honor  was  what  he 
wanted,  and  not  polish  of  mannei's,  in  a  small,  compact  band  of  eye-witnesses.  As 
professionals,  their  testimony  on  any  ]ioint  of  law,  art,  or  tradition  would  liave  been 
trivial,  but  as  provincials,  it  was  full  of  plainness  and  mother-sense;  qualities  which 
were  helps  instead  of  drawbacks,  in  declaring  matters  of  fact. 

Yet,  Jesus  appears  to  have  pushed  aside  all  calculating  precautions  in  their 
choice.  There  were  amongst  them  three  jDairs  of  brothers,  two  relatives  of  his  own 
family ;  and  half  of  them  were  taken  from  one  town.  Men  would  call  this  a  nar- 
row selection,  and  an  insidious  designer  would  have  taken  another  course.  Con- 
scious imposition  would  have  made  a  great  show  of  candor,  by  choosing  men  out  of 
all  districts  in  Palestine,  representing  all  social  ranks,  that  their  witness  might 
appear  enlarged  and  impartial;  but  the  sober  honesty  of  the  King  in  Zion  rose 
infinitely  above  all  such  coverts  for  fraud.  Having  trained  their  judgment,  proved 
their  consciences,  and  formed  their  character,  he  confidently  sent  them  forth.  In  tem- 
perament, the  Gospels  generally  group  them  in  this  order :  Peter  for  his  hardness, 
and  Andrew  his  brother  for  shy  and  childlike  simplicity ;  then  James  and  John,  the 
sons  of  Zebedee,  for  their  choleric  disposition,  being  known  as  '  Sons  of  Thunder.' 
The  second  group  is  head(!d  by  Philip,  for  his  earnest  teachableness;  Bartholomew, 
called  Nathanael,  for  his  utter  want  of  guile;  Thomas  for  his  phlegmatic  delibera- 
tion, and  Matthew  for  his  practical  perception  and  gravity.  The  third  class  com- 
prises James,  the  son  of  Alpheus,  who  was  marked  for  his  modesty ;  liebbseus,  whose 
surname  was  Thaddeus,  for  his  hearty  boldness;  Simon  Zelotes  for  his  fiery  impulse, 
and  Judas  the  traitor  for  his  frozen  heart.     They  soon  showed  their  peculiarities 


nil-:  .\i:\v  niirnr.  67 

toned  up  to  their  highest  plane,  for  all  their  powers  were  consecrated  to  their  work. 
Their  virtues,  weaknesses,  and  gifts  fitted  them  to  cope  with  liunian  nature  in  each 
phase,  for  they  represented  every  possible  conihination  of  toini)er  in  mankind.  Their 
charactei-s  exhibit  the  bias  and  bent  which  mark  dtf  all  the  individualities  and  rela- 
tions of  life,  while  in  purity,  Jesus  required  them  tn  he  cNcry  tliiiii;-  that  he  was. 

JIappily,  when  the  great  Lawgiver  laid  down  the  vital  prim-iiilcs  nf  his  govern- 
ment, he  proceeded  carefully  to  specify  the  terms  on  which  men  >hould  he  admitted 
into  the  new  kingdom.  Nicodemus  was  a  teacher  well  versed  in  all  that  Judaism 
demanded,  but  Jesus  showed  him  that  each  subject  under  the  Messiah's  reign  must 
be  thoroughly  renovated  in  the  inner  man.  No  one  could  be  eligible  till  spiritually 
born  again,  created  anew  after  the  image  of  Christ  himself.  As  was  his  wont 
when  he  gave  great  energy  to  his  words,  he  opens  this  momentous  subject  with  the 
double  asseveration  :  '  Verily,  verily  I  say  to  thee,  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he 
cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God.'  The  venerable  Hebrew  understood  him  to  speak 
of  a  second  physical  birtli,  but  Jesus  brought  him  back  to  the  fundamental  thought 
of  a  birth  from  above.  Its  source  was  to  be  the  Spirit;  its  nature  a  transformation 
of  tlie  whole  spiritual  being.  A  person  born  of  the  iiesh  is  flesh,  and  will  follow 
all  fleshly  necessities;  but  one  born  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit,  and  is  fllled  with  the 
principles  and  dispositions  which  the  Holy  Spirit  only  can  generate.  When  Jesus 
has  pressed  this  trutli  home  to  the  conviction  of  Nicodemus,  he  reiterates : 
'  Except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  God.' 

Many  think  that  our  Lord  couches  baptism  under  the  term  '■vmter''  here,  and 
in  proportion  as  they  lay  stress  upon  baptism,  as  an  eflicacious  oi'dinance  in  salvation, 
they  press  this  point.  It  is  questionable,  however,  whether  he  refers  to  baptism 
at  all,  or  simply  to  a  concomitant  element  in  natural  birth,  to  show  that  he  intended 
to  enforce  a  thorough  renewal,  equivalent  to  a  veritable  '  new  birth,'  which  nmst 
be  of  God.  This  would  put  '  water '  to  a  purely  flgurative  use  as  a  material  ele- 
ment, adding  new  force  to  his  twofold  insistance  on  an  entirely  spiritual  renovation. 
He  certainly  does  not  speak  of  two  births,  one  of  water  and  one  of  the  Spirit,  but 
only  of  one :  that  of  water  and  the  Spirit  iu  conjunction.  Campbell  says :  '  Though 
our  Lord  in  this  account  of  regeneration,  joins  water  and  spirit  together,  he  does  not, 
in  contrasting  it  with  natural  generation  (John  iii,  6),  mention  the  water  at  all,  but 
opposes  the  Spirit  to  the  flesh.'  Nicodenms  had  full  knowledge  of  John's  baptism, 
for  he  was  a  member  of  the  Sanhedrin  that  questioned  John,  and  but  for  the  special 
emphasis  laid  by  Jesus  upon  the  birth  of  the  Spirit,  he  might  have  fallen  into  the 
idea,  that  without  baptism  no  man  can  be  eternally  saved.  But  Christ's  demand 
for  a  work  of  renewal  by  the  Spirit,  excludes  the  fatal  error  which  would 
save  Simon  Magus  because  he  was  baptized,  and  reject  the  repentant  thief  on  the 
cross  because  he  was  not.  Rather  does  Whitby  express  our  Lord's  thought : 
'Except  a  man   be  renewed   in  his    mind,  will,  and   aft'cctions   liy   the   operations 


68  DISCIPLE  AND    BAPTIZE. 

of  tlic  Iliily  Spirit,  ami  so  hccniius  a  new  crrafiirr  .  .  .  lie  cMiiiiot  see,  that  is, 
t'lijuy,  tliu  lilc>,-iiias  (if  till'  kiii-d.iiii  (if  (idd.'  ()]•.  a>  aiKithtT  expresses  himself: 
'  He  eaniiut  diseern  either  tiie  .si-us  of  the  Messiali,  or  the  nature  of  his  gov- 
eriuiient." ' 

Our  lieileenier  was  ecjually  explieit  in  puintiui;-  nut  the  several  steps  which  a 
reuewed  man  iinist  take  toi'  full  eurnllnieiit  and  inductiun  into  his  kingdom.  As 
]ireaeliei's,  his  Apostles  were  to  he  'witnesses'  to  his  death  and  resurrection,  and 
they  were  to  '  I'reach  re])entance  and  remission  of  sins  unto  all  nations.'  '  I'reacii 
the  (tospel  t(_i  eveiT  creature.'  '  Disci]3le  all  the  nations,  haptizing  them  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Sijirit,  teaching  them  to 
oliserve  all  things  whatsoever  I  cominanded  you.'  Here  he  makes  preaching,  repent- 
ance, faith  and  haptism,  of  perpetual  ohligation.  JJy  preaching  repentance  and  the 
remission  of  sins,  they  were  to  attempt  the  '  discipling'  or  conversion  of  every  creat- 
ui'e.  Then,  those  who  believed  on  the  Saviour  wore  to  be  baptized  into  his  king- 
d(jm,  and  after  that,  they  were  to  he  instructed  in  all  that  related  to  the  Christian 
life. 

The  Apostles  were  not  instructed  to  baptize  the  nations  en.  masse,  simjily  because 
each  person  was  an  integral  part  of  the  whole  ;  for,  as  it  has  been  said  with  great 
tVirce :  '  It  is  one  thing  to  make  disciples  in  all  nations,  and  another  thing  to  make 
all  iiatloiiK  dis(-iples.'  They  were  to  baptize  those,  and  those  only,  who  had  the 
above-named  qualifications  for  baptism.  Countless  millions  in  the  "nations'  would 
remain  unbelievers,  blasphemers,  atheists,  idolaters  and  debauchees,  after  every 
attempt  had  been  made  to  save  them.  These  were  to  '  be  conilemned.'  Neither 
were  babes  to  be  baptized  simply  because  they  were  a  part  of  the  nations,  till  they 
could  be  '  discipled.'  The  word  '  disciple '  carries  with  it  the  idea  of  instruction,  and 
therefore,  here,  of  gaining  converts  to  Christ,  by  bringing  them  over  to  certain 
fixed  principles  and  practices.  Babes  are  no  more  capable  of  obedience  iu  baptism, 
than  they  are  of  repentance  and  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  or  of  exercising  faith  ou 
Christ  for  salvation.  And,  what  is  more  and  better,  they  need  none  of  these,  so 
long  as  they  are  free  from  voluntary  and  personal  transgression  ;  for  Jesus  lias  pro- 
cured their  salvation  without  these.  When  once  they  reach  responsibility  and 
become  actual  sinners,  then  they  may  avail  themselves  of  all  these,  if  they  M'ill 
become  believers  in  Jesus.  Mark  calls  the  subjects  ,,f  baptism  'believers,'  and 
^latthew,  'disciples,'  plainly  meaning  the  same  persons.  Our  Lord  here  excluded 
infant  baptism  of  design,  and  the  commission  cannot  be  tortured  into  the  support  of 
this  injurious  practice  ;  thus,  we  cannot  wonder  that  no  case  of  such  baptism  is  men- 
tioned in  the  New  Testament.  On  the  contrary,  such  conditions  are  every-where 
imposed  on  tliose  who  are  baptized,  as  to  unavoidably  exclude  all  who  either  cannot 
or  do  not  voluntarily  obey  Christ's  commands.  So  Jerome  interprets  this  commis- 
sion :  '  They  first  teach  all  the  nations ;  then,  when  they  are  taught  they  baptize 
them  in  water;  for  it  cannot  be  that  the  body  should  receive  the  sacrament  of  bap- 


JESUS  SAVES  BABES. 


tism,  unless  tlie  soul  have  before  received  the  true  faith.'  And  again  he  adds: 
'T)ie  order  here  observed  is  excellent;  he  commands  the  Apostles,  iirst  to  teach  all 
nations;  and  after  that  to  dip  them  mth  the  sacrament  of  faith;  and  then  to  show 
them  how  they  must  behave  themselves  after  their  faith  and  baptism.' 

Then,  did  Jesus  make  no  provision  for  children  in  his  kingdom  of  grace  and 
glory  ?  Yes  ;  and  the  amplest  that  infinite  love  could  make.  He  is  the  only  great 
Teacher  who  cvit  pressed  them  to  his  bosom,  as  the  subjects  of  saving  care.  The 
Jewish  religion  protected  and  accounted  them  precious.  Yet,  it  subjected  its  males 
to  a  severe  and  bloody  rite,  for  the  purposes  of  national  identity  and  privilege,  with- 
out vouchsafing  any  special  revelation  as  to  their  future  state,  when  dying  in  infancy. 
Eonian  grossness  regarded  children  as  a  misfortune,  and  freely  practiced  infanticide. 
The  Carthaginians  oifered  them  in  sacrifice  to  Saturn.  Diodorus  Siculus  mentions 
the  sacrifice  of  two  hundred  of  their  noblest  babes  at  a  time.  ^  Molecli,  the  ferocious 
god  of  Amnion,  did  not  stand  alone,  for  all  the  Syrian  and  Arab  tribes  had  their 
tire-gods,  before  whom  their  little  ones  were  jjresented  as  burnt-offerings.  But 
Jesus  looked  upon  tliese  iielpless  ones  as  the  most  fragrant  flowers  of  eartii — he 
longed  to  silence  the  wail  of  their  sufferings  in  these  cruel  rites,  and  to  jiurfect  praise 
out  of  the  mouths  of  babes  and  sucklings. 

To  this  end,  he  vouchsafed  salvation  for  all  children,  before  he  tasted  death  on 
their  behalf,  enwrapping  them  in  a  free  redemption,  without  conditions  of  any  sort. 
They  could  bear  no  yoke,  and  he  put  none  upon  their  necks.  Parents  coveted  his 
love  for  their  offspring  and  brought  their  little  ones  for  his 
'blessing.'  In  keeping  with  the  spirit  of  those  times,  his  dis- 
ciples would  drive  them  away ;  a  fact,  which  in  itself,  shows 
that  they  knew  nothing  about  infant  baptism.  Their  par- 
ents did  not  bring  them  to  be  baptized,  but  that  he  would  'lay 
his  hands  ujwn  them  and  bless  them,'  as  Jacob  had  blessed  the 
sons  of  Josej)!!.  As  Jacob  '  blessed  '  his  grandsons  witliout 
baptizing  them,  so  these  infants  were  brought  to  Jesus  unljap- 
tized,  and  were  taken  away  unbaptized,  but  not  for  that  reason 
unblessed.  He  rebuked  his  disciples,  wishing  them  to  under- 
stand that  he  came  from  heaven  to  save  the  i)abes  as  well  as 
the  parents.  Then,  he  took  them  in  his  arms  and  '  prayed  for 
them '  and  gave  them  his  blessing,  declaring  as  his  words  import,  that  '  to  such 
belongs  the  kingdom  of  heaven,'  simply  through  his  benediction  and  love,  without 
conditions  of  any  sort  such  as  try  the  loyalty  of  willful  and  i-esponsible  sinners.  As 
their  Elder  Ih-other,  bone  of  their  bone  and  flesh  of  their  flesh,  he  then  and  there, 
hung  a  bright  lamp  over  an  infant's  head,  pledging  him  salvation  while  in  infancy, 
without  repentance,  faith,  baptism,  the  Supper,  or  any  other  observance.  With  this 
display  of  Christ's  love  to  little  children,  it  is  simply  heathenish  ancT  horrible  to  sup- 
pose that  deceased  babes  miss  heaven,  umler  any  circumstances.     More  than  half  of 


70  .'^AVJiS    THEM  BY  IITS  SACnTFirK. 

iiiir  rape,  especially  in  lauds  where  iufaiitieide  is  practiced,  die  in  infancy  ;  aud  every 
true  iiiiiii  will  rejoice  in  the  Redeemer's  plan  of  saving  these  precious  ones  uncon- 
ditionally. Millions  of  them  pass  into  the  presence  of  the  Great  Shepherd  whose 
pai-ents  arc  j)agaiis  or  inlidels,  and  spurn  baptism  or  never  heard  of  its  existence ; 
and  it  Ixirdcrs  on  the  fiendish  to  say,  that  the  Ciirist-loving  parent  jeopards  the 
salvation  of  his  redeemed  halie,  heeause  he  leaves  his  salvation  to  tlie  atoning  death 
and  sacrificial  love  of  Jcsns,  lef using  to  submit  him  to  a  rite  which  the  adorable 
Landi  of  <Tod  nevei-  imposed  upon  the  unconscious  one.  In  the  pre-existence  of  our 
Lord,  fi'om  the  death  of  the  tii'st  child  of  Adam's  race  to  the  moment  of  his  own 
birtli  in  liethlehem,  he  had  been  with  ransomed  children  in  beaveu.  When  on 
earth  he  missed  their  society,  and,  to  fill  their  places  he  drew  our  little  ones  to  him, 
foi-  they  tenderly  reminded  him  of  the  Father's  house  which  he  had  left ;  hence,  in 
his  words  and  acts  he  treated  them  as  of  '  the  kingdom  of  heaven.'  Bishop  Taylor 
beautifully  says :  '  Why  should  he  be  an  infant  but  that  infants  should  receive  the 
crown  of  their  age,  the  purification  of  their  stained  natures,  the  sanctification  of 
their  persons,  and  the  saving  of  their  souls  by  their  infant  Lord  and  Elder  Brother.' 
The  kingdom  belongs  to  them  by  Christ's  purchase  and  gift,  without  those  tests 
of  obedience  which  try  the  fidelity  of  responsible  offenders.  They  had  not  sinned 
'  after  the  similitude  of  Adam's  transgi-ession,'  and  he  gave  them  his  full  blessing 
without  conditions,  despite  their  original  taint.  Then,  he  warns  willful  offenders 
that  if  they  receive  not  the  kingdom  of  God  as  little  children,  they  shall  not  enter 
tlierein.  While  the  phrase  'of  such'  includes  others  besides  those  'brought'  to  liim, 
it  also  includes  all  who  are  clothed  with  the  child-like  spirit.  With  the  love  of 
Clirist  thus  displayed  to  children,  it  is  simply  horrible  to  suppose  that  a  deceased 
babe  misses  of  heaven  because  he  was  not  chi-istened  on  earth,  and  because  here  no 
one  had  promised  that  if  he  had  lived  he  would  have  repented  and  believed  for  him- 
self. Can  any  thing  so  rob  our  atoning  Lord  of  his  glory,  in  part  or  in  whole,  as  to 
su]ipose  that  this  act  affects  the  child's  salvation  in  the  slightest  degree?  As  in 
Adam  he  died  unconditionally,  so  in  Christ  is  he  unconditionally  made  alive. 

These  are  some  of  the  great  princi|iles  and  pi-actices  laid  down  by  the  infal- 
lible Lawgiver,  for  the  establishment  and  government  of  his  kingdom  in  the  earth. 
God  gives  us  in  John  the  Baptist,  the  specimen  man  of  holiness.  Then  comes  the 
King  in  Zion,  revealing  the  Father  in  his  own  person,  and  making  Divine  provisions 
for  the  regeneration  of  such  men  to  the  end  of  time.  After  Jesus  had  cast  this 
Gospel  hope  athwart  the  destinies  of  our  race,  he  took  his  seat  as  Mediator  at  the 
right  hand  of  God.  There,  he  has  proved  the  acceptance  of  his  sacrifice  and  the 
efficacy  of  his  intercession  by  sending  the  Holy  Spirit  to  fill  his  place  on  the  earth. 
The  Spirit  now  administers  his  kingdom  under  these  laws,  and  gathers  pure  Churches 
out  of  all  nations,  of  men  created  anew  by  his  energies,  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  kej^t 
in  his  name,  unto  life  eternal. 


SS:«^ri^;llji^'*'*'  -^ 


Jtl  LSVLLM    H    ]\1    II 


CHAPTER    VI. 


PENTECOST     AND     SAUL. 

THE  ablest  clironologists  vary  tlie  date  of  our  Lord's  ascension  from  A.  D.  29 
to  3C  ;  possibly  the  year  33  may  be  taken  as  the  most  satisfactory.  Before 
his  death,  our  Lord  had  founded  his  Church,  by  selecting  the  Twelve,  the  Seventy-, 
and  many  other  disciples,  by  teaching  tliem  his  doctrines,  authorizing  them  to  preach 
and  baptize,  and  by  establishing  the  Supper.  This  organic  body  known  as  '  the 
kingdom  of  God '  he  also  called,  '  My  Church ' — his  infant  Church  truly,  but  no  less 
his  Church,  as  he  was  the  Christ  as  much  when  a  Babe  in  the  stable,  and  a  Youth  in 
the  Temple,  as  when  a  Man  on  Calvary.  His  Cliurch  was  to  be  endowed  with 
special  and  plenary  powers  to  increase  its  constituency,  extend  its  influence  and 
establish  new  assemblies.  Hence,  the  Church  at  Jerusalem  kept  its  divine  organiza- 
tion perfect  by  a  popular  election  to  fill  the  place  of  Judas  in  the  Apostolate,  and 
then  waited  for  the  promised  reign  of  tiie  Holy  Spirit,  to  fill  the  Redeemer's  place 
in  the  Gospel  Church.  Ton  days  after  Christ's  enthronement  at  God's  riglit  hand, 
he  scut  the  Spirit  to  administer  the  earthly  aifair.s  of  hi.-;  Church,  to  vindicate  the 


72  PENTFAmsr. 

iiiissioii  wliicli  lie  hiul  tini.sliud,  to  sustain  liis  claims  ag;iiiist  all  foes,  and  in  every 
way  to  compensate  for  liis  own  absence.  The  Spirit  manifested  himself  on  the 
second  Jewish  feast,  Pentecost,  which  celebrated  the  ingatiiering  of  the  wheat  liar- 
vest  and  the  giving  of  the  Law. 

The  first  work  in  the  ministry  of  the  Spii'it,  as  in  that  of  the  Son,  was  to  attest 
his  own  mission  by  miraculous  evidences.  These,  in  keeping  with  his  entirely  im- 
material character,  were  to  be  wrought,  not  alone  on  the  Inuuan  fi-ame  (ir  on  sea 
and  tirmament,  but  on  mind  ;  on  the  mental  constitution  of  man  and  his  powers  of 
speech.  At  once,  therefore,  he  honored  himself  and  'glorified'  Christ,  by  qualify- 
ing his  Apostles  to  obey  his  commission  in  preaching  the  Gospel  to  all  nations. 
The  babble  of  tongues  was  the  most  stubborn  obstruction  to  the  universal  spread  of 
the  Gospel,  and  Jesus  seemed  to  have  made  no  provision  for  the  removal  of  tliis 
cnormoi;s  difficulty,  but  had  committed  its  preaching  to  the  most  unlearned  of  men. 
They  knew  their  mother  tongue  so  imperfectly  that  their  uncouth  provincialisms 
were  betrayed  in  the  accents  of  their  chief  orator  as  a  '  Galilean.'  AVith  their 
scanty  education  they  could  not  have  mastered  the  cosmopolitan  grammar  of  the 
Pentecostal  throng  in  a  life-time.  If,  then,  a  linguistic  miracle  were  not  wrought  by 
the  Spirit,  their  attempt  to  preach  had  been  a  failure,  for  there  was  no  visible 
method  by  which  they  could  reach  the  world  with  the  new  religion.  At  that 
moment  there  were  men  in  Jerusalem  from  the  remotest  i-egions  of  the  civilized  world; 
who,  if  they  could  be  made  to  understand  the  truth,  could  take  it  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth.  The  wide,  geogi'aphical  circuit  including  the  homes  of  these  men,  swept 
from  north-east  to  south-east,  and  far  north,  covering  seventeen  different  languages 
and  dialects.  Parthia  lay  north-west  of  Persia,  a  powerful  kingdom  about  si.\  hundred 
miles  long.  The  Medes  had  come  from  a  westerly  point  of  the  compass,  and  were 
of  a  harsh  and  rude  race.  The  Elamites  had  come  from  an  ancient  Shemite  district, 
east  of  Persia  Proper.  Those  from  Mesopotamia  represented  the  region  between 
the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates.  Idumea,  the  rugged  old  tei-ritory  of  Edom,  follows  the 
geographical  order  of  Luke,  but  he  breaks  from  his  circle  to  mention  Judea  and  his 
own  home  language.  Cappadocia  was  a  stretch  of  high  table-land  in  the  eastern 
part  of  Asia  Minor.  Continuing  north,  he  comes  to  Pontus,  north-east  of  the  Black 
Sea.  Asia,  Poman  or  Proconsular,  was  washed  by  the  yEgean  Sea,  on  its  western 
shore.  Phrygia  was  in  the  center  of  Asia  Minor,  and  Pamphylia,  farther  south, 
was  touched  on  the  north  by  the  Mediterranean.  Egypt  was  in  the  north-east  of 
Africa ;  and  the  parts  of  Libya,  lay  oti  the  African  coast,  west  of  Egypt.  Luke 
then  ascends  from  these  southern  lands,  to  Rome,  in  Italy  ;  and  last  of  all  mentions 
the  Arabians  from  the  East,  and  the  islanders  from  Crete,  now  called  Candia. 

A  very  linn'ted  unity  of  tongue  had  been  wrought  by  the  conquests  of  Alexan- 
der, in  the  free  use  of  the  Greek,  which  had  been  adopted  as  the  language  of  traffic 
and  of  the  Roman  court;  while  in  the  liasin  of  the  Mediterranean  it  was  universally 
spoken.     Jews  born  in  Syria,  Egypt,  Asia  Minor,  or  Cyrene,  spoke  it  tiuently  and 


PETER'S  SEIiMON.  73 

read  their  Scriptures  therein  ;  and  ia  the  great  cities  of  tin;  enipire  their  syiia<:oi;iie 
services  were  conducted  in  tlie  (Jreek.  Tlie  'Twelve'  appear,  liowi'ver,  to  liavi' 
known  little  of  Greek,  and  were  (pialiticd  to  prcaeii  oidv  in  Palestine.  In  tliis  condi- 
tion of  things,  while  the  youug  Church  waited  for  auracuious  endowment  from  tlie 
Spirit,  Peter  began  to  preach  Jesus  and  the  resurrection  to  the  nu.ved  tlirong  of 
Jews  and  proselytes  who  had  to  come  to  the  feast.  His  sermon  was  full  of  vigor 
and  simplicity,  of  bold  directness  and  reasoning,  and,  as  if  by  instinct,  his  concise  and 
clear  mind  flew  from  facts  within  his  own  knowledge  to  the  Sacred  Oracles  ;  where 
he  grasped  firmly  the  prophecies  of  Joel  and  David,  concerning  tlie  Messiah. 
Finding  these  in  exact  accord  with  his  own  personal  knowledge,  he  centered  his 
appeal  upon  the  reason  and  conscience  of  his  hearers,  and  charged  the  Jewish  rulers 
with  the  judicial  murder  of  Jesus,  as  '  lawless  ones.'  Some  of  them  had  joined  the 
motley  crowd  who  had  clamored  for  his  blood,  and  as  he  proved  the  guilt  of  the 
nation  alarm  seized  them.  They  saw  that  their  rulers  had  duped  them  into  one  of 
the  worst  crimes  in  their  annals,  and  the  echoes  of  their  execrating  prayer  in  Pilate's 
palace  were  re-awakened  in  their  ears,  '  His  blood  be  on  us  and  on  our  children.' 
>Vhen  they  cried  in  sorrow,  'What  must  we  do?'  Peter  offered  them  salvation 
through  the  blood  of  Jesus  for  the  sin  of  shedding  it,  and  urged  them  to  leave  the 
wicked  hierarchy,  and  enter  the  new  kingdom  by  faitli  and  baptism. 

While  Peter  was  preaching,  an  infinite  energy  overwhelmed  him  and  his  breth- 
ren, subduing  every  faculty  and  power  of  their  being.  Their  imagination,  tlieir 
understanding,  their  conscience,  tlieir  memory,  their  \vill  and  affections  were  all 
submerged  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  a  pearl  is  buried  in  the  sea.  Or  as  EUicott 
expresses  it,  'The  baptism  with  the  Holy  Spirit  would  iniply  that  the  souls  thus 
baptized  would  he  jylimyed,  as  it  were,  in  that  creative  and  informing  Spirit  which 
was  the  source  of  life  and  holiness  and  wisdom.''  And  immediately  there  sat 
upon  the  heads  of  these  elder  sons  of  Zion  a  coronation  flame,  pointed  like 
the  human  tongue,  but  divided  and  forked  likewise,  not  only  to  indicate  vitality 
and  fluency,  but  also  as  a  fitting  emblem  of  the  varied  languages  which  they  should 
speak,  as  if  they  were  natives  of  every  country,  instead  of  fishermen  from  an  inland 
lake.  This  fiaming  appearance  was  not  fire,  as  loose  interpretation  says,  but '  like  as 
of  fire.'  Its  appearance  was  attended  by  a  loud  sound,  not  of  wind,  but  '  like  a 
rushing  mighty  wind,'  indicating  that  the  influences  of  the  Spirit  kept  pace  with 
the  holy  storm  which  was  sweeping  away  every  linguistic  oljstruction  to  the 
triumph  of  the  Gospel.  They  were  all  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  i)egan  to 
speak  with  other  tongues,  as  the  Spirit  gave  them  utterance,  and  every  man  heard 
the  Gospel  in  his  mother-tongue.  The  preachers  spoke  grammatically,  for  had  they 
expressed  themselves  improperly,  their  hearers  would  have  suspected  fraud.  In- 
stead of  this,  when  they  lieard  their  own  living  languages  spoken  accurately  by 
unlettered  Galileans,  they  were  amazed  and  demanded  what  it  meant.  Tliose  from 
Asia,   Phrygia,    and  Pamphylia  spoke  Greek   in    various   idioms.     Tiie  Parthians, 


74  THE  PTtOMISR   FUI. FILLED. 

Medes,  Elamites,  and  Persians  used  it  in  proviucial  f(irms.  Tlie  native  Jew  heard 
the  local  dialects  of  Palestine,  wliich  wei'e  all  Aramaic,  though  thej  difEered  from 
each  other,  and  the  foreign  pilgrims  the  languages  of  their  several  nationalities. 
Many  of  these  languages  held  affinity  to  each  other,  as  frnm  a  (■DHimnn  parent,  liut 
others  were  marked  by  those  great  diversities  wliich  come  <it'  a  varied  origin.  None 
could  account  for  the  phenomenon,  and  tlie  vulgar  refusing  to  believe  in  the  reign 
of  the  Spirit,  chai'ged  it  to  the  use  of  new  wine ;  a  charge  which  Peter  easily 
repelled,  because  it  was  unlawful  for  a  Jew  to  break  his  fast  befoi'e  '  the  third  hour 
of  the  day.'  What  adds  to  the  interest  of  the  miracle  is,  that  those  who  could  only 
use  the  Galilean  dialect  before  Pentecost,  as  Peter,  John,  James,  and  Jude,  after- 
ward wrote  books  of  the  New  Testament  in  terse  and  even  lucid  (Treek,  as  if  a  fork 
of  the  fire-like  tongue  followed  every  stroke  of  their  pen. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  as  Jesus  entered  his  office  by  baptism  in  water,  so  the 
Spirit  commenced  his  administration  by  baptizing  Christ's  Apostles  into  liimself. 
On  tlie  head  of  the  inaugurated  Lurd  he  descended  like  a  dove  to  indicate  meekness 
and  purity;  but  he  sat  as  fire  upon  the  heads  of  the  Apostles.  Jesus  had  foretold 
their  intense  sufferings  by  the  tropical  use  of  the  word  bajDtize,  '  Ye  shall  undergo 
the  baptism  that  I  must  undergo,'  when  he  was  plunged  into  deep  sorrow.  And 
now,  in  like  mannei-  he  fills  them  with  power  for  their  ministry,  as  he  had  said, '  Ye 
shall  be  baptized  in  the  Holy  Spirit  not  many  days  hence ; '  in  both  cases  using  the 
]-]ietorical  figure,  according  to  the  solid  structure  of  language,  by  stating  the  literal 
truth  in  the  trope.  As  Jesus  was  overwhelmed  when  he  was  '  filled  with  sorrow,' 
so  were  his  Apostles  overwhelmed  when  they  were  '  filled  with  the  Spirit.'  Every 
attribute  of  their  nature  sank  into  the  Spirit,  till  his  billows  passed  over  them,  as 
Jesus  sank  when  the  dark  waters  of  sorrow  passed  over  his  soul.  Tliey  were  bap- 
tized in  the  Spirit.  Thus  the  Holy  Spirit  attested  his  mission  to  them,  and  proved 
theirs  to  be  from  heaven,  accrediting  their  Gospel  to  the  nations.  That  day,  in  the 
midst  of  the  stir,  enthusiasm,  and  triumph  of  the  vindicated  fisliermen,  they  so 
handled  the  keys  of  the  kingdom,  that  three  thousand  men  were  added  to  the 
earlier  believers,  and  the  first  abundant  harvest  was  reaped  in  the  great  Jewish 
field. 

These  tliree  thousand  were  immersed  that  day,  as  converts  to  the  faith  of 
Christ.  Because  the  Sacred  Record  does  not  give  the  exact  locality  where  this  took 
place  in  Jerusalem,  nor  the  number  of  administrators,  some  affect  to  doubt  that 
immersion  was  administered.  With  characteristic  candor  Dean  Plumptre  sa^-s  (Acts 
ii,  41) :  '  The  largeness  of  the  number  has  been  urged  as  rendering  it  probable  that 
the  baptism  was  by  affusion,  not  immersion.  On  the  other  [hand]  (1)  immersion  had 
clearly  been  practiced  by  John,  and  was  involved  in  the  original  meaning  of  the 
word,  and  it  is  not  likely  that  the  rite  should  have  been  curtailed  of  its  full  propor- 
tions at  the  vei-y  outset ;  (2)  the  symbolic  meaning  of  the  act  required  immersion  in 
order  that  it  miglit  be  clearly  manifested,  and   Rom.  vi,  4,  and  1  Pet.  iii,  21,  seem 


JERUSALEM   WATERS.  73 

almost  of  necessity  to  imply  the  more  complete  mode.  The  pools  of  Bethcsda  and 
Siloam  (see  John  v,  7 ;  ix,  7),  or  the  so-called  Fountain  of  the  Virgin,  near  the  tem- 
ple inclo.sure,  or  the  bathing  jilaces  within  the  Tower  of  Anthony  (Jos.,  '  Wars,'  v. 
5,  §  8),  may  well  have  helped  to  make  the  process  easy.' 

Dr.  Bollinger  thinks  that  the  baptisms  did  not  take  place  the  same  day,  but 
says  that  it  was  an  '  Immersion  of  the  whole  person  ;  which  is  the  only  meaning  of 
the  New  Testament  won],  a  mere  pouring  or  sprinkling  was  never  thought  of.' 
All  historians,  in  tivmin-  -I'   Jrru-:i1. 'i,,     .'    ■■    *''   *li.'   ihiiiiImt  mul   v;ilii,'   of  its 


public  baths,  and  its  immense  storage  of  water  for  jDublic  nse.  In  all  its  calamities 
by  famine  and  siege,  we  have  no  account  that  it  suifered  for  want  of  M-ater.  Like 
other  cities  of  antiquity  its  natural  water  springs  had  much  to  do  with  the  selec- 
tion of  its  location.  These  abounded  on  the  spot  and  in  its  vicinity,  so  that  its 
water-wealth  was  great  when  gathered  into  wells,  pools,  and  reservoirs.  As  the 
Jewish  capital,  it  was  visited  yearly  by  hundreds  of  thousands  of  pilgrims,  at  the 
three  feasts,  so  that  its  religious  washings,  purifications  and  ablutions  rendered  a 
large  supply  indispensable,  for  religious  as  well  as  domestic  purposes.  Josephus 
tells  us  that  at  the  Passover  alone  two  hundred  head  of  beasts  were  sacrificed.  All 
these  must  be  watered  and  washed  as  sacrificial  victims.  He  also  says,  that  the  sect 
of  the  Essenes  was  numerous  there,  and  that  they  immersed  themselves  daily.     The 


76 


THE    VAlUors    POdLf 


Pools  of  Jenisaleiii,  :uk1  those  south  of  IJuthk-hi'in,  wliich  siipj>lifd  tlie  city,  were 
mimerous,  large,  and  adapted  to  iuimersioii,  all  being  accessible  for  that  use.  The 
following  were  their  names  and  dimensions : 


Pool  of  P)ethesda,  north  of  the  Temple  . 

Pool  of  Hezekiah,  north  of  Mount  Zicm 

The  King's  Pool,  now  Pool  of  the  Virgin,  E. 

Pool  of  Siloam,  S.-E.  of  Jerusalem 

Upper  Gihon,  N.-W.  "  .         .         , 

Lower  Gihon,  W. 

Solomon's  Pools — Lower  Pool 

Middle  Pool       . 
"  Ujjper  Pool 


.f  Jer. 


U4 

(■> 
18 
200 
245  to  275 
148  to  207 
160  to  250 
229  to  236 


Feet. 

75 

3  to  4 

Not  gi-eat. 

lit 

18 

35  to  42 

East  end  50 

39 

25 


Some  of  these  were  excavated  out  of  th( 
by  hidden  springs ;  to  others  water  was  con 
waters  being  brtnight  from  the   mountains. 


nirth  or  limestone  rock,  and  supplied 
'yed  by  hewn  subterranean  passages, 
Hezekiah   built  a  conduit  (2  Kings 


XX,  20),  and  Solomon  built  the  three  enormous  pools,  five  and  a  half  miles  from 
Jerusalem,  which  brought  their  waters  to  the  city  by  an  aqueduct,  their  springs 
near  Bethlehem  being  enlarged  and  arched  over.  The  Lower  Gihon  was  formed  by 
two  dams  (2  Chron.  xxxii,  30),  and  was  intact  even  in  the  eleventh  century.  It 
was  used  by  the  Crusaders,  and  their  Norman  chronicler  calls  it  a  '  lake,'  where  '  the 
horses  of  the  city  are  watered.'  Besides  these,  the  brook  Nachal-Kidron  held  a 
dififerent  relation  to  the  Holy  City  in  ancient  times  to  what  it  holds  now.  Then,  it 
was  a  natural  water-conrse  (2  Chron.  xxxii,  3,  4),  and  Hezekiah  summoned  the  forces 
of  Israel  to  seal  its  fountains,  B.  C.  713,  as  a  defensive  war  measure.  Sennacherib 
was  besieging  Jerusalem,  and  his  army  could  not  subsist  without  watei-.  '  So  they 
stopped  all  the   fountains  and   the  brook  that  ran  through  the  midst  of  the  land, 


TUE  BROOK  KIDRON.  77 

sayiiij^ :  Wliy  slioulil  tlio  l\in^-  of  Assyria  come  and  fiiul  much  water  '. '  This  upper 
spring-liead,  wliicli  burst  out  in  the  wady  north  of  the  city,  being  closed,  rendered 
the  vicinity  desolate  and  embari'assed  the  besiegers.  The  wonderful  fertility  which 
marked  those  sul)url)s  in  aftiT  times,  iiulicates  that  these  fountains  were  re-opened. 
Dr.  Bonar  ('  Lam!  oi'  I'miiiisc,'  p.  lii'.M  nbserves,  that  this  running  stream  carried  off 
the  refuse  of  the  city.  Tlie  Ki(huii  rises  aluHit  half  a  mile  from  the  north-west 
corner  of  the  city,  and  its  j)resent  bed  wiiuls  round  its  nortli  and  east  sides,  half 
inclosing  it,  and  receives  the  brook  Gihon  at  the  nortli  east  corner,  after  which  it 
passes  off  by  a  precipitous  ravine  to  the  Dead  Sea. 

Much  of  the  year  it  is  entii-ely  dry,  a  fact  which  Dr.  (.>lin  and  Dean  Stanley 
attribute  to  the  entire  absence  of  wooded  lands  and  forests,  but  in  the  rainy  season 
it  still  swells  to  a  torrent  of  great  impetuosity.  This  makes  the  well-known  bridge 
necessary,  for  at  those  times  the  stream  cannot  be  forded ;  which  bridge  is  seventeen 
feet  above  the  channel.  Modern  research  renders  it  probable  that  the  Kidron  now 
flows  beneath  the  ground,  and  Dr.  Barclay  thought  that  he  had  discovered  its  course 
by  the  noise  of  hidden  running  waters.  Lieutenant  AVarren  believes  that  he  has 
discovered  a  flight  of  steps,  which  anciently  connected  with  this  curi-ent.  Be  this  as 
it  may,  all  modern  exploration  justifles  Wilson,  Tristram,  Stanley,  and  others  in  the 
ojMnion,  that  Kidron  was  a  large  and  more  constant  stream  in  the  days  of  our  Lord 
than  now.  Indeed,  the  officers  of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund  say :  '  The  enor- 
mous mass  of  rubbish  now  lying  in  the  valley  has  displaced  the  old  bed  of  the 
stream,  shifting  it  ninety  feet  to  the  east,  and  lifting  it  forty  feet  higher  than  its 
former  position.'  ^  These  facts  render  it  highly  probable  that  the  Kidron  was  avail- 
able for  the  purposes  of  immersion  in  Apostolic  times.  Thompson  says :  '  No  other 
city  in  this  part  of  the  world '  had  such  profuse  supplies  of  water.  '  Jerusalem  was 
so  abundantly  supplied  with  water,  that  no  inconvenience  from  this  source  was 
experienced,  even  during  the  many  and  long  sieges  which  the  city  sustained."  It 
is  simply  absurd  to  pretend  that  while  a  whole  nation  could  flnd  water  enough  to 
keep  the  Jewish  feasts  three  times  a  j^ear,  a  little  band  of  three  thousand  converts 
could  flnd  no  water  for  an  act  of  obedience  in  following  the  example  and  connnand 
of  Jesus  but  once  in  all  the  ages. 

Herod  had  put  all  the  water-works  of  Jerusalem  in  repair,  and  in  our  Lord's 
time  they  were  in  full  use.  Tiii^  Pools  were  open  to  the  free  use  of  the  public,  some 
of  them  for  public  bathing  purposes,  as  is  evident  from  John  v,  2-9;  ix,  7;  Christ's 
disciples  having  as  free  access  to  them  as  others.  The  Jewish  priests  used  to  wash 
the  sacrificial  animals  in  Bethesda,  and  hence  it  wiis  commonly  known  as  the  '  Sheep- 
pool.'  Dr.  Carpenter  doubts  whether  the  priests  themselves  washed  them  there, 
but  says  that  they  were  washed  there  before  being  delivered  for  sacriflce.''  It  cov- 
ered more  than  an  acre  of  ground,  and  30,000  people  could  bathe  in  it  at  once. 
John  speaks  of  a  'multitude'  waiting  to  bathe  there,  none  questioning  their  right. 
The  Lower  Gihon  was  alike  ample  and  accessible  for  the  same  purpose.     Tiiompson 


78 


POOLS  rsh:i)  Foi;  nATinxo. 


speaks  m1s„  „1-  tlir  I'uul  uf  llr: 
water  sulli.-icnt  Inr  lialfuf  the 
that  tlic  watri'  was  iimmI   ,-lii,'lh 


as  -An  mnncu.e  reservoir,  eapal.le  of  Loldini; 
My,-niilc  .•alle.l  it  llnrkrl  ilui.iinaii,  and  slid 
itl,,-.-"'      Tlir  de>e,,nt    (,f  >tr|,>   and  the  ^helvili- 


hdtt.iiii  ..f  iii..^t  (.r  the.M'  TnoU,  a.la])ted  them  for  easy  de>rciit  into  the  watej'  at  any 
desired  .U'lith.  Antoninns,  the  martyr,  who  liN.-d  in  tlie  >ixth  c-entnry,  says,  tliat 
tlie  i)eo].i(_-  cHistantly  hatlied  in  Si!,, am.  a:,  we  liave  .seen  tliat  tii.-y  did  in  I'.ethesda. 
Ilurne,  in  his  '  Jntroduetiun,"  says  :  '  It  was  one  of  the  laws  of  tlie  Ildirews,  that  tlie 
bath  shonhl  be   used.  Lev.  xiv,  8,  9.     We  may,  therefore,  consider  it  as  probable 


.r 


M. 


THE   POOL   OP   HEZEKIAH. 

that  public  baths,  soon  after  the  enactment  of  this  law,  were  erected  in  Palestine,  of 
a  construction  similar  to  that  of  those  which  are  so  frequently  seen  at  the  present 
day  in  the  East.'  These  are  very  numerous,  especially  in  India.  Butler,  in  his 
'  Land  of  the  Veda  '  (pp.  27.  28),  gives  a  full  account  of  the  ablutions  of  the  devotee 
in  these  pools,  and  tells  us  that  after  his  ceremonies  and  prayers,  '  He  plunges 
thrice  into  the  water,  each  time  repeating  the  prescribed  expiatory  texts.'  There 
were  many  of  them,  also  at  Eome,  wonderful  structures.  Agrippa  built  about 
a  hundred  and  sixty  of  them  at  Rome,  and  Caracalla  supplied  marble  seats 
in  one  bath  for  sixteen  hundred  persons,  for  eighteen  hundred  coidd  bathe 
at  one  time.      Diocletian  kept    l-iO.DiK)   men    for  years  in    building  his   baths   for 


rill-:  ADMiyisruA  tor: 


the  public."'  The  cun»t;iiit  iiilliix  uf  struiiyurs  at  Jcnisulem  rendered  similar 
ai-rangemeiits  necessary,  even  to  ordinary  liealth  and  cleanliness.  Dean  Stanley 
thus  disposes  of  the  question  :  '  In  that  age  the  scene  of  the  transaction  was  either 
some  deep  way-side  spring  or  well,  as  for  the  Ethiopian  ;  or  some  rushing  river,  as 
the  Jordan,  or  some  vast  reservoir,  as  at  Jericho  or  Jerusalem  ;  whither,  as  in  the 
Baths  of  Caracalla  at  Rome,  the  whole  population  resorted  for  swimmiiii,'  or 
Wiishing.' 

if   administrators,  the  case   is   quite   as   clear, 
made   eighty-two   administrators    of    Christ's 


tune 


•  Seventv. 


As  to  the 
The  'Twelve,'  and  the 
own  selection,  who  were 
ready  to  administer  the 
holy  rite,  out  of  the  one 
hundred  and  twenty  disci- 
ples present.  In  baptizing, 
two  minutes  for  each  can- 
didate allows  the  greatest 
deliberation  in  the  im- 
mersion, and  this  slow- 
ness at  Pentecost  would 
have  allowed  the  baptism 
of  three  thousand  witli 
great  ease.  In  the  ti-i 
umphs  of  Christianit\, 
this  number  of  bapti'-m- 
in  a  day  is  by  no  mean'- 
exceptional.  In  Ireland. 
Patrick  immersed  seven 
kings  and  11,000  of  their 
subjects  in  a  day,  according 
to  Farrell's  Life  of  him ; 
Austin  immersed  10,000  in 
the  Swale,  April  20,  A.  D. 
598;  Remigius  immersed  Clovis  I.  and  .''.,000  of  his  warriors  in  a  day;  and  at  Vel- 
umpilly,  in  the  Madras  Presidency,  in  July,  A.  D.  1S7S,  2,222  persons  were 
immersed  on  the  faith  in  Christ,  in  about  six  hours,  the  ordinance  being  admin- 
istered with  great  solemnity  by  six  administrators. 

Luke  tells  ns,  that  after  the  3,000  had  been  added  t.^  the  original  body  of 
believers  they  'remained  steadfast  in  the  Apostles'  doctrine  and  fellowship,  and  in 
breaking  of  bread  and  in  prayers.'  Here  he  defines  every  true  element  in  the 
Apostolic  Church,  or  that  can  be  necessary  to  any  C4ospel  Church  to  the  end  of 
time.     Luke's  definition  is  the  best  that  has  ever  been  given,  and  in  every  2)articular. 


POOL  FOR  ABLUTION — liABA-ATEL  TEMPLE. 


STEPIIEX. 


They  were 

';i.1(1.m| 

•  wli 

tlRMl   tlirv 

ivccivc.l 

I".:,| 

Wurslii|.. 

In  tiv.it 

tOSJIfuk  nl 

■  til..  v\v. 

(■ti..li 

riiilii 

>  and  St. 

•plu: 

sak'in,  now 

■  l...>in  n 

lIKll'kud    I.v 

i;ivat   (• 

ndoN 

1  i;i\eii  pi-uuf  of  IiciJuntanee  ami  Trust  in  Cliri.st; 
,i_il  liy  Fellowship,  the  Lord's  Suppei',  and  Public 
-titution  of  a  Gospel  Chui'ch,  it  will  be  necessary 
at  .[eriisaJL 


1  an.l  of 

other  thino-s. 

■hosen   t. 

II  serve  the  Churcli  at 

J. 

influence 
1  .-piriti 
ition,  ai 

_■;  tSteiiheii.  especially, 
lal.      At    this   time,   tin 
id  was  a  i^Teater  educa 

be 
toi 

ires  wer 

e   read   tlieiv  on  the  Sa 

,1.1 

of 
the  Jews  than  the  Temple  itself;  as  the  Sci-iptures  were  read  tlieiv  on  the  Sabbath 
and  several  other  days  of  the  week,  e.\]iositions  were  given  also,  and  free  disputation 
liad, — practices  which  kept  the  public  uiind  awake  in  search  of  religious  knowledge. 
The  Rabbins  mention  the  extravagant  number  of  4S0  synagogues  in  the  holy  city. 

To  these,  the  inliabitants 


constantly  resorted,  and 
the  foreign  Jews  had  es- 
tablislied  their  own  there, 
foi  tlie  use  of  tlieir  eoun- 
ti)men.  Classed  with 
the  Asiatic  synagogues 
w  e  find  the  strangers  from 
(  diiia,  to  wliich  body  it 
is  niiKt  likely  that  Saul 
of  T.irsus  was  attaclied. 
Vets  vi,  9.  The  natural 
supposition  is,  that  Ste- 
phen and  Saul  first  met  there  in  warm  dispute,  for  Stephen  defended  the  Gospel 
against  the  frequenters  of  these  synagogues,  and  being  unable  to  answer  him,  false  wit- 
nesses charged  him  with  defaming  the  Temple  and  the  law.  On  this  plea  he  was 
dragged  before  the  Sanhedrin,  where  he  delivered  his  matchless  defense,  equaled  only 
in  grasp,  eloquence,  and  logic  by  the  after  addresses  of  the  young  Cilician  himself. 
But  its  efEect  was  to  enrage  the  council  and  the  people;  and  against  all  forms  of  law 
he  was  dragged  out  of  the  city  and  stoned.  AVhile  sufiEerhig  without  the  gate  he 
offered  the  very  prayer  presented  by  Jesus  with  his  last  breath :  '  Lord,  lay  not 
this  sin  to  their  charge ; '  and  there  stood  by  a  young  man  named  Saul,  who  was 
consenting  to  his  death.  Heaven  only  knows  the  quiverings  which  this  plea  stirred 
in  that  young  breast,  quiverings  wliicli  were  never  quieted  till  Jesus  gave  him  rest. 
Two  quenchless  flames  burst  foi'th  at  that  moment,  a  great  persecution  which  scat- 
tered the  Church  at  Jerusalem,  and  an  intense  missionary  enthusiasm.  Stubborn 
prejudice  against  the  Gentiles  had  restrained  the  Jewish  Christians  from  taking  the 
Gospel  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  until  Stephen  saw  Jesus  standing  at  the  right  hand 
of  God,  his  first  revelation  since  he  entered  the  heavens  years  ago,  and  the  ecstatic 


SArr.-S    WRATIT.  81 

vision  inspired  his  people  to  obedience.  Jesus  looked  down  and  saw  Steplieu  suffer- 
ing where  he  had  suffered,  for  tiie  same  soil  was  drinking  up  the  blood  of  liis  servant, 
and  when  he  lieard  the  cry  :  '  Lord  Jesus,  i-eceivc  my  spirit,'  Jesus  remembered  the 
softness  of  his  Father's  bosoni  when  he  sent  forth  the  same  plea.  Then  he  arose 
from  his  throne,  for  as  the  Head  he  felt  Stejihen's  pain,  and  eagerly  sheltered  him 
on  his  breast,  safe  fi'om  the  stony  shower.  The  martyr's  jiale  cheek  glowed  with 
life  and  love,  when  his  Master's  arms  welcomed  the  tirst  liaptist  Deacon  safely 
across  the  Vale  of  Death.  This  is  tlu'  only  time  tliat  we  read  of  Jesus  'standing' 
at  the  right  hand  of  God,  touched  in  innmirtal  I'riindship,  by  the  first  horrors  of 
martyrdom. 

But  as  Jesus  welcomed  Stephen's  spirit  through  the  heavenly  gate,  his  eye 
fell  upon  the  young  Tarsian  standing  by  the  garments  of  his  murderers,  and  from 
that  hour  Saul  was  made,  as  he  expressed  it  himself,  the  '  slave  of  Jesus  Christ.' 
On  the  soil  which  was  dyed  purple  with  the  blood  of  the  murdered  officer  of 
Christ's  Church,  there  sprang  up  the  first  blade  in  the  harvest  of  Chi-istian  missions. 
Saul  became  furious  for  a  time,  but  Stephen's  prayer  had  lodged  in  his  blood- 
thirsty soul  like  a  barbed  arrow,  and  electing  love  in  heaven  had  ordained  him  the 
Apostle  to  the  Gentiles.  Four-and-twenty  years  afterward,  when  a  similar  mob 
sought  to  kill  him  in  this  same  Jerusalem,  the  old  scene  rose  before  him  in  all  its 
freshness,  and  extorted  from  him  the  touching  cry :  '  When  the  blood  of  thy  witness, 
Stephen,  was  shed,  I  myself  was  standing  by,  and  consenting  and  keejaing  the  gar- 
ments of  those  who  slew  him.'  Acts  xxii,  20. 

The  picture  which  Liike  draws  of  the  infuriated  Saul  is  frightful :  '  He  made 
havoc  of  the  Church,  and  breathed  out  threatenings  and  slaughter  against  the  dis- 
ciples.' Maddened  fii'st  by  the  barbs  in  his  heart,  and  more  enraged  with  the  blood 
which  he  had  already  tasted,  his  hot  breath  became  slaughter,  like  that  of  the  pant- 
ing tiger.  And  yet,  Stephen's  triumphant  fortitude  and  faith  had  recalled  him  to 
his  better  self.  But  this  neither  staggered  nor  softened  his  obstinate  hatred  of  the 
Nazarene.  He  says  that  he  was  '  so  exceeding  mad '  that  he  gave  '  his  voice,'  or 
vote,  against  the  saints  and  persecuted  them  unto  death.  Misgiving  made  his  bru- 
tality more  ferocious  at  the  first,  but  the  horrors  of  remorse  came  afterward.  It 
were  impossible  for  a  man  of  his  sensitive  nature  to  remain  unmoved  by  the  manly 
reasonings  and  sublime  love  of  young  Stephen.  They  not  only  haunted  him  as  a 
saintly  specter,  but  so  long  as  he  resented  them  they  goaded  him.  So  long  as  he 
writhed  in  a  hot  frenzy,  the  blood  from  Stephen's  temples  only  flecked  the  foam 
of  his  own  mouth,  so  that  he  sought  relief  in  new  outrages.  He  hunted  the 
harmless  flock  of  Christ  from  city  to  city,  staining  his  sword  with  their  innocent 
blood.  In  reality,  however,  he  had  long  been  at  school  under  a  combination  of 
such  teachers  as  infinite  wisdom  only  could  command.  In  preparing  for  the  new 
brotherhood,  he  was  to  be  qualified  for  a  work  many-sided  and  greater  than  had  yet 
fallen  to  the  lot  of  any  "lan,  ami   it  called  for  an  education  which  none  other  had 


82  N.  I  1 7;.s'    PA  IlENTA  0  E. 

ruccivctl.  Why  did  .h^siis  need  a  tliii-twiitli  Apo^tlu^  or  why  liad  1il'  not  chosuti 
tliat  muuber  at  tlic  liivf  '.  The  new  (•inLTgeiicy  called  for  a  new  man.  The  Twelve 
had  been  faithful  to  the  -lews,  hut  they  had  neglected  the  Gentiles,  so  that  when 
the  new  crisis  arose  there  was  no  missionary  ready  to  enter  the  i;reat  centers  uf 
Greek  and  llonnm  life  fur  ( 'hrist. 

Jattle  is  known  of  Said's  |):irents,  except  that  they  were  Jews,  of  the  tribe  of 
Uenjaniin  and  of  tiie  Pliarisaic  sect,  ills  father,  however,  was  a  Koinan  citizen,  as 
his  son  was  '  fivt^-horn,'  a  fact  giving  higher  raidc  to  the  family  than  the  Jews  gen- 
erally held.  They  evinced  some  decision  in  naming  their  son  after  the  heroic  king 
of  tlteir  own  tribe,  whose  pride  and  suicidal  death  had  dislnjiiored  his  fame  for  ages. 
Saul  was  born  at  Tar.sns,  the  capital  of  Gilicia,  in  Asia  Minor,  ])r(.iliably  al)out  seven 


years  after  the  birth  of  Christ.  This  was  no  mean  city  in  p<ipidatioii,  intliience,  or 
history.  It  was  founded,  I!.  ( '.  S^U  ;  was  captured  by  the  youn-er  Cyrus,  401  ;  again 
by  Alexander  the  Great,  333,  and  stood  loyal  to  Cajsar  against  Pompey,  B.  C.  47.  Its 
schools  abounded  in  number  and  superiority,  so  that  it  was  a  seat  of  great  learning. 
In  rhetoric,  philosophy,  philology  and  science,  it  disputed  pre-eminence  with  Alex- 
andria and  Athens,  and  many  of  its  scholars  were  famous.  It  was,  also,  a  free  city, 
situated  on  the  navigable  river  Cydnus,  which  emptied  into  the  Mediterranean,  then 
the  central  sea  of  the  world.  It  had  large  commercial  dealings  with  Europe,  espe- 
cially Italy,  which  gave  it  considerable  political  strength.  The  forests  of  Tarsus 
made  it  a  great  timber  market,  and  it  manufactured  large  quantities  of  coarse,  black 
hair-clotli,  clipped  from  the  countless  goats  of  the  forests.  This  was  woven  for  the 
covering  of  tents  and  other  rough  uses.  Saul  was  a  maker  of  this  fabric,  a  trade 
which  called  for  little  skill,  and  gave  but  a  scant  reward,  leaving  him  free  to  think 
of  the  wandering  races  whom  his  cloth  would  cover.     But  Tarsus  was  a  thoroughly 


ms   EAniY   LIFE.  83 

pagan  city,  as  bud,  iiionilly,  as  it  wull  coulcl  \>v.  Its  populatiuii  was  cliii'tly  of  the 
Greek  and  Aramaic  races,  and  its  language  a  dialect  of  PhaMiicia.  In  this  seething 
mass  of  superstition,  dishonesty  and  immorality,  Saul  spent  his  ehiMliddi,!  and  early 
youth,  when  his  senses  were  the  most  quick,  and  his  soul  the  most  iinpressii)ie ;  and 
bis  after  life  reveals  the  deep  impression  which  his  observations  left  upon  him.  So 
powerfully  were  his  convictions  moulded  touching  the  abominations  of  a  city  given 
to  idolatry,  that  the  drift  of  his  feeling  differed  from  that  of  his  compeers  of  Gal- 
ilee. His  native  city  showed  him  next  to  nothing  of  the  landscape  and  the  imagery 
of  nature,  but  as  he  elbowed  his  way  through  throngs  in  its  narrow  streets,  he  studied 
pagau  man  as  man.  This  early  study  ran  in  the  lines  of  passion,  law,  self-discipline 
and  self-degradation,  as  he  saw  them  Ih'Tdit  his  eyes.  This  gave  liim  a  widely  dif- 
ferent knowledge  of  the  masses  of  iiuinauity  1mm  that  of  the  Twelve,  ami  made 
him  a  profounder  student  of  pagan  philosophy  and  its  practical  results,  than  he 
could  have  been  had  he  spent  his  life  in  studying  its  theory,  though  versed  in  its 
minutest  axioms.  It  even  affected  his  methods  of  speech,  for  as  a  rule,  his  metaphors 
and  symbols  were  borrowed  from  metropolitan  life ; — architecture,  military  garrisons, 
movements  of  troops  in  fortified  cities,  and  the  games  which  drew  excited  crowds 
from  their  gates. 

This  was  the  school  for  the  examination  of  idolatry,  and  in  the  lives  of  the 
gods,  and  their  devotees.  Saul  read  these  lessons  there.  His  knowledge  of  the 
tongue,  customs,  manners,  spirit  and  practices  of  the  pagans,  qualified  him  to 
approach  and  understand  the  enormous  majority  of  our  race,  as  few  Jews  then 
living  understood  them.  It  is  thought  that  he  never  mastered  the  Greek  ele- 
mentally, as  his  style  is  not  after  the  classic  models,  his  rhetoric  being  defective  and 
his  figures  harsh  and  mixed.  Possibly,  any  tutor  of  Tarsus  would  have  ridiculed 
his  Syriac  peculiarities  and  Hebraisms,  and  Aristotle  might  have  scouted  his  logic. 
But  was  it  needful  for  an  Apostle  to  be  a  finished  Grecian  in  order  to  beard  godless 
Greek  wickedness  ?  He  had  to  handle  its  moral  side  rather  than  its  metaphysics 
and  mj'steries.  He  must  be  able  to  unsheath  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  and  strike 
home  in  easy  and  natural  strokes,  without  first  mastering  foreign  tactics.  His  first 
necessity  was  a  perfect  freedom  from  pi-ejudice  against  the  Gentiles,  and  a  tender 
love  for  them,  with  ability  to  address  them  fluently  and  forcefully.  Perhaps  it  was 
impossible  for  a  native  Palestinian  to  overcome  entirely  the  national  antijjathy 
against  the  Gentiles  which  imbued  his  whole  people.  Saving  sympathy  with  the 
Gentile  masses  nnist  come  by  feeling  the  power  of  their  mental  acuteness,  as  well 
as  the  foulness  of  their  depravity.  The  Twelve  knew  little  of  this  by  actual  con- 
tact, and  Saul  did  imt  ciMiie  tn  understand  it  in  a  day.  He  was  allied  to  tiie  heathen 
by  first  breathing  life  in  tiieir  midst.  l)y  loving  them  as  natives  of  his  mother-land, 
and  by  tenderness  for  them  as  his  own  countrymen.  Having  met  them  first  in  the 
gates  of  death,  he  could  throw  open  to  them  the  gates  of  life,  with  a  free  and  firm 
hand.     Personal  knowledge  of  the  immunities  and  realities  of  Roman  citizenship, 


84  UTS  SCTWOL-DATS. 

of  the  charms  of  Greek  iutelleet  and  its  religious  biiglit ;  and  at  the  same  time,  an 
intimacy  with  the  deepest  tone  of  Hebrew  reverence  and  legalism  were  indispensa- 
ble in  an  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles.  Natural  affection  under  the  compelling  love  of 
(iod,  must  hind  him  to  lionian,  (ireek  and  Jew,  without  a  perpetual  fight  with  his 
pri'judices,  in  order  to  save  them  all.  These  met  in  .Saul,  as  in  no  other  man  of 
whom  we  have  knowledge.  Even  the  feet  of  Jesus  had  never  trodden  Greek  soil, 
iior  was  he  a  Eoman  citizen,  hut  the  vassal  of  a  captured  province,  under  Koman 
law,  or  he  could  not  have  been  the  Man  <>{  Calvary. 

Saul  also  needed  a  thorough  Jlelirew  training,  wliicli  should  subject  all  his 
other  knowledge  to  his  religious  convictions.  For  this  purpose  he  went  to  Jerusa- 
lem, possibly  when  about  thirteen  years  of  age,  to  i>e  educated  by  Gamaliel,  the 
great  Hebrew  preceptor.  Jewish  custom  kept  him  at  home  until  he  was  five  years 
old,  where  as  a  child-student  he  was  taught  only  the  Scriptures  as  a  '  Son  of  the 
law,'  nntil  he  was  sent  to  school  at  si.x.  At  ten,  he  took  up  the  study  of  the  oral 
law,  and  if  he  was  to  be  a  Ilalil)i,  he  entei'ed  the  school  of  some  great  master  at 
thirteen,  as  a  '  Son  of  the  Connnandment,'  that  is,  a  student  of  the  traditions  of  the 
fathers.  While  Jesus,  therefore,  under  less  than  a  score  of  years  was  sweating  at 
the  carpenter's  bench,  without  the  privilege  of  '  letters ; '  Saul,  a  youth  of  thirteen, 
was  in  hard  training  for  liis  service  in  a  school  of  the  highest  ordei',  and  less  than 
seventy-five  English  miles  from  him.  Day  by  day  the  Carpenter  bent  to  his  work, 
and  pensively  read  his  sacrificial  end  in  the  very  fiber  of  the  M'ood  which  his  edge- 
tools  laid  bare  ;  but  the  young  tent-cloth  maker  was  in  the  lecture-room  at  Jerusa- 
lem, poring  over  the  hero-Messiah  in  the  Hebrew  Parchments,  certain  that  he  was 
near  at  hand,  not  to  build  thrones  as  a  mechanic,  but  to  sit  upon  them  as  a 
monarch. 

The  Jews  liad  but  seven  great  educators,  to  whom  they  gave  the  title  of  Eabban. 
Saul's  tutor  was  of  the  most  liberal  order,  in  broad  contrast  with  Shammai,  of  the 
hard  and  liarsh  school.  No  Eabbi  then  living  was  so  well  qualified  to  form  Saul's 
character;  for  Gamaliel  was  liumane,  tolerant,  high-minded,  and  for  a  Pharisee 
broad,  so  large  that  he  permitted  tlie  use  of  pagan  literature  to  his  pupils.  In  this 
great  school  all  Hebrew  scholarship  was  interwoven  into  Saul's  life.  His  manhood 
tells  us,  that  as  a  boy  he  was  impetuous  and  unselfish,  with  a  strong  will,  a  vigorous 
intellect,  and  of  deep  emotion.  From  these  would  spring  felicity  of  manners,  lofty 
aspirations,  rigid  simplicity  of  habit  and  firmness  of  opinion  ;  the  very  qualities 
which  make  the  best  and  worst  of  men,  according  to  the  motives  which  control  them. 
He  was  devoted  to  pure  ethics  and  religious  ideals,  but  the  Kabbinical  process  of 
interpretation  surfeited  his  spirit  with  an  ulti-a  scrupulosity  for  the  letter  of  Script- 
ure, in  fact,  made  him  a  thorough  Talmudist.  No  man  could  walk  easily  in  the  web 
which  those  teachings  spread  for  his  feet.  They  split  up  the  commands  and  pro- 
hibitions of  Moses  into  613  separate  enactments ;  putting  casuistry  for  conscience, 
and  a  petty,  hair-siilitting  piety  for  honest  obedience  to  God.     They  made  men  do 


PHARISAIC  SCRUPLES.  SS 

iiiuro  tli;ui  God  reijuired,  l»y  turning  a  short  corner  on  the  enactment,  althoujrli  tliey 
cheated  it  by  failing  tn  do  half  of  what  it  demanded.  In  all  acts  of  microscopic 
piety  the  sieve  was  so  line  that  the  tiniest  gnat  on  the  wing  was  caught  and  held 
lirmly  ;  init  in  j^ravcr  mattei-s,  like  mercy,  justice  and  truth,  its  meshes  passed  a 
camel  without  toucliini;-  hump  or  hoof.  Tallies,  plates,  pots,  cups  and  ceremonial 
vessels  of  all  sorts,  were  rinsed,  scoured  and  scrubbed  to  thinness.  When  a  Sad- 
ducee  saw  a  Pharisee  in  a  heavy  sweat  while  rubbing  the  golden  lamp-stand  in  the 
Temple,  he  solemnly  suggested  that  the  sun  might  bear  a  scouring  now  and  then. 
When  a  few  widows'  houses  were  to  be  devoured,  pious  greed  filled  its  maw  with 
serene  composure ;  but  if  an  unfortunate  hen  laid  an  egg  on  the  Sabbath,  that  raised 
the  serious  gastroiioniic  ijnc>tioii  whether  oi-  not  it  could  be  eaten,  on  which  point 
Ilillel  an<l  Shammai  came  to  lieavy  Pickwickian  blows.  Whether  Partlet  had 
broken  the  Sablmth  was  a  dispute  which  could  not  so  easily  be  settled;  but  the 
demand  that  a  man  let  his  light  shine  was  easily  met ;  for  a  serio-comic  Pharisee 
would  at  once  don  his  robes,  carefully  ai'range  its  fringes  and  tassels,  and  make  a 
long  prayer  at  the  street-corner,  and  so  one  street  was  all  ablaze  with  piety  at  any 
rate,  if  the  rest  of  the  city  were  left  in  midnight  gloom. 

It  was  needful  that  Saul  should  be  thoroughly  vei-scd  in  all  the  ti-itiing  ques- 
tions of  this  sort,  that  he  might  perfectly  nnderstand  the  Jewish  piety  of  his  day, 
and  how  to  deal  with  its  empty  claims ;  his  summary  disposal  of  them  afterward 
indicates  his  early  training  therein,  and  his  power  in  enforcing  their  opposites. 
Hard  study  of  this  traditional  literature  exposed  to  him  its  whole  inner  life  and 
legal  hardness.  Free  from  the  sensual,  for  a  time  he  was  stubbornly  wedded  to  a 
narrow  formalism,  which  made  him  a  daring  zealot  for  every  jot  of  Pharisaic  pre- 
cision, even  to  intolerance.  After  he  left  the  school  of  Gamaliel,  we  first  meet  him, 
a  '  young  man '  possibly  of  thirty,  standing  relentlessly  over  the  mangled  body  of 
Stephen.  His  keen,  far-reaching  eye  saw  that  unless  the  Nazarene  heresy  were 
crushed  at  once,  it  must  be  fatal  to  the  ancient  faith,  and  his  zeal  to  crush  it  kept 
pace  with  his  quick  intellectual  caliber.  He  determined  to  lead  in  this  crusade,  a 
fanatic  as  to  the  tradition  of  liis  fathers,  and  obtained  letters  of  authority  from  The- 
ophilus,  the  High-Priest,  and  chief  of  the  Sanhedrin  ;  search-warrants  legalizing  his 
frosty  exasperation  to  leave  no  home  safe  against  his  sharp  inquisition.  Hearing 
that  Christ's  disciples  had  gathered  a  flock  in  Damascus,  he  caught  new  fire  and 
flew  to  their  slaughter.  That  city  was  1-iO  miles  north-east  of  Jerusalem,  a  five-or- 
six-days'  journey,  but  he  determined  to  drag  men  and  women  that  weary  distance  to 
punish  them.  Had  his  power  equaled  his  hate,  his  hot  breath  had  flashed  like 
lightning  to  slay  every  Christian  in  the  great  Syrian  city.  But  to  reach  this  cage 
of  unclean  birds,  he  must  speed  his  way  across  the  Jordan,  over  the  hills  of  Bashan, 
through  the  burning  lands  of  Itursea,  and  past  the  brow  of  Ilermon.  He  seems 
never  to  have  met  Jesus  in  his  Jerusalem  ministry,  yet  he  had  often  trodden  in  his 
foot-prints,  in  walking  its  streets,  climbing  the  Temple  hill,  or  passing  its  gates. 


aOTNd    TO  VAMASCrS. 


wli 


.Ic'sns  liail  tal<eii  wlieii  lie  came  from  Naz- 
rricliu.  aiHl  .111  to  r.etlialara,  wliciv  Jnlui  baptized. 
p  til  Mile  (ialilee,  where  Jesus  trod  the  wave,  opened 
stnppi-il  deaf  ears,  as  adder-like  as  Saul's. 


Now,  he  swept  tlie  same 
areth,  passing  IJethel  to 
Theneo  lie  forced  his  wa,; 
tlie  eyes  of  the  lilind,  and 

Onward  he  pressed,  league  after  league,  over  ground  which  the  sandals  of  our 
Lord  had  iiiailc  holy.  On  his  right  Gilead  loomed  up  in  majesty,  on  his  left  Tabor 
and  llerinoii,  but  lie  saw  no  glory  of  Transfiguration.  He  saw  not  a  foot-mark  of 
the  Land  I  of  (o.jd  in  the  way,  and  heard  no  lingering  echoes  of  his  voice  amongst 
the  cedars  and  spurs  of  Lebanon.  As  he  crossed  the  limped  Pharpar  and  readied 
those  plains  of  Paradise  watered  by  many  tViiintaiMs  and  the  golden  Abaiia,  a  world 
of  beauty  and  bloom  thirty  miles   long,   oli\e-yards  and  \ineyards,  lacli  fields  and  fig- 


oichaids  stietehcd  btfoie  him  Evei}  hue  of  byiun  sunshine  was  reflected  from 
then  gloss}  foliige  md  fiuit  The  gnpe  hung  in  festoons,  the  apricot  bent  the 
tree,  the  peach  and  pomegranate,  the  prune  and  walnut  adorned  every  rod.  They 
rose  and  fell  in  turn  over  plain  and  declivity,  but  neither  to  tempt  his  appetite  nor 
to  quench  his  thirst.  He  heard  nothing  but  the  rautterings  of  death  in  the  leaves 
of  the  trees,  and  thirsted  only  for  a  stronger  cup,  the  wine  of  which  was  red,  drawn 
from  the  veins  of  saints,  till  its  fumes  should  make  him  drunk  and  reel.  And  what 
was  it  to  him  that  the  distant  domes  and  towers  spoke  of  the  ancient  city  and  its 
founder,  the  grandson  of  Slieni  ;  what  that  it  was  a  way-mark  to  Abraham  on  the 
road  to  Canaan,  1,900  years  bade  ;  or  that  Elisha  broke  into  tears  before  its  walls  for 
the  woes  brought  upon  Israel  by  Hazael,  in  slaying  men  and  women  in  cold  blood 
there,  as  Saul  himself  would  do?  AVhat  cared  he  that  David  had  captured  Damas- 
cus for  Judea  1,000  years  ago  i     lie  was  not  seeking  the  relics  of  antiquity,  but  the 


:MITIE.\    Tt 


THE 


;noixn. 


87 


divii; 
int;-  .• 
liigli. 
eneii 

KiltL" 


piilsr  rhatli, 

_V   (Juivi'lTll    ' 
,■...„,  just   Wh, 


jiHt  l)C"i:-uii  to  hu:it  ill  the  iu'\v-li(irii  Syrian  Clnireli.  Tlie  glar- 
tii  iiioltfii  licat ;  but  liis  liery  spirit  made  it  hotter.  It  was 
iiis  victims  wore  at  midday  prayers,  imploring  mercy  on  tlieir 
d  zealot  liad  i^^w  far  enoiiH-Ji.  A  word  from  Christ  threw  tlie 
,  and  the  sun  in  tlie  tirinanicnt  turned  pale.  The  Friend  of 
Stephen  had  j)atieiitly  watched  the  splendid  fanatic,  and  stepped  from  his  throne  to 
forbid  his  trampling  one  saint  under  foot  in  that  Gentile  city.  Jerusalem  had 
stained  its  hoary  old  ashes  with  the  blood  of  the  Man  of  Sorrows  and  his  servant 
Stephen,  and  not  one  drop  should  stain  the  streets  of  Daniiiseus  that  day,  to  rot) 
the  Holy  City  of  its  gory  notoriety. 

Wiien  the  shower  of  stones  fell  upon  Stephen,  Jesus  felt  the  pangs,  and  now 
the  voice  of  doulile  tenderness  demanded  :  'Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  me?' 
Stephen's  Saviour  told  Saul  that  he  was  'apprehended,'  made  a  prisoner  of  love, 
and  that  it  was  tlu,"  pni't  of  an  infuriated  ox  to  resist  and  drive  the  goads  deeper 
into  his  own  tiesh.  Thus  fettered  and  stricken  blind,  Saul  fell  to  the  ground,  pray- 
ing :  ■  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  T  For  the  lirst  time  the  guilt  of  his  old 
life  burst  upon  him,  and  he  saw 
himself  the  '  chief  of  sinners.' 
Blind  t,.  outsid,.  life,  he  looked 
within  now,  wheiX'  an  unseen 
world  burst  upon  his  ('(Jiiseious- 
ness.  When  the  Kisen  One 
stood  before  him  in  the  path  of 
vision,  and  called  himself  '  Je- 
sus,' a  holy  fear  crept  over  his 
flesh  and  spirit,  a  touch  of  new 
life  changed  the  universe  to 
him.  He  asked  not  wliat  his 
comi)anions  in  crime  woulil  say, 
—  whether  the  authorities  at 
Jerusalem  would  wreak  their 
vengeance  upon  him  for  his 
breach  of  faith  as  an  apostate, — but  only  what  the  hated  Xazarcne  wished  him  to 
do !  In  a  moment,  his  violence  is  softened  into  inquiry,  his  fanaticism  into  sub- 
mission, his  tyranny  into  manliness.  In  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  he  becomes  a 
prodigy  of  saving  grace  ;  a  brother  of  all  mankind  emerges  from  the  ringleader  of 
persecutors,  a  thirteenth  Apostle  comes  to  the  birth:  '  Born  out  of  due  time.' 


POOL  FOR  RELIGIOUS  ABLUTION — GOLDEN  TEMP 


CHAPTER   VII. 

PAUL    AND    GENTILE     MISSIONS. 

SAUL'S  cavalcade  is  dispersed  and  lie  is  k'd  stricken  and  helpless,  that  his 
head  may  weep  in  a  dark  place  while  his  eyes  are  sealed.  Did  ever  man 
question  his  crest-fallen  soul  like  this  man,  in  the  home  of  Ananias?  The  talk 
that  he  hears  is  all  new,  and  the  strange  hymns  which  float  nnder  its  roof  awaken 
hidden  thoughts  in  the  secret  chambers  of  his  spirit.  The  iliseii>]es  who  waited 
for  his  prisons  and  chains,  hear  that  he  is  the  Mind  suljject  of  Christian  lios- 
pitality.  Yesterday  he  fell  before  the  gate  a  ruined  sinner,  but  rose  a  consecrated 
saint — fell  a  butcher  of  the  saints,  rose  a  champion  Apostle.  Yesterday  morning  he 
was  a  vulture  sailing  over  the  prey  on  which  he  gloated ;  to-day,  he  is  a  gentle  dove 
covered  with  silver,  and  feathers  of  yellow  gold.  Outside  the  gate,  he  was  a  prowl- 
ing wolf  ;  in  the  home  of  Ananias,  a  trembling  lamb  ;  for  the  slayer  of  women  came 
out  of  the  baptistery  with  his  heart  breaking  for  all  human  woe. 

After  three  days,  news  ran  through  the  city  that  he  was  at  the  synagogue. 
Why  was  he  there  ?  Let  us  see.  It  is  thronged,  and  crowds  gather  at  its  doors. 
Floods  of  eloquent  truth  flow  from  a  strange  voice,  and  sound  out  a  strange  Name 
in  the  holy  oratory  of  the  synagogue.  This  reasoning  is  not  after  the  dialectics  of 
Gamaliel,  it  is  like  Stephen's,  as  clear,  as  warm,  as  conclusive.  The  old  apology  of 
that  martyr  haunts  him  ;  Saul  is  wielding  Stephen's  old  logic  with  mighty  power. 
He  dares  to  say,  that  the  Crucified  is  the  Son  of  God !  Perhaps  his  mind's  eye 
sees  the  face  of  the  martyr  shining  like  the  face  of  an  angel  in  the  heaven  of 
heavens.  Or  does  the  ghost  of  the  murdered  man  make  his  penitence  eloquent  ? 
No  matter.  The  synagogue  rocks  with  excitement.  In  the  first  stupor  of  suqjrise, 
the  Jews  ask  :  '  Is  not  this  he  who  destroyed  the  Galileans  ?  This  is  not  the  fierce 
man  of  Tarsus.  He  could  not  fi'ame  such  thoughts,  would  not  talk  so  wildly.'  Yet, 
he  grows  warmer,  bolder,  broader.  He  cites  the  Sacred  Rolls  from  Genesis  to  Mal- 
achi  to  prove  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ.  Blank  astonishment  seizes  the  Jews ;  they 
gather  in  knots  to  consult,  and  are  half-pai'alyzed.  Their  surprise  gives  place  to  in- 
dignation. Why  do  they  not  drag  him  forth,  cast  him  out,  put  him  to  death  ?  But 
he  moves  on  and  on  like  a  torrent,  clearer  and  stronger  than  ever ;  until  he  comes 
to  tell  of  his  own  rescue  from  perdition.  As  he  gives  his  story,  new  and  holy 
fire  makes  him  tremble  from  head  to  foot  in  the  realities  of  one  who  is  saved, 
when  he  cries  to  the  surging  crowd :  '  I  was  a  blasphemer,  and  a  persecutor,  and 
overbearing;   l)Ut  I  obtained   mercy,  that  in  me  first  Jesus  Christ  might  show  forth 


ms  ARABIAN  SECLUSION.  89 

iill  loiiy-suffcriiiir.  tor  :i  p:itttTii  to  them  who  shall  hereafter  helieve  on  him  to  life 
everliisting.' 

The  aceouiit  which  iie  writes  of  his  early  Christian  Hfe,  in  his  Epistle  to  the 
Galatians,  shows  that  he  now  spent  three  years  in  Arabia ;  which,  by  Jewish  reckon- 
ing, might  mean  one  whole  year  with  a  part  of  two  others.  A  veil  is  thrown  over 
this  Arabian  visit.  Whether  the  name  designates  the  peninsula  of  Sinai,  bounded 
by  Egy])t  and  the  upper  part  of  the  Ked  Sea,  or  the  desert  north  of  thi.s,  or  the 
desert  of  Petraea  or  all  these  togethei',  is  not  known.  Most  likely  the  word  '  Arabia ' 
has  a  somewhat  local  meaning,  which  covers  Sinai  and  the  regions  adjacent.  Ara- 
bian Jews  had  heard  the  C4ospeI  from  Peter  at  Pentecost,  and,  possibly,  having  been 
converted,  had  returned  to  their  own  country.  The  original  inhabitants  of  these 
wild  districts  were  descendants  of  Ishmael,  whose  religion  degenerated  into  a  sort 
of  fetich  idolatry,  and  amongst  these  Arabs,  Saul  was  to  outgrow  his  cold  bigotry 
and  narrow  traditions  into  a  broad  messenger  of  grace  to  all  orders  of  Gentiles. 
He  tells  us,  that  in  going  there  he  neither  consulted  his  own  inclin;itions  nor  the 
wishes  of  others,  but  cheerfully  took  the  burden  laid  upon  him  by  Christ.  This 
was  the  great  crisis  of  his  life,  and  he  must  be  severed  from  all  controlling  human 
influences  until  he  passed  it  safely.  At  the  birthplace  of  the  Old  Covenant,  whicli 
burned  with  fire,  he  must  study  the  ministry  of  death,  that  he  might  better  preach 
the  life  of  the  New  Covenant.  Up  to  this  point  in  his  history,  his  great  strength 
lay  in  the  fact,  that  he  owned  himself  without  reserve,  for  in  his  intense  hate  his 
imperious  will  had  been  the  regnant  center  of  his  being.  In  Arabia  he  must  put 
himself  entirely  under  the  will  of  another.  As  a  strong  man,  he  held  the  new  truth 
without  wavering,  free  from  those  petty  suspicions  which  torment  the  weak.  For 
him  to  take  liberties  with  the  truth  would  be  disloyalty,  but  thorough  exploration 
of  all  its  parts  would  give  its  whole  em]>ii'e  a  unity,  which  must  correct  his  distor- 
tions of  the  moral  law,  and  tutor  him  for  the  invincible  preaching  of  the  Gospel. 
In  this  way  he  could  perfect  his  character,  and  prepare  for  action  on  a  large  scale ; 
being  first  a  debtor  to  the  Jew  and  the  Greek,  the  polished  and  the  barbarian.  But 
in  order  to  repay  the  whole  race,  he  must  go  first  to  Arabia. 

Had  he  gone  back  to  Jerusalem  to  consult  with  the  elder  Apostles,  their  pi'c jndices 
against  taking  the  Gospel  to  the  Gentiles  might  have  chilled  him,  or  it  might  appear 
that  he  had  received  authority  from  them.  But  Jesus  kept  him  apart  b}'  sending 
him  to  those  solitary  granite  mountains  where  Moses,  the  head  of  the  law,  and  Elijah, 
the  head  of  the  prophets,  were  educated  for  their  work,  and  where  isolation  brought 
him  under  the  absolute  dictation  of  his  Lord.  For  three  years  Christ  had  instructed 
the  Twelve  personally,  and  Saul,  the  new  Apostle,  must  go  for  the  same  length  of 
time,  to  these  crags,  cliffs  and  wastes,  for  schooling  around  the  frowning  mount, 
under  Christ's  exclusive  teaching.  He  hail  now  rejected  his  former  interpretation 
of  Moses,  iind  so  at  Sinai  he  must  learn  :inew  what  the  Lawgiver  meant,  as  quoted  by 
Stephen  :  'A  Prophet  will  God  raise  uj)  to  you,  him  shall  ye  hear.'     He  could  better 


no  HACK  yo  7).\.]fAsrus. 

Ifuni  this  oil  the  liolv  -niiiiid  which  Ii.'kI  .|iki1cc(1  in  hliirkness  and  tempest.  Saul 
should  study  tlm  (id.^j.cl  whci-c  the  Law  wa^  ^ivrn,  and  ohtain  full  knowledge  of  the 
blood  of  s])l•inkiill^■  whciT  (idd  liad  drdaincil  that  there  can  l)e  no  remission  of  sin 
witJiont  hI,.ud-.-hc(ldin-.  Wlicn  I'ahnr.l,  in>trnctcd,  and  strengthened  under  the 
sliadc  (if  Sinai,  he  would  he  ready  to  ascend  Calvary.  The  trumpet  resounding 
an.nnd  tlic  Ic-ai  iiK.nnt,  .sh.MiId  teach  liini  Im.w  to  press  another  tniniiiet  to  his  lips 
and  ],n,<-hiini  the  vuice  ..f  other  w..nl>,  with  a  self-c,mscions  joy  whi<-li  sliould  e.xidt 
ill  the  cry:  'Thanks  he  to  ({od  wlio  makes  us  to  ti'innipli  in  every  place; 

At  the  end  of  his  Arabian  life  he  returned  to  Damascus,  wheiv  he  was  assailed 
by  his  foes,  who  were  maddened  against  him;  and  he  lied  for  safety  to  Jerusalem. 
His  preaching  forced  the  Jews  to  re-examine  their  own  faitli.  and  they  plotted 
his  assassination  at  the  opening  of  his  Apostolic  career.  His  C'liristian  brethren 
kept  him  secret  until  night,  and  when  the  streets  and  walls  of  the  city  were  tinder 
close  guard,  they  let  him  down  in  a  net,  or  rope-basket,  from  a  window  in  the  wall, 
opening  into  a  house  inside  the  city.  Stealing  from  the  eyes  vf  men  whom  he  fain 
would  bless,  for  the  first  time  the  world's  Apostle  fled  for  liis  life.  "When  lowered 
into  the  outer  darkness,  as  into  a  well,  he  grasped  the  n^ie,  but  lie  coidd  hear  his 
own  heart  beat;  and  what  thoughts  trooped  through  his  soul  at  that  sad  moment! 
lie  came  to  that  city  to  lash  by  the  wrists  Christ's  disciples  in  gangs,  and  now  tied  to 
a  rope  for  his  own  deliverance,  that  he  might  preach  that  Christ  to  all.  Then,  he 
would  cage  all  the  saints  in  jirison,  to  kill  them  ;  but  now,  how  gladly  he  cramps  liim- 

jH-esents  him  to  us  as  'a  wild  bull  caught  in  a  net'  at  last;  and,  possilily,  the  hands 
that  drop  him  to  the  ground  are  those  which  he  intended  to  enchain.  He  groped  his 
way  through  the  dark,  with  only  a  star  here  and  there  to  shed  a  ray  on  his  path,  as  if 
poetic  justice  reminded  him  by  contrast  of  his  noon-tide  persecution.  He  trod  upon 
liis  own  dark  plots  at  every  step,  and  no  chapter  in  his  history  would  so  stir  our  hearts 
as  the  record  of  his  thoughts  when  he  repassed  the  spot  where  Christ  smote  him  to 
the  earth.  Did  he  look  into  the  heavens  now  to  see  them  re-open  ?  O  !  what 
would  he  have  given  then  for  one  more  glimpse  of  the  Son  of  maul  And  how 
wakeful  was  the  car  of  his  heart,  to  catch  one  whisper  of  his  voice.  He  tells  us 
himself  (Gal.  i,  18)  that  he  desired  to  see  Peter.  For  what!'  He  has  concealed 
his  heart  musings.  But  for  once,  he  wanted  to  look  the  honest  boatman  in  the 
face;  to  catch  the  wondrous  story  of  redemption  from  a  fresh  memory  anil  a  full 
lieart.  His  soul-musings  must  have  been  wonderful  as  he  made  his  way  bac]< 
through  Palestine.  On  reaching  'The  Place  of  Stoning,'  hard  by  the  Damascus 
gate  of  Jerusalem,  where  he  first  breathed  out  threatening  and  slaughter,  wliat  were 
his  thoughts  ?  Did  he  pick  up  a  stone  there,  to  see  if  it  still  bore  the  stain  of 
Stephen's  blood?  Did  he  bury  his  face  in  his  'cloak'  and  sob,  where  he  had 
watched  tlie  clothes  of  those  who  stoned  Stephen  ?     That  had  been  Paul-like. 

Saul  came  liack  to  the  Holy  City  another  man.     He  longed   to  nestle   in  the 


\n  yrrsaivixG: 


w;iriii  love  of  tlio.se  wlioin  he  luul  hated,  and  sought  to  joui  them.  Three  years  had 
proved  his  conversion  thorough,  and  he  made  not  for  the  home  of  his  old  tutor,  nor 
did  lie  seek  for  Onkelos,  the  coming  author  of  the  Targum,  who  had  sat  at  his  side 
in  the  great  school  as  Gamaliel's  pupil.  Ihit  he  went  directly  U>  the  disciples  of 
The  Jews  had  once  reposed  contiiU'iice  in  Idni  and   iironiised  him  a  l)rilliant 


!!- 


.^  ^  s 


>%.. 


A 


future,  now  they  had  tunu'd  their  liacks  u])iin  him.  and  he  met  a  cold  reception 
amongst  the  Christians.  Tliey  susjjeeted  him.  j.,uke  says :  '  All  were  afraid  of 
him,  not  helieving  that  he  was  a  disciple.'  lie  had  been  so  furious  against  them  that 
his  name  was  odious,  and  they  feared  to  be  entrapped  in  some  horrible  plot.  In  this 
atmosphere  of  distrust,  the  delicate  love  and  heroic  courage  of  that  choice  spirit, 
Barnabas,  took  him  by  the  hand,  led  iiim  to  the  Apostles,  and  told  them  all  the 
particulars  of  his  conversion.     They  saw  tliat  his  vision  was  no  creation  of  his  brain. 


92  TIIK   FinST   GKNTTLE   riWUril. 

and  tliat  the  words  of  .Icsns  tu  liim  were  no  note  of  bis  iiaagiiiatinu,  l)ut  tliat  in  truth 
he  had  become  a  follower  of  .lc.-.u>.  llarnnhus  silenced  the  feai's  of  the  bretijren,  and 
Saul  was  welcomed  by  Tetur  and  Janie^,  our  Lord's  brother,  whom  he  now  met  for 
the  first  time.  The  new  Apostle  began  at  once  to  build  u)i  the  faith  where  he  had 
sought  its  destruction,  until  the  Grecian  Jews  threateneil  his  life  This  latter  fact 
sImiws  1i,,\v  thoroughly  his  three  years'  study  uf  Christian  truth  had  subonjinated  his 
-lewish  attaimnents  to  the  serviee  of  Christ.  Saul  had  never  met  the  S,,n  of  Mary 
in  the  metropolis,  but  their  eyes  had  looked  upon  the  same  men,  and  now  their  feet 
had  passed  the  same  streets  on  the  same  errand  of  love,  and  tlii-ir  hearts  had  become 
the  treasury  of  the  same  truths. 

Saul  remained  in  Jerusalem  only  fifteen  days  (Gal.  i,  19) ;  and  then  his  l)i'cthren 
saved  his  life  a  second  time,  by  sending  him  to  Tarsus,  where,  most  likely,  he  estab- 
lished the  churches  in  Cilicia.  Meanwhile,  persecution  had  driven  certain  disciples 
to  Antioch,  which  was  now  to  become  a  great  center  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel, 
to  which  work  the  Apostle  should  devote  the  best  thirty  years  of  his  life.  For 
this  work  Christ  had  educated  this  great  workman.  Eighty  years  were  spent  by 
Moses  in  his  education,  tbrty  in  the  academies  of  Egypt,  and  forty  in  the  desert  of 
Horeb,  for  a  third  forty  years'  work,  in  making  a  nation  from  a  mob  of  slaves. 
Jesus  spent  thirty  years  in  preparing  for  the  work  of  three,  and  it  was  meet  that 
his  greatest  Apostle  should  spend  the  same  length  of  time  in  preparing  to  lead 
the  Gentile  world  to  the  foot  of  his  cross.  Some  of  the  disciples  who  first  visited 
Antioch  were  fi-om  the  Island  of  Cyprus,  the  very  hot-bed  of  worship  offered  to 
Venus ;  others  were  of  Cyrene,  a  Greek  city  on  the  African  coast  between  Carthage 
and  Egypt.  These  first  preached  to  the  Jews  in  Antioch,  then  turned  to  the 
Gentiles  and  a  great  number  believed.  Acts  xi,  21.  Here  the  first  battle  for 
Christ  with  unmixed  paganism  was  waged,  and  the  first  purely  Gentile  Church  was 
formed  entirely  outside  of  all  Judaizing  influences.  This  event  shaped  the  future  of 
Christianity,  proving  that  '  The  field  is  the  world.'  It  is  remarkable  that  this  Church 
was  founded  without  the  aid  of  an  Apostle,  by  converted  Hellenist  Jews,  who  had 
not  heard  the  parable  of  the  sower  ;  for  Barnabas  and  another  Cypriot  convert  had 
built  up  this  first  Gentile  Church  in  the  great  Syrian  capital.  These  very  irregular 
and  disorderly  proceedings  amongst  the  primitive  Baptists  have  greatly  shocked 
certain  prelatical  parties.  But  they  must  bear  up  under  the  affliction  in  some  way, 
for  at  last  it  will  certainly  appear  that  a  simple,  immersed  Evangelist,  confirmed  the 
first  Church  ever  called  '  Christian.'  Nay,  so  great  was  the  ingathering  that  Bar- 
nabas was  compelled  to  go  from  Antioch  to  Tarsus,  in  search  of  Saul  to  help  him  in 
the  great  harvest-field.  Antioch  was  all  inquiry ;  and  the  broad  nature  of  Barnabas 
saw  that  the  issue  must  be  met  by  a  man  of  wide  conceptions,  earnest  convictions,  and 
liberal  sympathies ;  a  man  with  full  knowledge  of  human  nature,  cool,  courageous, 
cosmopolitan ;  dead,  as  far  as  possible,  to  crude  and  timid  preferences  for  race  and 
nationalit}- ;  who,  in  earnest  and  \\itliout  doubt,  could  clearly  and  sharply  define  the 


93 


new  faith 


IlenceJiepasKMl 
ill  briniriii::'  the  r;i 


ill  the 
il   vuui 


Ta 


'■  "^'1' 
tu  be 


the  Lord's  Gen- 


tile 


A I 


och  had  a  population  of  about  500,o0(l,  being  inferior  only  to  Rome  and 
Alexandria.  lUit,  as  the  third  city  in  the  empire  it  vied  with  these  in  magnificence, 
state,  luxury,  wealth,  art  and  brilliant  culture,  being  called  the  '  Queen  of  the  East.' 
Yet,  it  was  the  home  of  every  thing  vile.  Kenan,  the  skeptic,  names  it,  '  The  cap- 
ital of  all  lies,  and  the  sink  of  every  description  of  infamy.'  It  knew  nothing  of 
truth  or  purity,  it  was  unbridled  in  its  debaucheries,  atheistic  in  its  philosophy,  and 
vulgar  in  its  pleasures  and  worship.  Tts  wit  was  sharp  and  its  squibs  scurrilous, 
which  accounts  for  the  derisive  nickname  coined  there,  "fMiristians  ;'  and  the  sights 


perpetrated  at  its  shrines  were  ribald,  nay,  shocking  beyond  degree.  This  was  the 
battle-field  chosen  by  Jesus  for  the  first  real  clash  of  arms  between  Ids  Gospel  and 
the  Gentile  gods,  and  Saul  was  hio  chosen  missionary.  However  small  the  com- 
pany of  disciples  within  its  walls  at  this  time,  M-ith  this  Apostle  as  their  leader, 
Antioch  soon  planted  all  the  Asiatic  churches,  and  became  the  world's  pulpit  for 
the  cross.  '  Even  then  it  gave  promise  of  the  day  when  Ignatius  was  to  pass  its 
gates  to  seal  the  truth  with  his  blood,  in  the  Eoman  amphitheater.  Chrysostom 
was  to  be  born  there,  to  tell  the  story  of  the  risen  King  in  Constantinople  ;  and  there 
100,000  men  were  to  bind  the  sacred  name  of  derision  to  their  hearts ;  and  above 
all,  there  Bible  theology  and  Gospel  songs  were  to  be  framed  for  the  inspiration  of 
our  race.  From  the  day  that  Saul  entered  Antioch,  the  faith  of  Christ  cut  every 
leading-string  which  bound  it  to  Mosaism,  and  this  city  became  the  birth-home  of  a 
pure  Christian  nobility,  into  which  all  bloods  and  races  were  fused,  in  the  name  of 
Jesus.     That  was  a  strange  crv  which  this  embassador  raised  in  Antioch,  when  he 


iVVvMr   raXQl-KSTS. 


called  lier  sati fists  and   \ 

necromancers,  her  liulF 

tinned  in  this  full  fdi-  -a  \ 
...•(•urred  iii.lini.a  in  tin- 
AiitiMchaiid  (.thei 
saleni.  These  •■nntriliutiuii 
this  was  tlie  A|M,stle's  sec 
returned  to  Aniiuch  ;  IVoii: 
Ajiostle's  Fir^t  (ircat  .Mis^ 
WliL-n  ('nhinihus  left 
moral  re>ults  Imn-  in  the 
8aul  left  all  that  was  dea 
the  sea-port  of  Antioch,  U 
the  liver  Orontes.  to  take 
head,  the  ark  n[  the  w. 
l.ec.,nie  the  highway  of  ei' 
they  sailed  ahont  a  hnndre- 
Christ  wroniilitsi-ns  and  \ 


le  chun 

UllS    Wl'l 


lies  f,, 
L'  srlit 


I-  -irlN  to 
nd  a  '.-rL 
.f  {.'landii 
1-  the  relie: 
l,y  the  ha, 


<1  military  men,  her  (juaeks  and 
r.rhold  the  Land,;  IJllt  he  eon- 
t  multitude  belies  ed."  A  famine 
,  and  collections  were  taken  up  in 
(d'  the  Jewish  Christians  at  Jeru- 
Is.d'  I!ai-liahasand  Saul,  A.  D.  45  ; 
ici'sioii,  and  in  the  same  year  he 
ml  John  Mark,  went  forth  on  the 


alan,-e  as  those  whie 
,.  them  in  Antiocli. 
teen  miles  west,  and 
ip  for  the  Island  of 
,1  must  he  launrliL-d 
/ation,  ideas  and  em 
uilcs,  wlum  they  land 
idrrs  l.y  the  (io^prl. 
Mown  theivafter  .mly 
snmrd  t..  r,,nciliate  ( 
le  fn,m   eliildho,,,!,  «■ 


s  with 
hieh  in 
h.     Th 


Th 


Ics  norlh  ,if   tlie  nnmtli  of 

,  for  from  that   blaek-saud 

Mediterranean   liad   now 

IS  WL'U  as  of  commerce;  and 

Salamis.  ,m  the  inland  where 

_■,  the  great  ApostU-  dropped 

ml   or  Paulus.      Some  think 

■  prejudice,  hut  more  likely 

m.,n-st  the  Hebrews  he  had 

the   sacivd   stoi-y  chan-es.  Paul  taking  higher 

abas,  as  at  Antioeli,  but  he  takes  pi-eeedence, 


that  the  Koinan    name  was  ; 

this  had  been  his  Koman  name  fmn 

been  known  as  Saul.     From  that  tii 

rank.     He  is  no  longer  second  to  H; 

and   now  we  read   of  'Paul  and   Barnabas,'   not   oidy   the   order  of  names  being 

reversed,  but  Barnabas  falls  into  the  l)ackground  aiul  Paul  becomes  the  great  tigure 

on  the  glowing  canvas,  by  land  and  sea. 

No  story  could  be  more  enchanting  or  instructi\-e  than  that  of  following  Paul 
through  his  three  great  missionary  tours,  but  this  our  limit>  forbid.  Nothing  in 
history  is  so  enriched,  excepting  the  life  of  Jesus. 
It  is  an  inspired  panorama.  The  account  covers 
so  many  lands,  tongues,  climates  and  civilizations 
that  it  o])ens  the  ancient  world  to  us.  His  various 
methods  of  tra\el,  his  many  companions,  tlie  end- 
less phases  in  which  he  met  every  possible  develop- 
ment of  Judaism  and  paganism,  his  devious  styles 
of  preaching,  his  orders  of  controversy,  the  unfold- 
ings  of  old  truths  and  the  revelation  of  new,  his 
nameless  sufferings  and  successes,  are  themes  preg- 
nant with  importance,  and  everj'  temptation  presses  to  their  full  treatment.  But 
self-denial  imposes  silence  here,  as  well  as  upoTi  his  numerous  Church  organizations, 
especially  those  to  whom  he  addressed  his  wonderful  Epistles,  as  the  Galatians,  the 


ANCIENT   SHIP. 


MALTA. 


riiilippi^uis,  till'  Tlii't^saloiiians,  (lie  Curintliiaus,  tlie  Ephcsiiui.s  and  others;  together 
with  their  eunteiiis  and  the  eirruni.Manees  wliieh  called  them  int..  exi.-teiice.  All 
this,  with  niiieh  mure,  must  he  iimitted,  until  we  meet  him  on  a  eold,  nuirky 
Noveniher  morning,  at  tlie  close  of  his  great  voyage  and  shipwreck.  His  wonderful 
life's  work  was  substantially  done  when  he  stood  shivering  with  that  wretched 
group  of  two  hundred  and  seventy-six  souls,  on  that  tongue  of  land  m.w  known  as 
St.  Paul's  Bay,  on  Malta.  Bruised,  shelterless  and  haggard,  they  stood  near  the 
headland  where  '  two  seas  met,'  in  a  more  significant  sense  than  is  indicated  by  cur- 
rents and  shoals  on  a  dangerous  sea-coast.  There,  while  huddled  together  in  a 
pelting  rain,  and  drenched  in  sea-water,  Paul  and  his  jrirty.  Imnuiy  mid  luMuunbed 


with  cold,  gathered  a  heap  of  l>rnsh  and  made  a  fire.  But  a  chilled  \  ipei  li  ul  been 
unwittingly  thrown  with  the  sticks  into  the  blaze.  Blistered  with  heat,  the  rejitile 
darted  out  in  anger  and  fastened  its  poisonous  fangs  on  Paul's  liand.  He  coolly 
shook  it  off  again  into  the  fire  and  remained  unhurt :  a  fit  type  of  the  victory  which 
awaited  him  at  Rome,  where  God  would  shoi-tly  beat  down  Satan  under  his  feet. 
On  reaching  Puteoli,  in  Italy,  the  news  of  his  arrival  quickly  flew  to  Rome,  a  dis- 
tance of  a  hundred  and  forty  miles  which  he  must  travel  in  chains  over  the  innnortal 
Appian  Way.  And  yet,  no  conqueror  in  triumph,  no  Emperor  in  purple,  had  ever 
passed  over  this  pavement,  on  whom  such  tremendous  results  hung  in  Roman  des- 
tiny. "When  forty  miles  from  Rome  they  came  to  Appii  Forum,  at  the  end  of  tlie 
canal  whieli  i-an  tlirough  the  Pontine  Marshes.  There  they  were  met  and  wel- 
comed by  a  eiimi)any  of  disciples  fi-om  the  Eternal  City.  A  few  miles  fartlier  on, 
a  second  group  of  Itumau   brethren   met  and  greeted  them,  at  the  Three  Tavt'rns, 


96  ROME. 

wlicrc  tlic  road  from  Aetiuin  came  into  the  main  road,  and  wliere  iiuiltitudes  of 
travelers  met. 

When  the  AjH.stle  siw  that  he  had  a  home  in  the  hearts  of  so  many  whom  lie 
had  never  hefore  seen  in  tiie  tlesli,  lie  '  thanke.l  (iod  and  to,,k  conra-e.'  Tiie 
thoii-ht  that  he  must  enter  Rome,  a  mass  of  two  iniliions  of  ]ico],lr  from  all  lands, 

•  •oiiipanionahle  soul  with  a  sense  of  that  miutterahle  loneliness  whieh  is  never  so 
deeply  felt  as  in  a  crowd.  But  when  the  great  city  l)nrst  upon  his  sight  from  tlie 
Alban  Hills,  and  he  foimd  a  hand  of  faithful,  redeemed  souls   ,,n   his  right  and  on 


his  left,  the  old  JliusiIliu  Plulippian  Ejihesian  tire  glowed  anew  in  his  brave  spirit, 
and  m  i  moment  he  \\as  stiong  to  preach  the  Gospel  at  Eome  also.  Thus,  in  tiie 
month  of  Marcli,  in  the  seventh  year  of  Nero's  reign,  and  the  sixty-second  of  that 
Christ,  whose  he  was  and  whom  he  served,  the  immortal  tent-maker  passed  tlirough 
the  Carpenian  Gate,  to  save  the  Eternal  City. 

That  day  Julius  delivered  his  precious  charge  to  Burrus  Afranius,  the  Prefect 
of  tlie  Praetorian  Guard,  a  humane  and  lionest  officer,  who  made  his  report  to  the 
imperial  court.  The  illustrious  prisoner,  however,  was  permitted  to  dwell  by 
himself  in  his  own  hired  house,  within  the  limits  of  the  Prsetorian  quarter,  still 
linked  to  his  guard  by  his  humiliating  chain.  He  had  been  in  Eome  but  three  days 
when  he  sought  a  conference  with  the  principal  officers  of  the  seven  synagogues 


TWO  ncsy  vhWRS.  in 

tlierc,  l)eforc  wliuiu  lie  tlesirctl  tu  I;i_y  his  case  fur  coiisultatiuii.  Tliey  assured  linn 
that  they  had  received  no  communication  concerniug  him  from  Jerusalem,  althougli 
they  knew  that  his  sect  was  in  bad  repute  every  where.  Yet,  they  assembled  on  an 
appointed  day  to  hear  him  expound  its  doctrines  in  his  uwn  lodgings :  a  practice  which 
he  continued  for  two  whole  years,  for  the  beiietir  of  ail  who  wished  to  hear  him. 
It  is  clear  also,  from  his  Epistles  of  the  Imprisonment,  that  he  met  with  much  suc- 
cess in  preaching  the  Gospel  in  Rome  ;  some  of  his  converts  being  found  in  Cassar's 
household.  It  is  not  now  easy  to  determine  the  exact  district  to  which  his  person  was 
limited,  as  the  Praetorian  camp  was  outside  the  walls,  at  some  distance  short  of  the 
Fourth  Mile-stoue.  The  Praetorium  was  the  head-quarters  of  the  Roman  military 
governor,  and  the  camp  so  called  at  Rome,  was  created  by  Tiberius,  before  whose 
time  the  troops  were  lodged  in  different  parts  of  the  city. 

The  direct  Scripture  narrative  concerning  Paul's  career  closes  with  his  arrival 
at  Rome,  and  the  statement  that  he  remained  there  'two  years.'  TJiit  tiie  various 
allusions  and  references  made  in  his  Epistles  of  the  Imprisonment  indicate  that  he 
was  released  A.  D.  tJ3-G-i,  and  that  after  this  he  traveled  through  Asia  Minor,  Crete, 
Macedonia,  Greece;  and  many  think  that  he  visited  Spain,  and  some,  tliat  he  plaiited 
Christianity  in  Britain.  The  fair  inference  is,  that  he  returned  to  Roiiu^  voluntarily, 
as  we  have  no  hint  of  the  time  and  place  of  his  arrest,  nor  of  any  charge  against 
him.  That  he  finally  endured  martyrdom  there  is  clear;  some  think  as  early  as 
A.  D.  Gi,  while  others  put  the  date  as  late  as  A.  D.  68.  "When  a  prisoner,  he  was 
comforted  by  the  presence  of  Luke,  Timothy,  Aristarchus  of  Thessalonica,  and 
Epaphras,  a  Colossian  ;  also  by  Mark,  the  cousin  of  Barnabas,  and  Tychicus,  of  Asia. 
It  is  difficult  to  account  for  the  long  delay  of  his  first  hearing  before  the  Emperor. 
But  these  two  years  were  not  lost ;  as  he  expresses  it,  they  turned  out  '  for  the 
furtherance  of  the  Gospel.'  The  charges  sent  by  Festus  were,  most  likely,  lost  in 
the  shipwreck  ;  and  if  so,  much  time  would  be  consumed  in  waiting  for  a  duplicate 
copy  from  Cfesarea.  The  slowness  of  his  accusers  to  appear  against  him,  because  of 
the  known  weakness  of  their  case,  was  disheartening  to  him,  as  well  as  the  long 
delays  in  the  course  of  Roman  law  at  its  fastest  pace;  meanwhile,  false  brethren 
were  studiously  adding  affliction  to  his  bonds,  by  persecuting  his  converts,  and  he 
was  betrayed  by  some  of  his  friends. 

We  may  as  well  dismiss  the  legend  of  horrors  in  tlie  Mamcrtine  Prison,  as 
one  of  those  fictions  which  will  not  bear  the  liglit  of  history.  His  sufferings  sank 
deeper  than  the  shudderings  of  the  body  in  a  dark  and  wet  dungeon,  whose  walls 
were  great  blocks  of  tufa  anchored  together  by  clamps  of  iron,  and  where  every 
limb  was  chilled  for  want  of  his  '  cloak.'  We  know  that  he  was  sick  in  person,  and 
that  he  was  ill-treated  by  Tigellinus,  the  wretch  who  followed  Burrus,  as  Chief 
Praetorian  Prefect.  How  many  sighs  he  heaved  in  secret  before  God  we  never 
can  know,  till  we  read  the  stains  on  the  immortal  |)age  which  Jehovah  keeps.  But 
no  voice  in  history  brings  down  to  us  tuch  a  touch  of  iiielanelioly  as  we  hear  in  the 
8  "  " 


•l.a.npiMU 

u'  gives  us   gliii 
(.f  the  truth. 

iipses  of 
Fetters 

t^  ^llu:ltl, 

,  gk'niiis  before  1 

liiin,  and 

llis     |)t_'II 

liii>y  tor   Christ. 

In  an 

oud.  tliu 

u   when   iu   full 

lilx-rtv. 

98  wiiiT/.ra  riiK  sAcni-:i)  hooks. 

cry:  '  At  iny  first  auswei' no  man  stood  witli  me,  Imt  all  men  forsook  me.'  Some 
think  that  while  a  prisoner  he  had  influenced  such  men  as  Linus,  wlio  was  to  be  the 
pastor  at  Eonie,  Prudens,  the  son  of  a  senator,  and  Claudia,  a  British  senator.  One 
almost  wislies  that  tliis  npinion  may  not  be  correct,  as  uo  citizen  of  Home  had  the 
courage  to  stand  l)j  him.  In  his  Eoman  captivity  he  looked  back  upon  the  past, 
and,  at  least,  found  himself  Christ-like  in  this,  that  just  as  all  the  Apostles  fled  from 
Jesus  in  his  peril,  so  his  chief  Apostle  was  left  to  provide  for  his  own  safety.  They 
abandoned  an  old  ami  grey-headed  man  to  captivity  and  martyrdom,  in  an  ungener- 
ous and  dastardly  maimer,  instead  of  defending  him  as  eager  and  staunch  friends, 
ytill,  we  ai-e  scarcely  surj)riseil  at  tlieir  i'eai-,  when  exile  and  sword  threatened  them, 
for  the  Roman  Christians  ^uilered  ruthless  jiersecution.  Yet,  I'au!  piMved  his  largest 
liberty  by  his  cliains.  Tlie  wurld  had  been  riveted  in  breatldess  attenti^.n,  while  he 
crossed  its  mountains  and  seas,  crying  with  the  hlaj.tist  :  •  T-eliold  the  Land,  of  (4ud  ! ' 
Even  in  his  captivity  all  was  aiiimatinn. 
his  fortitude,  heroism,  and  true  leadei-sliip 
weigh  him  down,  and  tlie  sword,  lialf-drawii 
with  a  rude  soldier  diained  to  liis  arm,  he 
impoi'tant  sense  he  did  im.ire  for  Christ  whei 
Luther  was  a  prisoner  at  tlie  Wartburg,  till  he  could  give  Germany  a  popular  Bible ; 
Bunyan  passed  twelve  years  in  his  'den '  at  Bedford,  till  he  could  set  all  ages  dream- 
ing of  heaven  ;  and  it  was  meet  tliat  Paul  should  illuminate  and  conflrm  the  faith  of 
churches  to  be  formed  in  all  lands  while  time  lasts.  LTnable  to  go  from  land  to 
land,  his  jjen  gave  the  world  the  Epistles  of  the  Imprisonment,  the  Letters  to  the 
Philippians  and  the  Colossians,  with  his  queen  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians ;  also,  those 
to  Philemon,  to  Timothy,  and  to  Titus.  It  is  scarcely  too  much  to  say,  that  while 
a  prisoner  he  did  more  for  the  uidMirn  centuries,  than  all  the  rest  of  his  life  did  for 
that  in  which  he  lived ;  for  under  his  Master,  he  erected  a  new  world  of  moral 
thought,  language  and  life  for  the  human  race. 

These  peerless  letters  have  hourly  instructed  the  ignorant,  strengthened  the 
weak,  and  consoled  the  comfortless  for  eighteen  hundred  years.  They  are  so  few 
in  number,  and  so  small  in  bulk,  that  a  child  can  handle  them,  yet  so  simple  in 
structure  tliat  a  ]ieasant  can  make  them  his  own.  They  ha\e  created  a  world-wide 
literature,  which  ])uts  the  scholarship  of  the  woi'ld  under  ti-ibute,  for  they  still  pro- 
duce the  ])rofoundest  thought  ever  known  to  man.  For  beauty  and  fragrance,  they 
are  so  many  'beds  of  spices;'  for  fullness  and  wealth,  so  many  exhaustless  mines. 
Mankind  stands  a  debtor  at  the  door  of  Paul's  prison-house,  whence  he  gave  out 
these  holy  sheets,  and  will  never  be  able  to  pay  its  debt  to  their  high  culture  and 
mighty  inspiration. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

NERO    AND    PAUL,    PETER    AND    JOHN. 

THE  perscpntidiis  nt'  the  Primitive  Christians  did  iii)t  spring  t'nna  pure  hatred 
or  tyranny  on  the  part  of  tlie  lionian  authorities.  "When  we  attribute  them 
to  mere  blood-tliirst  we  miss  the  real  contest  between  Christ  and  Paganism,  and  his 
great  conquest  over  its  noblest  forms.  Contrary  to  the  old  Greek  and  Oriental 
faiths,  Eome  blended  its  religious  with  its  political  existence,  as  one  of  its  institu- 
tions, for  the  rulers  held,  that  the  oath  could  not  be  binding,  that  there  could  be  no 
public  credit,  and  no  administration  of  justice,  without  reverence  for  the  deities. 
Hence,  the  laws  were  generally  enforced  in  the  coolest  manner,  and  without  passion, 
in  defense  of  the  national  life.  Plutarch  made  religion  the  necessary  basis  of  civil 
government,  and  Polybius  extolled  Eoman  piety  for  the  security  that  it  gave  to  the 
State.  Even  the  Greeks  had  held  the  rejecter  of  all  gods  as  a  bad  citizen,  Plato  made 
him  a  criminal,  Draco  punished  him  with  death,  and  Aristotle  would  have  but  one 
established  worship.  Tully  thought  that  the  gods  inspired  Eoman  wisdom  whea  it 
relegated  religion  to  the  control  of  the  rulers,  so  that  it  became  a  science  in  civil 
jurisprudence,  and  a  prop  to  the  public  safety.  On  this  ground,  Augustus  required 
each  senator  to  worship  some  god  before  he  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate.  Hence, 
also,  the  rulei's  endowed  the  priesthood,  and  lavished  gifts  upon  the  gods,  as  on  the 
accession  of  Caligula,  which  was  celebrated  by  offering  100,000  sacrifices. 

Still,  religious  tolerance  was  the  steady  policy  of  Eome  from  time  immemorial. 
Niebuhr  says,  that  '  the  whole  life  of  the  constitution  depended  on  it.' '  It  was 
allowed,  however,  only  on  respect  for  some  god,  rejection  of  all  of  them  being  treason 
to  the  Empire.  Universal  conquest  had  allied  it  with  the  whole  family  of  deities 
who  had  presided  over  its  arms,  and  had  consolidated  its  law  and  religion  into  a 
unit.  Each  city  and  country  had  its  divinity,  of  whose  honor  it  was  jealous,  and 
its  devotees  had  hot  controversies  about  their  favorite  gods.  The  capital  invited  all 
deities,  and  those  of  the  provinces  had  been  freely  translated  thither,  which  made 
Eome  a  huge  pantheon  for  the  idols  of  the  world.  War  had  destroyed  many  tem- 
ples, which  were  rebuilt  in  great  splendor,  and  every  onicle  of  country  and  town 
was  crowded  with  worshipers.  As  Christians  worshiped  none  of  them,  they  were  a 
disquieting  element  in  the  government,  and  were  treated  as  atheists;  therefore,  Chris- 
tianity was  contrary  to  law.  A  man's  conscience  belonged  to  the  State  as  much  as 
his  limbs,  and  the  crime  of  the  Christians  was,  that  they  would  think  for  themselves. 
Celsus  said :  '  Knowledge  is  an  evil ;  it  causes  men  to  lose  their  soundness  of  mind ; 


lOO  'ooDs  many: 

they  perish  tlirougli  wisdom.'  Moreover,  pagan  influence  was  sustained  by  tlm 
military  service,  and  as  Ciiristians  would  not  enlist,  their  faith  was  not  national,  and 
tliey  were  accounted  enemies  of  the  State,  rebellious,  obstinate,  for  which  Statecraft 
put  them  to  the  sword.  They  would  not  drink  in  honor  of  the  Emperor's  birth- 
day, which  pri)ved  them  unsocial  and  haters  of  society, — they  treated  the  gods  with 
ciintcuipt,  whicli  pniVLMJ  their  ignorance, — they  publicly  adored  an  invisible  God, 
which  ]>rovcd  tlicni  guilty  of  sedition. — and  when  adoration  of  Christ  was  forbidden 
they  worshiped  him  ]irivatcly,  which  proved  them  secret  plotters  against  the  gov- 
ernment. Their  i-easoiiiiig  couhl  not  l)e  answered,  hut  tlie3'c<.iuld  be  hated.  Whatever 
they  did  was  legally  wrcuig,  the  law  demanded  their  condemnation,  and  the  calmest 
othcer  was  the  most  cruel  in  exacting  absolute  obedience.  As  guilds,  clubs,  or 
associations,  they  could  select  a  patron  divinity,  but  he  must  take  some  visible  form, 
or  tliey  must  be  treated  as  godless. 

Paganism  was  stronger  under  the  Empire  than  ever  before,  and  the  number  of 
gods  was  increased  rather  than  diminished.  N"o  place  was  without  its  deity.  The 
e.\change,  the  home,  the  work-shop,  the  palace,  the  wood  and  the  wheat-tield  had  its 
divinity,  its  humiliation  and  its  festival.  A  woman  in  social  life  was  not  respected 
who  did  not  bring  gifts  to  some  sacred  image,  or  fane,  or  faun.  At  her  betrothal, 
her  marriage,  the  birth  of  her  childi'en,  the  death  of  any  in  her  household,  she  was 
equally  devout.  Uhlliorn  says  :  '  There  was  the  goddess  Lucina,  who  watched  over 
the  birth  of  a  child  ;  Candelifera,  in  whose  honor  at  such  a  time  camlles  are  lighted; 
Rumina,  who  attended  its  nursing;  Nundina,  who  was  invoked  on  the  ninth  day 
when  the  name  was  given  ;  Potina  and  Educa,  who  accustomed  it  to  food  and  driidv. 
The  day  when  the  child  first  stepped  upon  the  ground  was  consecrated  to  Statina  ; 
Al)eona  taught  it  to  walk  ;  Farinus  to  lisp  ;  Locutinus  t<>  talk  :  ( 'unina  averted  from 
it  the  evil  enchantments  lying  in  the  cradle.'  Then  thei'e  was  the  god  of  the  soil, 
the  door,  the  stable,  the  ship,  the  prison  and  even  of  the  brothel.  Every  thing  in 
turn  had  its  sacred  side.  Hill  and  dale,  day  and  night,  seed-time  and  harvest,  summer 
and  winter,  equally  demanded  a  sacrifice  from  prince  and  peasant,  so  that  in  some 
places  there  were  more  gods  than  men. 

This  politico-religious  trend  accounts  for  the  craze  which  frenzied  the  popular 
mind  in  the  deification  of  the  Emperors.  At  Athens,  the  philosophic  spirit  of  tlie 
(Treok  still  animated  a  subjugated  people,  but  at  Ephesus,  the  center  of  Asiatic 
(ireek  cultui-e  and  Eoman  imperial  rule,  we  see  paganism  in  its  true  light  as  an 
adjunct  to  the  government.  Thus,  the  sphere  of  divinity  could  be  reached  with 
ease  from  the  Oriental  eultus,  where  the  deeds  of  the  heroic  and  illustrious  won  the 
popular  assent  to  deification.  We  contemn  the  thought  that  any  man  can  rest  a 
vital  faith  in  his  fellow,  as  God.  But  when  the  Senate  decreed  Caesar  a  divinity, 
and  erected  temples  to  his  honor  during  his  life-time,  the  wish  of  the  people  gave 
validity  to  the  decree,  because  they  looked  upon  him  as  the  author  of  all  their  temporal 
power,  political  peace,  and  unbroken  sway  over  the  nations.     The  soldier  worshiped 


THE   KMPKItOIt   DFJFIKD.  lOl 

tlie  Eiiiperdi'  from  niotivi's  of  j)arri(irisiii,  the  frecdinan  because  lie  liad  coiifen-ed 
lilicrty  ujHiii  his  class,  the  statesman  as  tlie  source  of  liis  promotion,  and  the  provin- 
cial as  tlie  i^uardian  of  his  security.  Caesar-worship  took  deep  root  in  the  soil  of 
self-interest  and  gratitude,  while  the  deified  Emperor  bestowed  fresh  privileges 
upon  his  adoring  subjects,  centralizing  the  public  interests,  and  binding  all  closer  to 
his  person  and  prerogatives.  He,  therefore,  gave  general  unity  to  the  common 
faith,  for  the  whole  Empire  found  in  him  the  center  of  its  universal  bliss,  the  Em- 
peror-god being  its  veritable  Pontifex  Maximus.  The  necessary  result  was,  that  a 
crime  against  this  deity  was  a  crime  against  the  State,  which  could  not  long  be 
brooked,  but  put  the  life  of  each  dissenter  in  peril.  The  essence  of  paganism  was 
rite,  and  not  faith,  so  that  the  priest  presided  at  the  ceremony  which  the  magistrate 
enforced.  This  made  the  struggle  sharp  between  the  princes  of  this  world  and  the 
Lord  of  souls.  The  Gospel  claimed  divine  origin,  it  branded  paganism  as  human  or 
infernal,  to  be  cast  aside,  while  it  was  enthroned  in  the  heart;  there  could,  there- 
fore, bi'  no  end  to  such  a  struggle  until  the  stronger  overthrew  the  weaker. 

Still  another  thing.  There  Wiis  an  awakening  of  new  ideas,  a  strong  under- 
current of  skepticism  mixed  with  all  this  pagan  cult,  for  its  traditions  were  derided 
as  well  as  doubted.  Amongst  the  intellectual  classes,  its  legends  were  mocked,  its 
gods  sneered  at,  and  its  fables  ridiculed.  Menandcr  sacrificed  to  the  gods,  but  said 
that  they  did  not  '  care  for  him.'  Others  derided  their  pretensions,  made  sport  of 
their  prongless  tridents,  and  either  laughed  at  the  whiz  of  their  thunder-bolts,  or 
defied  them  as  myths,  without  existence  per  se.  Yet  those  who  treated  them  with 
contempt  were  made  obedient  by  fanatical  fear,  superstition  working  in  them 
slavish  hypocrisy.  In  the  Senate  itself  CaBsar  boldly  proclaimed  himself  an  unbe- 
liever ;  but  he  never  felt  safe  in  his  chariot  without  repeating  a  magical  talismanic 
word.  Augustus  rejected  the  gods,  yet  all  the  day  long  he  was  afraid,  if  he  put  his 
shoe  on  the  wrong  foot  in  the  morning ;  and  Pliny,  a  practical  atheist,  pinned  his 
faith  to  absurd  charms.  Indeed,  when  general  confidence  in  paganism  failed,  it  was 
carefully  fostered  for  State  purposes.  This  consideration  made  its  poets  sing,  its 
politicians  plan,  its  priests  minister,  and  its  Emperoi-s  chant  its  liturgies  on  their 
knees.  No  goddess  could  find  her  vestals  amongst  virgins  of  high  bii-th,  but  took 
these  venerated  persons  from  the  freed  women,  chiefly  of  the  lower  raidcs,  and  the 
Emperor  increased  their  rights,  to  make  their  office  the  more  attractive.  Of  course, 
the  aristocracy  clung  to  the  old  faith  for  State  purposes.  It  was  the  law  of  the 
land,  its  ceremonies  were  easily  complied  with,  and  it  was  sternly  enforced  by  im- 
perial example  and  authority.  The  consequence  was,  that  when  this  policy  was 
adopted  by  the  Julian  line,  it  was  made  stronger  than  ever,  as  the  Gospel  begun 
its  attacks  upon  the  systena ;  that  the  new  faith  should  not  stand  in  the  wisdom  of 
men,  l)ut  in  the  power  of  God. 

With  these  facts  in  view  we  easily  understand  the  animus  of  persecution  on  the 
part  of  those  Emperors,  who  sincerely  and  conscientiously  served  the  gods  themselves, 


102  AanirprxA  and  nkiio. 

and  it  is  quite  as  cleai',  liuw  tliu  ambitious,  tliu  cruel,  and  the  laalignaut  sought  every 
occasion  to  gratify  their  caprice  under  the  show  of  patriotism,  even  when  it  was 
purely  wanton.  The  first  noted  example  of  this  sort  meets  us  in  Nero.  Seneca, 
his  tutor  in  philosophy,  says :  That  he  was  u  clement  sovereign  when  he  ascended 
the  throne;  others  regarded  him  as  the  best  prince  since  Augustus ;  and  Trajan 
speaks  of  his  reign  as  dignified  during  his  first  live  years,  but  bad  during  the  last 
eight.  He  was  the  last  of  the  Julian  family,  born  A.  D.  37,  and  the  CiiBsars  died  in 
him,  A.  D.  CS.  His  father,  Domitius,  was  thoroughly  evil,  and  his  mother,  Agrip- 
pina,  has  no  eipud  in  history  for  plot  and  infamy.  That  language  could  scarcely  be 
unmeasured  which  wrote  her  down  a  Jezebel,  a  Cleopatra,  and  a  Lucrezia  Boi'gia, 
all  in  one.  First,  she  was  the  niece  of  the  Emperor  Claudius,  then  his  fourth  wife, 
then  she  poisoned  him.  He  had  adopted  Nero,  her  own  sou  and  his  step-son,  into 
the  imperial  family,  and  immediately  she  began  to  plot  against  his  own  son,  Bri- 
tanuicus,  the  rightful  heir  to  the  throne.  By  a  series  of  bold  and  nnscrupulous 
intrigues,  she  finally  stole  the  purple  for  Nero,  and  then  attempted  to  murder  him, 
because  she  could  not  control  his  reign. 

When  young,  he  was  extremely  beautiful  in  person,  early  displaying  a  taste  for 
art,  in  painting  and  sculpture,  as  well  as  for  poetry,  music,  and  the  drama.  At  sev- 
enteen he  became  Emperor,  and  died  at  thirty.  Monstrous  as  was  his  mother,  he 
soon  became  his  own  masterpiece,  and  rose  to  be  the  prime  monster  of  the  world. 
He  never  developed  the  first  attribute  of  a  statesman,  nor  showed  the  slightest  sign 
of  humanity,  nor  blessed  his  empire  by  one  noble  deed ;  but  lived  only  to  display  a 
frenzy  of  passion  and  a  guilty  splendor.  His  ill-regulated  mind  was  the  slave  of  his 
selfish  whims,  and  daily  incubated  brood  after  brood  of  groundless  suspicions  and  jeal- 
ousies. He  married  Octavia,  the  daughter  of  Claudius,  then  divorced  and  murdered 
her.  After  this  he  poisoned  Britannicus,  whom  he  had  robbed  of  the  jjurple,  and 
failing  to  drown  his  own  mother,  had  her  assassinated  with  a  dagger.  Having  begun  a 
career  of  blood,  he  killed  his  first  two  wives,  and  slew  noble  after  noble,  without  end. 
A  man  naust  be  j^olluted  with  crime  through  and  through  to  become  an  adroit 
'  inventor  of  evil  things,'  yet  this  was  his  pre-eminence.  When  Po]3pea,  a  beautiful 
but  worthless  Jewess,  became  his  wife,  and  was  about  to  become  a  mother,  he  kicked 
her  to  death.  In  order  to  attract  him  by  her  fair  appearance,  she  bathed  daily  in 
milk  taken  from  five  hundred  she  asses,  and  these  beasts  she  shod  with  gold  and  sil- 
ver shoes.  With  her  husband,  she  paraded  her  vices  in  the  most  public  and  shame- 
less maunei'. 

This  was  the  man  to  whom  the  holy  Paul  was  obliged  to  appeal,  from  the  fury  of 
'  God's  High-priest,'  when  he  sought  to  worship  Christ  in  peace.  No  record  is  left  of 
the  time  or  place  of  his  trial  before  Nero,  but  as  the  Emperors  never  relinquished  the 
power  of  life  and  death  in  such  cases,  it  is  every  way  likely  that  he  stood  before 
him  as  a  prisoner.  Paul  gives  a  mere  hint  of  such  a  meeting  when  he  notes 
his  '  first  answer ; '  and  says,  that  Jesus  '  stood  at  his  side,'  when  all  men  abandoned 


KEIW   AXD   PAUL.  103 

liiin.  He  exults,  also,  that  lie  '  was  .IcliviTcd  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  liou,'  as  if  he 
I'eferred  to  Nero's  ferocity,  whik'  he  [iraises  Christ  for  his  freedom. 

Beliold  the  two  men  I  They  had  not  one  thing  in  common,  either  in  person, 
character,  or  relation.  Paul  was  so  advanced  in  years  that  he  calls  himself  'the 
aged;'  diminutive  in  IhkIv,  'weak  in  presence,'  defective  in  sight,  'contemptible 
in  speech,'  and  prematurely  worn-out  by  labors,  hardships,  and  sufferings.  The 
blood  of  a  simple  Jewish  artisan  ran  in  his  veins;  his  hands  were  horny  with  hon- 
est work,  and  fettered  in  ii-ons ;  his  body  disfigured  with  scars,  his  head  loaded  with 
curses,  and  his  life  hunted,  penniless  and  friendless.  Nero  was  a  young  man,  not 
more  than  six-and-twenty.  The  blood  of  the  last  Csesar  tingled  in  his  veins,  the 
adulation  of  the  world  lay  at  his  feet,  and  the  sovereignty  of  the  globe  stood  behind 
him.  Legion  after  legion,  half  a  million  of  men  in  arms,  waited  to  do  his  bidding. 
Six  millions  of  people  thronged  his  capital,  and  twenty-five  millions  formed  his 
empire,  ready  to  lavish  upon  him  all  that  treasure  and  power  could  demand.  His 
jeweled  hand  grasped  such  a  scepter  as  the  world  had  never  seen  before,  and  which 
had  been  held  in  the  palm  of  Augustus  and  Tiberius,  of  Caligula  and  Claudius. 
But  his  young  face,  furrowed  deep  by  the  keenness  of  human  passion,  was  unable 
to  blush,  for  his  heart  took  hue  from  a  bottomless  pit  of  depravity,  whose  smoke 
ascended  for  ever  and  ever. 

The  chain  which  cut  into  Paul's  wrist  that  day,  has  long  since  fretted  itself  into 
fine  dust ;  but  he  held  the  truth  in  righteousness,  and  by  its  power  he  wielded  that 
pen  which  still  stirs  the  heart  of  the  world,  and  makes  the  pulse  beat  strongly  in 
millions  of  unmanacled  arms.  But  canker  had  seized  Nero's  heart.  Like  a  honey- 
combed petrifaction,  it  was  eaten  through  and  through.  His  brow  was  wreathed 
in  a  diadem,  or  adorned  in  laurel ;  but  his  soul  beneath  was  a  dark  vault,  where 
demons  had  jostled  out  each  relic  of  manhood,  and  then  clenched  the  gate  against 
its  return,  with  steel  bolts  and  bars  which  no  charm  could  draw.  He  threw  the 
saints  to  lions,  tigers,  and  hyenas,  till  hoof  and  jaw  were  satiated;  then,  dripping 
red  with  the  blood  of  God's  elect,  they  haiiuted  iiim  while  he  slept.  Paul's  heart 
had  broken,  when  the  tears  of  elders  fell  upon  his  neck.  But  Nero's  soul  was  a  sea 
of  ice,  in  which  a  spark  of  love  could  not  live.  Paul  stood,  a  ripened  and  mellowed 
spirit  ready  to  be  borne  home  on  angels'  bosoms ;  Nero  sat,  a  juvenile,  nondescript 
compound  of  vulgarity  and  hate;  who  had  not  felt  a  new  sensation  of  devilish- 
ness  for  years. 

There  they  stood,  Paul  and  Nero ;  the  foulest  and  the  purest  of  men.  The  one  a 
deity  of  paganism,  the  other  a  disciple  of  the  Good  Shepherd;  each  represented 
his  own  universe ;  each  embodied  the  elements  of  his  own  system,  as  if  the  struggle 
between  them  was  reduced  to  a  personal  combat,  and  symbolized  in  the  two  men. 
A  temple  of  the  Holy  Spirit  without  a  spot  of  impurity  from  pavement  to  top- 
stone  would  image  forth  Paul,  but  Nero  must  throw  Konie  into  flames  to  find  the 
true  image  of  himself.     Miles  of  embers  and  aslies,  more  black  and  ill-.shapen  than  the 


104  nOMK  BURNED. 

statues,  temples,  and  palaces  of  liis  ealciniMl  c:i|iital  might  picture  liiin,  every  arch 
broken,  every  pillar  fallen,  every  altar  crunililed.  Koine  was  swept  by  its  calamitous 
fire,  July  19,  A.  D.  64.  It  began  in  the  eastci-n  ])art  of  the  city,  and  burned  on 
before  an  east  wind  for  six  days,  then  died  out  for  want  of  fuel,  when  a  second  fire 
broke  out  in  the  western  part,  and  a  west  wind  took  what  the  first  had  not  reached. 
Six  districts  out  of  fourteen  were  entirely  destroj'ed,  and  four  were  seriously  dam- 
aged, leaving  but  four  intact.  The  most  memorable  monuments  of  antiquity  were 
swept  away.  The  city  was  tin-own  into  a  panic,  when  the  belief  seized  it  that  Nero 
was  the  incendiary,  that  ruffians  had  applied  the  torch  at  his  command,  and  that  he 
had  simiily  amused  himself  on  the  tower  of  his  palace  by  enacting  the  'Destruction 
of  Troy.'  in  the  light  of  the  coiifiagration.  Then,  wild  rage  threatened  not  only  his 
throne  but  his  life.  History  has  made  it  clear  that  he  was  at  Actium,  between  thirty 
and  forty  miles  from  Kome,  when  the  tire  began,  but  suggests  that  absence  was  a 
cover  for  his  jjlot,  for  the  pagan  writers,  generally,  lay  the  crime  at  his  door.  He 
hastened  to  the  city,  and  distributed  money  in  the  smoking  streets,  to  allay  the 
excitement.  The  Christians  interpreted  the  fire  as  a  divine  judgment  on  the  city, 
and  Tacitus  accuses  tliem  of  lighting  the  tlame.  lUit  he  also  chai-ged  them  with 
being  so  fanatical  a  sect,  that  they  'hated  the  human  race,'  and  so  must  be  sup- 
pressed at  all  i-isk.  We  can  dejjend  but  little  on  his  authority  in  this  matter.  Nero 
pretended  to  deal  with  them  as  incendiaries,  to  ti'ansfer  the  odium  from  himself; 
but  the  people  believed  him  guilty  of  using  them  as  a  screen  to  hide  his  face  from 
the  fire.  At  times  the  Jews  had  been  turbulent,  and  the  government  had  sup- 
pressed them  ;  and  now  he  foun<l  in  their  fellow-sect  a  convenient  scape-goat,  on  tlie 
charge  that  they  sought  the  overthrow  of  the  national  faith  and  existence,  by  burn- 
ing the  capital. 

He  issued  edicts  against  them,  condemning  them  to  death,  but  still  the  peo- 
ple held  him  guilty  of  the  crime.  Many  were  seized  as  victims,  were  enwrapped  in 
oil  or  pitch ;  Rome  was  invited  to  the  imperial  gardens,  and  crowds  gloated  their 
eyes  on  the  poor  wretches  who  were  burnt,  while  Nero  jilayed  the  clown  as  a  chari- 
oteer in  a  horse-race.  Others  were  crucified,  possibly  in  contempt  of  Christ's  death, 
were  wrapped  in  the  skins  of  beasts  and  torn  to  pieces  by  dogs,  or  impaled,  death 
being  let  loose  upon  them  in  every  form.  The  fury  of  the  people  was  drawn  from 
himself  and  allayed  for  a  time,  but  reacting  pity  soon  demanded  that  the  brutal 
slaughter  should  stop.  To  replenish  his  coffers  and  rebuild  Eome  he  confiscated  the 
estates  of  many  nobles,  which  led  to  a  consjairacy  against  him  ;  but  he  plunged 
deeper  and  deeper  into  depravity  and  buffoonery,  till  all  classes  became  disgusted, 
especially  the  provincial  armies  and  the  Greeks.  To  appease  them  he  rebuilt  Rome 
in  a  new  stj'le  of  architecture,  leaving  the  image  of  voluptuous  Greece  upon  its 
face,  by  thousands  of  ornaments  and  statues  stolen  from  that  country.  He  built  for 
himself  his  Golden  House,  covering  a  large  part  of  the  burnt  district,  appropriating 
enormous  inclosures  for  gardens,  galleries,  baths,  bridges,  and  fish-ponds;  until  he 


XEHO   SLAIN. 


105 


convinced  liome  that  he  liad  burned  tlie  city  to  make  room  for  this  world  of  man- 
sions. Gloom  settled  upon  the  popular  temper  and  revolt  followed.  Tlii.s  made 
him  desperate,  and  in  his  mad  efforts  to  retain  his  grasp  of  power  he  swung  from 
the  flatteries  of  hoj)e  to  the  remoi-se  of  despair,  exposing  the  nakedness  of  his  char- 
acter, until  he  drew  upon  him  the  contempt  of  the  Enipii-e.  liike  a  lunatic  he  wont 
to  Greece  to  conciliate  it  by  becoming  a  petty  actor,  in  a  ci'acked  voice  publicly 
rehearsing  .doggerel,  accompanied  by  clownish  contortions.  This  he  I'epeated  in  the 
theater,  circus,  and  games  of  Rome ;  at  one  time,  before  200,000  of  the  rabble,  in 
the  Circus  Maximus.  Then  he  boasted  that  at  last  he  was  '  lodged  as  a  man,'  and 
not  as  a  beast,  in  his  new  Golden  House,  until  tiie  mob  surged  against  its  gates : 
when  rending  his  vestments  and  tearing  his  hair  he  cried:  ' I  have  neither  friend 
nor  foe  left.'  After  this  he  played  the  craven,  and  would  have  taken  poison,  had 
not  the  casket  in  which  he  kept  it  been  stolen. 

Pale  with  fear  and  rage,  he  took  horse  by  night  and  tied  four  miles  witlniut  the 
walls,  hiding  himself  in  the  honse  of  one  of  his  freedmen.  Here  liis  spirit  was 
shattered,  he  gratefully  accepted  a  cup  of  water 
and  a  ci-ust,  and  a  few  hours  brought  his  death- 
warrant  ;  for  the  Senate  decreed  him  an  enemy 
to  the  State,  and  sentenced  him  to  death  '  in 
the  ancient  way.'  He  asked  what  this  phrase 
meant,  and  when  told  that  he  must  be  stripped 
bare,  his  neck  fastened  in  the  forked  limb  of 
a  tree,  and  his  body  beaten  with  rods,  a  horrible 
terror  seized  him.  He  then  took  a  pair  of  dag- 
gers from  his  bosom,  and  finding  that  their  edge 
was  keen,  he  could  not  force  himself  to  pierce 
his  marble  heart.  Soon  he  heard  the  tramp  of 
horses,  but  before  the  avenger  clutched  him,  ho 
bade  his  slave  force  the  blade  home.  The  Ko- 
man  guard  caught  his  eye,  and  another  mo- 
ment had  put  him  in  their  power;  but  the 
imperial  monster  was  dead.  His  body  mms 
burnt  on  the  spot  and  his  ashes  left  with  his  lulniuus,  .i 
curse  of  his  mother,  who  fell  before  her  luurdei'er  cr)  i 
bore  a  monster.' 

The  great  Apostle  had  passed  away  before  Nero,  but  how  differently  from 
this  mass  of  royal  leprosy.  As  his  head  was  laid  on  the  block,  he  saw  a  glittering 
crown  awaiting  him.  Nero  pitied  the  world  that  could  not  prize  him  and  wished 
to  kill  himself,  yet  dared  not  do  the  world  that  one  act  of  justice ;  but  Paul  went 
singing,  '  1  am  \w\v  ready  to  be  offered.'  Nero  took  his  wreath  of  thorns,  Paul 
bowed  his  head  to  receive  his  crown  of  glory  from  the  '  liighteous  Judge.'     And 


f  to  1  itii\  the  impiccitiug 
;     'Midvc  tlie  womb  whidi 


while  :ill   that 

was  ]i 

■ft  <A-  t 

he   Km] 

.el 

•,,r 

was  a 

.scpul.'lR.r,  the 

ninnni 

lient  of 

the  -]■( 

■at 

■M 

M.stle  i; 

tizcd  comuuui 

litie^  w 

hich  he 

.■.tahli- 

•In 

■d  f 

ur  all  ]; 

At  this  J) 

oillt  it 

niav  he 

.h>iral> 

le 

to 

speak    , 

Peter  and  Jol 

m,  and 

nf   th. 

•    iH'inei 

|,h 

,Hd    yn 

Chartres,  ^1  -r 

eat  arti 

St   has  ; 

-iven   h 

is 

ins 

uf  enamels  funnd  in 

the  Cln 

ireh  of 

St 

.   I' 

'etel-. 

shaped  like  th 

e  lettel 

■  X,  .]o] 

Im  with 

a 

eu] 

.,   I'ete: 

as  an  armed  s, 

jjdier  . 

,f  Chris 

t.      Wh 

:at- 

eve 

r  may  1 

in  otlier  eases, 

it  truly 

indicat 

es  Paul 

's 

huh 

leallin; 

chosen  him  to  be  a 

soldier. 

Yet, 

lli 

s   b 

rethren 

rnE   SfATTERED   JEWS. 

heap  uf  smoldering  ashes  without  a 
s  tuund  in  the  regenerated  and  hap- 
an<l.  and  all  time. 

uf  the  other  Apostles,  especially  uf 
ictiees  which  they  laid  down.  At 
f  the  Twelve  Apostles,  in  a  series 
lie  represents  Andrew  with  a  cro.ss, 
,vith  keys,  and  Paul  with  a  sword, 
the  mei'it  of  this  artistic  legend 
that  he  might  please  Ilinr  who  bad 
ilsu  fnltilled  their  mission  boldly 
and  faithfidly.  According  to  the  best  authority  at  command,  Peter,  James,  and 
John  lahoi-ed  principally  amongst  the  Jews,  scattered  abroad  in  all  nations.  From 
the  first,  these  unwittingly  became  the  protectors  of  the  Christians,  whom  they 
persecuted.  We  have  seen  that  Palestine  stood  in  the  center  of  the  then  known  world. 
The  highways  wdiicli  held  Asia  and  Africa  together  touched  the  Holy  Land,  and 
commerce  found  its  course  fluwing  through  Philistia  and  PlKcnicia.  On  the  south, 
Arabia  led  to  tlie  (4ulf  uf  Elath,  the  east  opened  to  the  Euphrates,  the  Persian  Gulf, 
and  all  Southern  Asia.  For  centuries  the  Jews  had  dispersed  themselves  over  all 
these  lands.  In  the  time  of  Christ  they  numbered  80,000  in  Kome,  in  Egypt  they 
formed  an  eighth  of  the  population,  and  they  had  penetrated  west  not  only  to  Ger- 
many and  Spain,  but  to  Britain.  They  partook  of  the  new  life  around  them,  but 
retained  their  individuality.  Yet,  they  became  somewhat  weaned  from  their  old 
Temple  ritual,  their  synagogues  infused  a  democratic  spirit  into  their  religion,  and 
they  came  to  depend  less  upon  sacerdotalism,  and  more  upon  the  study  and  inter- 
pretation of  their  Sacred  Books.  True,  they  still  paid  the  Temple  tax,  sent  sac- 
rifices to  its  altars,  and  occasionally  visited  Jerusalem;  but  their  synagogues  and 
Scriptures  were  herald  missionaries  of  the  Gospel  amongst  all  pagan  peoples. 

Besides  this,  they  became  the  great  money  dealers  and  wheat  factors  of  the 
woi'ld.  In  fiscal  transactions  they  so  far  outwitted  the  Eoman  knights,  the  bankers 
of  the  day,  that  complaints  were  made  to  the  Emperor  that  they  drained  Asia 
Minor  of  its  money ;  and  in  Egypt  they  nearly  held  a  monopoly  in  breadstufls. 
Juvenal  said,  '  The  Jews  sell  evei-y  thing ; '  and  Strabo,  '  It  is  not  easy  to  find  a 
place  in  the  habitable  world  which  has  not  received  this  race,  and  is  not  possessed 
by  it.'  Eoman  law  specially  exempted  them  from  military  duty  and  certain  taxes, 
and  left  them  free  to  enjoy  their  religion.  They  traveled  without  hinderance,  were 
wealthy,  and  formed  communities  of  great  influence  in  universal  society ;  although 
hated  every-wliere  for  their  exclusive  faith,  they  were  every-where  felt  and  feared. 
For  purity  of  morals  their  lives  were  unique,  and  in  great  contrast  with  the  pagans ; 
for  what  was  sacred  to  the  one,  the  other  detested.  They  looked  upon  the  Gentiles 
as  'dogs,' and   the   dogs  held  them  in  contempt.     As  a  chosen  race,  they  thought 


THE  APOSTLE  PETER.  107 

themselves  superior,  and  because  they  looked  for  universal  dominion  hy  their  Mes- 
siah, the  Romans  scouted  them  as  ridiculous  dreamers.  In  A.  1).  19,  public  indig- 
nation compelled  Tiberius  to  recruit  his  army  from  the  Jews  in  Rome;  yet,  Seneca, 
who  was  then  living,  says,  that  'The  vanquished  have  given  l;i\vs  to  the  victors;' 
not  an  unusual  thing.  Of  course,  their  synagogues  were  so  many  meeting  places 
for  inquiry  amongst  those  who  were  weary  of  the  gods,  influential  people  in  every 
city  embraced  Judaism,  and  many  women  of  tlie  highest  Roman  families  became 
proselytes.     One  step  more  led  them  to  the  Oospel. 

For  a  long  time  the  Romans  looked  upon  the  Christians  as  a  mere  sect  of  the 
Jews,  and  gave  them  the  same  privileges.  Hence,  Judaism,  like  a  gnarled  and 
sturdy  oak,  while  it  shaded  the  young  sprout  at  its  foot  and  refused  it  the  sun, 
shielded  it  from  storms  until  it  could  stand  defiantly  alone.  A  well-known  bird 
lays  its  eggs  in  the  nest  of  another,  and  its  offspring  is  raised  with  the  strange  brood, 
and  thus  the  Gospel  was  nourished  under  the  wing  of  Judaism  ;  which  in  tliis  man- 
ner prepared  the  way  of  the  Apostles.  In  their  great  missionary  circuits  they  were 
much  like  the  planets,  making  their  course  singly,  with  occasional  conjunctions, 
but  very  infrequent.  Peter,  for  example,  is  not  mentioned  in  the  Acts  after 
the  fifteenth  chapter,  leaving  the  impression  that  when  he  had  used  '  The  Keys'  at 
Pentecost,  and  in  the  house  of  Cornelius,  his  special  work  was  done.  "We  know  but 
little  of  his  missionary  life,  excepting  through  his  Epistles  and  an  occasional  refer- 
ence to  him  in  those  of  Paul ;  so  that,  when  tradition  undertakes  to  complete  his  biog- 
raphy, we  must  take  its  statements  with  great  caution.  The  Scripture  outline  of 
him  is  extremely  Oriental,  and  no  incident  is  more  thoroughly  so  than  that  given  by 
Luke  in  describing  his  visit  to  the  house  of  Mary,  after  his  release  from  prison.  In 
true  Eastern  style  he  knocks  two  or  three  times  and  then  waits  to  listen,  when  one 
from  within  asks  '  Who  ? '  without  opening  the  door.  Standing  outside  he  answers, 
'  I — open.'  Then  his  name  is  demanded,  which  he  gives,  but  continues  knocking, 
according  to  usage,  till  the  servant-maid,  Rhoda,  ran  to  her  mistress  and  reported, 
leaving  the  door  unopened  still.  She  knew  his  voice,  '  and  told  how  Peter  stood 
before  the  gate.'  This,  and  other  peculiarities,  marked  him  in  his  entire  ministry. 
He  had  been  specially  fitted  for  an  Apostle  to  the  circumcision,  for  having  lived  on 
the  Jewish  side  of  the  middle  wall  of  partition,  he  knew  only  that  side  of  the 
world.  He  was  warm,  courageous,  practical ;  but  was  not  naturally  endowed  with 
that  genius,  reflective  faculty,  and  profound  sagacity,  which  of  the  twain  made  Paul 
a  '  new  man.'  He  was  confined  to  a  narrower  sphere,  and  showed  greater  reluctance 
to  abandon  Jewish  ordinances,  although  he  triumphed  over  this  at  last,  and  did  a 
great  work  for  Christ  amongst  the  Twelve  Tribes. 

But  his  personal  intimacy  with  Jesus  is  sweetly  visible  all  through  his  life,  for 
he  speaks  of  him  with  great  vividness  as  an  'eye-witness'  of  his  ministry.  His 
great  A]iostolic  heart  seems  to  throb  in  its  full  integrity  when  he  says ;  '  We  did  eat 
and  drink  with  him;'  'Whom  liavini;-  nut  seen  ve  love;'  a  'Witness  of  the  suffer- 


lOS  rKTETl   TX  nA/lYLOX 

iiigs  of  Clirist.'  Tlicn,  liis  qiieneliles.s  love  fur  liis  imtidii  is  visil)le  in  his  perpetual 
refereiirc  to  lirr  iiislitntidiis  and  symbols,  wliirli  lie  IVitIv  liorrows  to  set  forth  the 
Christian  Church.  Shu  is  '  the  cliosen  o'cncratidU,  tliu  royal  i)riestlioo(l,  the  peculiar 
people.'  With  tliis  feeling  in  his  hcai't  lie  long  remained  in  .ludi'n  and  about  the 
western  coast  of  Palestine;  but  love  fm-  them  drow  him  faithn-  East,  tu  the  'scat- 
tered sti'angers'  in  Asia.  'The  Church  that  is  in  llabylon  salutes  you,'  which  word 
we  take  in  its  literal  sense,  as  we  accept  the  names  of  other  cities  fnuu  which  Epis- 
tles were  sent.  Eor  centuries  ['.abyloii  had  been  a  givat  Eastern  center  for  Jews,  and 
under  ['arthiau  tolerance  IV'tcr  could  labor  there  with  impunity.  The  Churches  in 
that  region  date  back  to  a  very  early  period,  which  leaves  little  doubt  tliat  he  was 
their  founder.  This  accounts  for  the  presence  of  Mark  and  Sylvanus  with  him  in 
that  capital.  After  Paul's  Second  Missionary  Journey  we  hear  no  more  of  Syl- 
vanus, but  when  Paul  was  first  imprisoned  in  Rome,  he  tells  the  Colossians  that 
Mark  was  about  to  visit  them  (Col.  iv,  10),  and  afterward  he  speaks  of  him  as  with 
Timothy  at  Ephesus  (2  Tim.  iv,  11);  this  being  the  period  when  Peter  wrote  his 
first  Epistle,  and  accounts  for  Mark's  presence  with  him  in  Babylon. 

At  the  best,  Peter's  closing  years  are  lost  in  gloomy  traditiiuis  and  floating 
romance,  created  to  endow  him  with  a  supremacy  above  his  brethren,  which  he 
never  claimed,  which  Christ  never  bestowed,  and  which  never  belonged  to  him. 
Probably  Lidce  suddenly  quenched  his  historical  lamp,  as  a  protection  to  him  when 
State  persecution  arose,  to  leave  his  whereal^outs  and  doings  in  darkness.  For 
when  Christian  records  and  correspondence  intended  for  Christian  eyes,  only  came  to 
public  liglit  under  'informers,'  the  most  innocent  matter  compromised  the  best  of 
men.  Even  the  writers  of  the  first  three  Gospels  observe  a  marked  reticence  of 
Peter's  name  in  recording  that  'a  disciple'  cut  off  the  ear  of  Malchus,  in  Geth- 
semane.  Only  John  tells  us  that  it  was  Peter,  and  not  he  till  the  impetuous  Apostle 
was  safe  in  heaven,  and  the  High-priest's  palace  empty  of  the  man  who  owned  the 
ear  as  well  as  of  his  master.  Had  Lnke  put  on  record  where  each  Apostle  was,  and 
what  he  was  doing,  he  would  only  have  discovered  them  to  the  malignity  of  their 
foes,  when  one  unguarded  word  would  lia\e  drawn  more  brutal  cruelties  upon  their 
heads.  Their  lives,  therefore,  float  on  the  wings  of  fiction,  and  we  do  injustice  to 
ourselves  and  to  them  when  we  rely  on  this  or  that  legend  to  set  forth  their  labors 
and  death  ;  an  imposition  upon  our  credulity  for  an  unworthy  end. 

All  fables  to  the  contrary,  it  is  more  than  questionable  whether  Peter  ever  saw 
Pome.  The  claim  that  he  introduced  the  Gospel  there,  labored  for  some  time  in 
comjjany  with  Paul,  and  suffered  martyrdom  in  that  city  with  him,  cannot  be  sus- 
tained by  one  word  from  the  New  Testament,  or  any  thing  like  reliable  history. 
At  Pentecost,  'strangers  of  Rome,  Jews  and  proselytes'  heard  Peter  preach. 
These  were  native-born  Jews,  converts  from  the  pagans  to  the  Jewish  faith,  and 
visitors  at  the  feast ;  so  that  there  is  no  great  stretch  of  probability  in  supposing 
that  they  took  Christianity  back  with  them  to  Rome,  and  won  their  families  and 


PETKI!  NOT   [N   RO}fE.  109 

frigids  to  Clirist  on  tlK;ir  return.  Every  religion  of  the  East  was  found  in  the 
capital,  and  it  is  likely,  in  the  nature  of  things,  that  Christianity  made  its  way  there 
earlier  than  to  many  of  the  provinces.  It  is  not  known  who  introduced  tlie  Gospel 
into  Rome.  As  at  Antiocli,  some  simple  disciple,  not  an  Apostle,  seems  to  have 
secured  this  lionor.  I'mbaljly  it  was  there  as  early  as  A.  D.  51,  for  a  well-estab- 
lished Churcli  is  found  by  Paul  at  Puteoli,  the  jwrt  of  Home,  A.  D.  fiO-(J2. 
Paul  addressed  ids  Epistle  to  tlie  Church  in  Uonie  A.  I).,  58,  in  wliich  many 
passages  show,  that  it  had  been  cnmstitutrd  of  both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  especially 
of  Greeks,  whose  names  are  given  in  the  sahitations  as  persons  well-known  in 
that  Church.  In  this  Epistle  Paul  makes  no  allusion  to  Peter,  a  negative  which 
could  scarcely  have  occurred  if  he  had  either  established  or  fostered  that  Church. 
Even  if  Hippolytus  had  not  shown,  that  loug  after  Peter's  death  it  retained  its 
democratic  character  and  simplicity,  there  is  notiiiug  in  this  Epistle  which  hints 
that  Peter  was  ever  the  pastor  of  Rome,'mucli  less  that  his  supremacy  dignified  it 
in  any  way.  Eusebius  states  the  tradition  that  he  went  there  A.  D.  42,  and 
remained  twenty -five  years  ;  but  this  is  in  direct  contradiction  of  Luke,  who  shows 
that  he  li\ed  in  Jerusalem  A.  D.  -f-t  (Acts  xii),  and  labored  in  C.esarea  and 
Antioch  A.  D.  -iS-oO.  Acts  x.  Peter  himself  punctured  the  bubble  on  which 
tliis  figment  of  supremacy  rests,  when  he  gave  express  testimony  to  Christ  as  the 
Corner-stone,  saying :  '  Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than  that  is  laid,  which  is 
Christ  Jesds.'  Too  well  did  Peter  remember  that  he  was  cursing,  swearing,  and 
falsifying  his  Lord  on  the  day  that  Jesus  gave  himself  for  his  Church,  to  convince 
himself  that  he  was  the  fit  material  upon  which  to  build  a  stable  and  spotless  Church. 
Nor  does  the  Council  at  Jerusalem  yield  this  picture  any  support.  Peter  spoke  in 
that  assembly,  but  he  neither  called  it  together,  nor  presided  over  its  deliberations, 
nor  took  its  voice,  nor  gave  its  decision,  nor  assumed  superiority  over  his  brethren 
in  any  respect. 

When  Peter  asked  our  Lord  at  the  Supper  Table,  '  Whither  goest  thou  ?'  Jesus 
answered,  '  Whither  I  go  thou  canst  not  follow  me  7ioio,  but  thou  shalt  follow  me 
afterward  ;'  evidently  alluding  to  his  own  crucifixion  and  Peter's.  Again  Jesus 
prophesied  Peter's  crucifixion  in  the  words  :  '  Wlien  thou  shalt  be  old,  thou  shalt 
stretch  forth  thy  hands,  and  anothei-  shall  gird  thee,  and  lead  thee  whither  thou 
wouldest  not.  This  he  spoke  signifying  by  what  manner  of  death  he  should  glorify 
God ; '  and  it  settles  the  mode  of  Peter's  death,  but  the  time  and  place  are  not 
alhided  to  in  the  New  Testament.  Fable  fixes  them  at  Rome,  under  Nero,  and 
many  great  names  have  subscribed  to  it,  as  well  as  to  the  notion,  that  at  his  own 
request  he  was  executed  with  his  head  downward,  as  a  sign  of  his  humiliation  for 
denying  Christ.  This  part  of  the  story  probably  arises  from  the  fact,  that  Roman 
soldiers  nailed  their  victims  to  the  cross  in  any  attitude  which  derision  inspired. 
The  object  of  all  these  fictions  is  apparent ;  they  are  created  to  exalt  the  see  of 
Rome  above  all  other  Churches. 


no  THE  A  POST  LI-:  .lolIN. 

The  New  Testament  gives  us  l)ut  few  facts  concerning  the  Apostle  John  and 
his  missioniiry  toils,  after  the  third  chapter  of  the  Acts.  In  the  immediate  morning 
of  Christianity  he  stands  forth  with  great  prominence;  and  when  all  the  other 
Apostles  had  finished  their  work  his  sun  bursts  forth  anew,  after  an  obscurity  of 
about  forty  years,  to  gild  the  setting  century  with  a  peculiar  splendor.  While 
Peter  was  doing  his  great  work  in  the  beginning,  and  Paul  his,  in  the  middle  of 
this  pei'iod,  God  did  strangely  hide  the  venerable  John,  and  only  brought  him  to 
light  again  after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem.  Jesus  had  foretold  John's  long  life  in  the 
word  :  '  If  I  will  that  he  tarry  till  1  come,  what  is  that  to  thee  ? '     Not  alluding  to 

his  ( iiig  at  thu  t-iid  of   time,  as  the  silly  legend  of   the  'Wandering  Jew'  iuter- 

jirets  his  woi'ds,  but  to  his  visitation  in  the  overthrow  of  the  Jewish  capital  and 
nation,  A.  1).  7n.  Paul  speaks  of  .loliu  as  'a  pillar'  in  the  Church  at  Jerusalem, 
when  himseir  and  I'.ai'nabas  held  their  interview  there  with  the  Apostles.  Tradition 
loeates  John's  laliurs  chieily  in  Parthia  and  Ephesus,  and  his  Epistles  indicate  that 
his  mind  was  engrossed  in  the  study  of  those  Gnostic  errors  which  began  to  infest 
the  Churches  on  the  foundation  doctrines  of  the  Gospel.  His  writings  suggest 
many  reasons  why  these  years  were  spent  in  re\-erent  thought  and  less  activity  than 
those  of  his  brethren,  a  serenity  which  educated  and  mellowed  him  for  a  special 
calling  when  theirs  was  fultilled.  When  our  Lord  hung  upon  the  cross  he  confided 
his  mother,  as  a  special  trust,  to  the  keeping  of  John,  and  fidelity  to  this  trust  may 
have  confined  his  early  labors  to  Palestine  and  tlie  Hebrews.  John  xix,  26,  27. 
Still,  the  Apocalypse  clearly  connects  him  with  missionary  toil  in  Asia  Minor.  Ilis 
long  experience,  ripe  age,  and  close  walk  with  God,  ipialilied  him  to  gather  up  and 
more  fully  organize  what  the  zeal  of  Peter  and  Paul  had  produced,  and  to  give  a 
calm  solidity  to  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  He  was  compelled  to  combat  errorists  in 
the  Churches  after  Paul's  death,  but  although  they  treated  him  malignantly,  he  well 
filled  Paul's  place  in  defending  the  truth.  The  extraordinary  gifts  appear  to  have 
passed  away,  and  we  are  left  to  infer  what  new  light  the  Spirit  threw  upon  the 
organization  of  the  Churches  through  John. 

Jesus  breathed  his  personal  life  into  the  tirst  movements  of  the  Gospel ;  and, 
for  his  great  resemblance  to  Christ,  John  was  reserved  as  the  last  of  the  Apostles,  to 
bring  out  perfectly  Christ's  deepest  teachings.  In  their  first  love,  the  Churches 
were  not  ripe  for  this  calm  result,  and  John  was  to  close  the  august  age  as  the  other 
Apostles  could  not  have  done.  The  methods  of  each  were  necessary  to  the  full 
establishment  of  the  truth,  but  even  John  needed  a  new  vision  from  God,  in  order 
to  (jualify  it  for  its  sublime  destinies.  Hence,  he  soars  and  sings  of  Christ's 
triumphs  in  the  Apocalypse,  of  his  perfect  humanity  in  his  Epistles,  and  of  his 
glorious  deity  in  the  Fourth  Gospel.  John  is  called  '  the  divine,'  however,  not  with 
the  modern  idea  of  a  theologian,  but  as  a  true  Theologus,  who  gives  unclouded  and 
sublime  testimony  to  Christ  as  the  '  Word  of  God.'  His  writings  imply  that  perse- 
cution drove  him  from  Ephesus  to  Patmos,  some  think  under  Domitian,  liut  more 


THE  ISLE   CALLED  PAT.VOS.  Ill 

likely  under  Nero.  The  place  indicates  his  arrest  in  Asia,  as  Patmos  is  one  of 
the  group  of  scattered  islands  in  the  south-east  part  of  the  Ji]geau  Sea.  This  prison 
of  the  illustrious  e.xile  was  about  thirty  miles  in  circumference,  and  very  sterile.  It 
was  rough,  overhung  with  cliffs,  full  of  fissures  and  caverns,  and  here  and  there 
dotted  with  a  scrubby  olive,  cypress  or  palm ;  a  fitting  scene  for  the  revelation 
which  he  received.  When  the  shij)  wliidi  Icfr  liim  in  this  awful  solitude  had  sunk 
below  the  horizon,  the  sad  silence  in  his  soul  was  lin»ken  by  the  cry  of  liis  perishing 
brethren  who  were  being  put  to  death,  and  he  looked  for  every  new  billow  to  bring 
some  brotiier  Apostle  safely  to  this  dreai-y  rock.  Night  and  day,  the  splash  of  the 
waves,  the  screinn  of  the  eagle,  tiie  howl  of  the  winds,  were  the  only  sounds  which 
he  heard,  save  the  eelm  of  his  own  rnut-fall  and  the  throb  of  his  own  heart,  as  he 
rested  in  some  den  which  the  sea  had  scooped  out  for  his  home.  Did  he  dream  of 
Jesus  there  ?  Did  the  hard  rock  remind  him  by  contrast  of  Christ's  soft  bosom  ? 
"Was  he  wakened  in  his  ease  by  the  blast  of  trumpets  ;  alone,  yet  not  alone  ?  Pos- 
sibly, the  'seven  golden  lamps'  flamed  in  his  prison,  a  Man  in  shining  garments 
stood  before  him,  girt  not  with  a  'towel,'  but  with  'a  golden  girdle  ;'  and  his  coun- 
tenance 'as  the  sun  shining  in  his  strength.'  John  'fell  at  his  feet  as  dead.'  lie 
had  seen  that  face  before,  when  purple  with  blows  and  stained  with  blood,  and  when 
he  bade  him  go  and  ^sj>eah  the  words  of  tliis  life'  Ho  had  also  known  Tabor,  and 
so,  when  Jesus  'laid  his  right  hand  upon'  Jiini,  and  bid  him  take  the^CTi,  he  was 
endued  with  new  power  to  'write'  his  glory. 

That  touch  clothed  the  Apostle  with  new  energy,  a  new  literature  flooded  his 
mind,  a  new  dialect  moved  his  hand,.and  on  the  withered  palm,  or  plaintain,  his 
stylus  traced  a  new  story.  Had  the  sea  emptied  its  abyss  and  thrown  all  its  gems 
on  the  shore,  had  the  heavens  hung  all  their  lights  over  the  black  isle,  had  all 
history  thrown  its  allegory  before  him,  these  had  formed  one  mass  of  dazzling 
poverty  when  likened  to  the  wondrous  things  written  in  the  prophecy  of  this  Book. 
What  new  veracities  swell  his  sentences,  what  new  realities  enlarge  his  soul.  He 
introduces  the  era  of  martyrdom,  and  builds  the  stage  for  the  drama  of  redemption, 
and  Eome,  the  first  figure  that  reels  over  it,  drunk  with  the  blood  of  the  saints. 
Then  come  thunders,  and  lightnings,  and  wrath.  Mad  prophets  follow,  and  corrupt 
sorcerers,  and  hoirid  blasphemers.  A  .scroll  of  registered  woes  is  unrolled. 
Then  a  hallowetl  urn  empties  its  fire,  when  whirlwinds  r»ar  through  the  orifice  of 
heaven,  and  the  bottomless  pit  is  emptied.  After  this  the  rattling  of  chains  is  heard 
in  his  grot,  and  Satan  is  bound.  Figures,  dark  and  dreadful,  fly  before  a  volley  of 
curses,  for  a  cluster  of  falling  stars  lights  them  to  their  native  hell.  The  most 
solenm  imagery  flits  in  cavalcade  before  the  eye  of  the  holy  seer.  A  black  horse 
and  a  balance,— a  red  horse  and  a  sword, — a  pale  horse  and  a  specter, — a  white 
horse, — '  and  he  who  sat  on  him  had  a  bow,  and  a  crown  was  given  to  him,  and  he 
wcn»  iortli  conquering  and  to  conquer.'  Above  all,  the  black  cloud  of  iini)erial 
persecution   is  spanned  with  a  rainbow,  on  which  light  fi'oni   the   cross  began   to 


(iiiriii 

lii;-  o 

l.'d    h 

y  til. 

tlicre 

I.n.ls 

lasliin 

i^-   it 

ami  li 

is  CI 

'i 

:iiis 

./O/AV  FIN[SIIL\<I    ]irs    WfiUK. 

C'diKincnir  rndr  imst  a  liInoiMicspi-inklcil  altar,  and  a  procession  of 
•aim.,  turtli,  in  whilr  ruh,.,.,  M-itli  palms  in  tl.dr  lian.l^.  These  were 
ithful  martvi-  Antipas.'  and  Patmos  wa-  .■ns],rincd  i„  olory.  Then 
■th  a.-huru,.  all  annind  the  rihhed  island,  likr  the  snnn.l  uf  the  ^gean 
I  stdi-ni,  savin--:   'The  kini;duni  of   this  world  is   beeume  onr  Lord's, 

utiun  of  Christ's  glory  to  John  was  meet.  AVhen  young,  lie  was  the 
only  Apostle  who  clung  to  his  Master's  cross  on  Calvary,  and  because  lie  was  willing 
to  lose  liis  life  ho  saved  it.  He  was  the  only  one  of  the  Twelve  who  died  a  natural 
death,  liathed  in  gloi-y  while  jmtting  many  eruwns  on  that  Saviour's  head  on  whose 
liosom  he  had  rented  his  own,  more  than  half  a  century  hefori'.  It  was  meet  that 
this  disciple  of  tlu'  liapti^t,  who  tir.-t  met  Jesus  hy  the  liapti>mal  waters  in  the 
valley  of  the  .Ionian,  should  be  the  last  Apo>tle  of  the  Land,  to  proclaim  him  on  his 
throne  in  the  New  Jeiaisaleni.  He  had  no  clearer  perceptions  at  the  first  that  Jesus 
was  pre-existent,  having  come  from  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  than  had  his  brethi-en. 
But  when  error  attacked  Christ's  person,  botli  in  his  flesh  and  deity,  the  beautiful 
old  saint  came  to  his  Master's  defense,  not  as  Petei',  with  a  sword  in  dark  Geth- 
semane,  but  with  his  more  powerful  pen,  in  his  living  Epistles  and  Gospel.  The 
fullest  revelation  was  given  when  the  Church  needed  it  the  most.  Probably  he  was 
the  youngest  of  all  the  Apostles  at  the  time  of  his  conversion,  and  as  he  outlived 
them  all  by  a  ipiarter  of  a  century,  he  had  seen  the  Gos|X'l  in  all  its  phases.  Xow, 
his  tremulous  hands  were  the  only  ones  left  to  'handle  the  Word  of  Life.'  When 
young,  he  was  a  son  of  thunder,  full  of  fire  and  narrow  prejudices;  but  now  he  bad 
become  meek  as  his  Master,  and  bi-oad  as  his  Gospel. 

Amongst  the  many  traditions  concerning  him,  this  is  in  such  harmony  with  his 
character  as  to  seem  probable.  It  is  reported,  that  when  extreme  age  and  infirmity- 
rendered  him  unable  to  preach  or  even  to  stand,  he  still  retained  all  his  powers  of 
love.  So,  he  was  frequently  brought  to  the'  Church  at  Ephesus,  when  he  would 
spread  out  his  hands  in  its  gatherings  and  .say  :  '  Little  children,  love  one  another. 
Keep  yourselves  from  idols.'  The  time  and  cii'cumstauces  of  his  death  are 
unknown,  but  the  date  is  conjectured  at  from  A.  D.  OS  to  100.  During  his  life  the 
Gospel  had  extended  over  large  portions  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa ;  but  the  mis- 
sionary spirit  was  hindered,  for  Christianity  was  compelled  to  don  its  armor  for  a 
conflict  with  the  errors  which  arose  in  its  own  bosom,  for  which  the  Apostles  pre- 
pared many  antidotes  before  they  fell  asleep. 

John  wrote  his  three  Epistles  after  he  had  seen  Christianity  in  all  its  struggles 
and  stages  of  development.  Through  the  first  century  the  Churches  had  been  reaj;>- 
ing  the  great  harvest  of  revealed  truth.  As  the  disciple  of  the  Baptist,  he  wai» 
among  the  first  to  put  in  the  sickle,  and  now  he  was  spared  to  bind  up  its  last  sheaf. 
The  winsome  trait  of  his  old  age  is  seen  in  one  of  the  last  acts  in  life,  when  simple, 
gracious  love  j)rompted  him  to  send  an  inspired  Epistle  to  an  Elect  Lady ;  for  now  it 


L\  ACE   AM)    FEEDLEXESS  EXTREMK.  113 

was  needt'iil  tliat  the  woiauu  wlio  fillcil  the  baptized  Churches  should  be  recognized 
'  in  the  truth,'  for  '  the  trntii's  sake.'  Paul  had  sent  four  sacred  books  to  individual 
men,  but  from  Moses  down  no  sacred  writer  had  addressed  one  to  a  woman.  In 
youth  the  natural  velK'iiicnce  nf  lulin  had  earned  fur  him  the  appellation,  Son  of 
Thunder.  The  niilovel.v  heat  of  his  spirit  had  prompted  him  to  ask  his  Master 
whether  he  .-hould  not  call  for  tire  from  heaven  to  consume  a  Samaritan  village 
which  had  rejected  liis  message,  when  the  rebuke  of  Jesus  told  him  that  he  was 
ignorant  of  his  own  spirit.  Possibly  he  inherited  this  fiery  ambition  from  Salome, 
his  honored  mother,  who  wished  her  two  sons  to  sit  as  prime  ministers  at  the  right 
and  left  of  the  Messiah,  on  a  political  throne.     But  John  had  learned  more  heavenly 


AUL  AND  JOHN 


on  Jesus'  bosom,  at  his  cross  and  tomb.  Then,  he  had  sheltered  Mary,  the 
revered  mother  of  Jesus,  under  his  own  roof,  and  had  been  as  a  'nursing  father'  to 
the  Ephesian  Church.  All  these,  umlei'  the  influence  of  the  Holy  S^iirit,  had  mel- 
lowed him  and  qualiiied  him  to  write  in  hallowed  strains  to  an  Elect  Lady  for  her 
conlirnuition  in  the  New  Commandment,  '  which  we  heard  from  the  beginning.' 

Tradition  assigns  the  labors  of  Matthew  (Levi)  to  Ethiopia,  and  different  parts 
of  Asia  ;  Philip  to  Phrygia,  in  Asia  Minor  ;  Thomas  to  Parthia  ;  Andrew  to  Syria, 
Thrace,  and  Acliaia ;  Thaddeus  to  Persia  or  Arabia ;  Bartholomew  (Nathanael)  is 
said  to  have  labored  in  India ;  Simon  (Zelotes)  in  Egypt  and  Lydia ;  and  Matthias  in 
Ethiopia.  But  of  this  there  is  not  reliable  evidence ;  the  record  of  their  life  and 
death,  aside  from  the  New  Testament  account,  numbers  the  band  of  glorious  wor- 
thies with  the  hidden  ones  of  our  Lord. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE  APOSTOLIC   CHURCHES   THE  ONLY   MODEL  FOR  ALL 
CHURCHES. 

WE  now  come  to  the  task  of  setting  forth  the  great  principles  on  which  the 
Christian  Churches  stood  at  the  close  of  the  Apostolic  Age;  for  these 
are  to  be  copied  as  the  exact  model  to  the  end  of  time.  Our  chief  work  is  to  find 
what  this  model  was ;  as  the  inner  and  divine  life  of  those  Churches  molded  their 
entire  organization.  When  we  have  determined  this  standard,  we  may  easily  see 
how  far  it  has  been  followed  or  abandoned  by  succeeding  Churches.  Many  miscon- 
ceptions arise  in  Church  history  from  the  failure  to  stop  at  this  point,  and  to 
thoroughly  weigh  tlie  divine  history  of  the  Churches  before  proceeding  to  consider 
the  human.  It  is  lamentable  to  witness  the  haste  and  light  treatment  with  which 
this  age  is  passed  over,  as  if  the  New  Testament  history  were  but  the  starting-point 
in  the  great  story,  to  be  disposed  of  as  casually  as  possible ;  whereas,  it  is  the  end  of 
all  controversy  in  the  matter  of  Church  life. 

In  this  way  the  course  of  Church  history  is  inverted,  and  the  human  record  is 
made  to  falsify  and  cover  up  the  divine.  The  true  historian  must  fix  his  eye  stead- 
fastly at  the  beginning  of  his  work,  upon  the  New  Testament  pattern,  and  never 
remove  it ;  because  it  is  the  only  guide  to  truth  in  every  age,  and  the  only  authority 
of  ultimate  appeal.  An  exact  likeness,  therefore,  of  the  Apostolic  Churches  should 
be  sought  at  the  outset,  as  the  test  to  which  every  position  and  fact  in  the  whole 
investigation  must  be  brought  back  and  tried.  We  never  can  be  wrong  in 
following  the  pattern  found  in  the  Constitution  of  the  Apostolic  Churches; 
for  here  we  find  an  imperious  shield  for  the  true  ecclesiastical  rights  of  all 
Christian  men.  If  we  make  the  Apostolic  Churches  the  mere  stepping-stone  to 
the  investigation,  instead  of  finding  in  them  the  standard  of  all  true  fact,  how 
can  we  measure  our  way  through  the  centuries,  or  exhibit  their  wide  differences, 
without  confounding  all  their  real  distinctions?  Hatch  goes  to  the  root  of 
this  matter  when  he  says :  '  The  virtue  of  a  canonist  is  the  vice  of  a  historian. 
Historical  science,  like  all  science,  is  the  making  of  distinctions;  and  its  primary  dis- 
tinctions are  those  of  time  and  space.  .  .  .  The  history  of  Christianity  covers  more 
than  three  fourths  of  the  whole  period  of  the  recorded  history  of  the  Western 
World.  It  goes  back,  year  by  year,  decade  by  decade,  century  by  century,  for  more 
than  fifty  generations.  If  we  compare  what  we  are  and  what  we  believe,  the  insti- 
tutions under  whicli  we  live,  the  literature  which  we  prize,  the  ideas  for  which  we 


'/•///•;   IXFM.I.IliLE    GUIDE.  116 

contend  in  this  present  year,  with  tlie  beliefs,  the  institutions,  the  literature,  the 
prevalent  ideas  of  a  Inuich-eil  years  ago,  we  shall  begin  to  realize  the  difference 
between  one  century-  and  another  of  these  eighteen  centuries  of  Christian  history. 
The  special  difficulty  of  studying  any  such  period  of  history  arises  from  the  fact  that 
the  centuries  which  are  remote  from  our  own,  seem,  in  the  long  perspective,  to  be 
almost  indistinguishable.  .  .  .  Ectwcen  the  third  century  and  the  fourth,  for  exam- 
ple, or  between  the  fourth  and  the  fifth,  there  seems  to  all  but  scholars  who  have 
trod  the  ground,  to  be  a  hardly  appreciable  difference.  If  a  writer  quotes  in  the 
same  breath  Eusebius  and  Sozomen,  or  St.  Hilary  of  Poitiers  and  St.  Leo  the  Great, 
lie  seems  to  many  persons  to  be  quoting  coeval  or  nearly  coeval  authorities.  And 
yet,  in  fact,  between  each  of  these  authorities  there  is  an  interval  of  a  hundred  years 
of  life  and  movement,  of  great  religious  controversies,  of  important  ecclesiastical 
changes.  The  point  is  not  mei-ely  one  of  accuracy  of  date ;  it  is  rather  that  usages 
and  events  have  at  one  time  as  compared  with  another  a  widely  varying  significance. 
For  different  centuries  have  been  marked  in  ecclesiastical  as  in  social  history  by 
great  differences  in  the  drift  and  tendency  of  ideas.' ' 

For  these  reasons,  if  for  none  other,  we  must  bring  every  event  in  whatever 
century,  every  drift,  teiidency  and  change,  of  whatever  character,  back  to  tiie  law 
and  the  testimony  of  the  New  Testament,  and  must  measure  it  by  tlie  life  and  letter 
of  the  Apostolic  Churches,  or  we  shall  run  the  risk  of  substituting  the  vile  for  the 
precious  and  the  spurious  for  the  genuine,  in  Christian  history.  The  foundation 
principles  then,  that  we  find  in  these  divine  organizations,  are  these,  namely : 

I.  That  the  Word  of  God  w.vs  tiieik  only  Rule  of  Faith  and  Practice. 
During  the  last  half  of  the  first  century,  this  rule  was  perfected  by  the  com- 
pletion of  the  New  Testament.  From  A.  D.  52  to  the  close  of  the  century,  each 
Epistle  was  received  as  authority  by  the  Church  or  person  to  whom  it  was  sent ; 
and  copies  were  used  by  interchange  amongst  the  Churches,  until  their  contents 
became  generally  known,  and  took  rank  with  the  Old  Testament.  Of  necessity,  the 
remoter  Churches  did  not  possess  all  the  hooks,  and  some  might  not  have  reached 
them  until  they  were  collected  in  one  ciinoii.  All  their  doctrine  and  practice  were 
gained  either  from  the  Old  Testament,  from  the  direct  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
orally,  or  by  these  new  books.  The  first  century  presents  Christianity  in  its  fullness 
and  freshness,  its  variety  and  unity ;  and  all  its  revelations  ceased  with  the  death  of 
the  Apostle  John.  After  the  order  of  nature,  the  New  Testament  gave  the  Apos- 
tolic Churches  no  systematic  formula  of  doctrine,  but  left  a  happy  liberty  in  its 
expression  which  reached  the  truth  in  other  ways.  It  was  centuries  afterward  before 
any  thing  was  known  of  scientific  theology ;  so  that  millions  of  souls  came  to  the 
full  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  without  this.  A  systematic  theology  has  been  helpful  to 
many  thinkers,  while  others  have  been  hindered  thereby  in  reaching  Christ  person- 
ally, because  they  could  see  only  so  much  of  him  as  was  discernible  through  the 
system,   which   was  largely  a   net-work    <if  iiunuui   propositions.     Perhaps,  this    '\f- 


116  NO   JIUMAN  SUHSTITUTK. 

unavoidable,  aslmiiian  intci'piTtati.ms  (•(.iistantlv  (■liaiii;-c;  hut  tlic  Ajiostolie  Clmrehcs 
were  foundea  on  in-imarv  trutli,  as  it  is  Iniind,  and  ever  will  he  fuuiul,  in  the 
Inspired  Text. 

Words  without  I'.ihk'  kuowlc.lgc  iiavc  s(.  often  .lai-keurd  New  Testament  ciuu- 
sels,  tliat  it  is  wonderful  that  men  have  discovered  Christ  at  all  as  a  living  Saviour, 
by  the  teaching  of  many  modern  Churches.  But  often,  a  true  heart  takes  men 
farther  Christ-ward  than  even  a  true  head  ;  and  so  Bible  truth  is  ever  proving 
its  diviinty  hy  doing  this  giTut  saving  work.  But  still,  wherever  a  human  staiKhird 
is  set  up  in  place  of  tin'  Scriptui-cs,  it  is  always  more  jealously  jireserved  than  the 
teachings  of  revelation.  A  lanatic  who  corrupts  the  word  of  Cod  is  more  heartily 
feliowshiped  by  many  modern  Churches,  than  he  who  ojiposes  human  decrees  and 
inventions  against  the  Scriptut'e  ;  while  he  who  insists  upon  obedience  to  their 
authority,  excites  the  greatest  possiMe  oihum,  because,  to  do  this  wounds  the  pride 
of  man.  Men  pay  a  great  price  for  saying,  that  the  right  to  legislate  for  Christian 
Churches  belongs  to  Chri.st  alone.  Yet,  he  has  given  his  law  in  the  Bible,  and  every 
form  of  Church  life  that  is  not  in  accordance  with  that  law,  directly  sets  it  aside. 
So  then,  in  a  very  important  sense,  it  partakes  of  disloyalty  to  say  that  Christ  has 
not  made  sufficient  provision  for  his  Churches  in  the  Scriptures,  in  every  thing  that 
atfects  their  well-being. 

We  have  seen  that  tlie  only  appeal  made  to  authority  by  the  founders  of  the 
Apostolic  Churches  was,  to  the  truth  as  it  is  found  in  tlie  ( )ld  Totanicut,  the 
teachings  and  acts  of  Christ,  and  the  direct  inspirations  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  In  the 
Ei)istle  to  the  Hebrews  alone,  there  are  thirty-four  quotations  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, wdiile  in  that  to  the  liomans  there  are  forty-eight.  Christ  and  his  Apostles 
always  appeal  directly  to  the  Law,  the  Prophets,  and  the  Psalms,  and  to  their  co-rela- 
tive sentiments,  facts  and  pi-ecedents,  where  they  are  applicable ;  and  where  they 
are  not  applicable,  a  new  revelation  was  granted.  They  always  cite  the  Old 
Testament  as  the  direct  word  of  God,  or  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  such  forms  of 
speech  as  these:  'It  is  written,'  'God  says,'  or  'Isaiah,'  or  'Moses  saith.'  The 
Apostolic  Churches  were  never  allowed  to  fall  into  the  dangerous  jiopular 
iU)tions  of  modern  times,  namely :  That  all  I'eligious  teacliing  is  simply  an 
opinion,  which  haj.pens  to  be  lield  diiferently  by  certain  Iwdies  of  men.  Such 
an  assumption  makes  mere  (.'liurch  doctrine  a  [lowerful  weapon,  and  gives  life  to 
all  that  falls  under  the  sacramental  system  ;  which  itself  is  based  upon  human 
dogma  and  patristic  belief.  This  makes  the  Church  and  not  the  Bihle  the  standard 
of  faith  and  obedience;  and  men  come  to  be  satisfied  with  the  substitution  after 
this  form  :  '  We  believe  the  whole  revealed  dogma  as  taught  by  the  Apostles — as 
connnitted  by  them  to  the  Church — and  as  declared  by  the  Church  to  us.'  And, 
it  follows,  of  course,  that  the  Scriptures  were  intended  to  prove  doctrine,  but  not 
to  teach  it,  for  that  the  Church  is  to  teach  it  through  its  creeds  and  formulas.  This 
doctrine  shifts  the  whole  standard  of  authority  from  the  Bible  to  antiquity,  makes 


NO  SUPPLEMENT    TO    TUK   IllliLE.  I  1 7 

;uiti(|uity  the  true  exponent  of  Cliristiaiiity,  ;niil  t'orliid.s  ;ill  u])pe;il  from  its  traditions 
to  divine  authority.  Thiis,  tradition  nullities  the  law  of  Christ,  by  making  it  a 
dream,  a  sentiment  and  finally  a  niocker\-. 

Till'  \ery  reverse  of  this  was  the  law  in  the  Apostolic  Churches.  In  tlie  hands 
of  this  human,  mystical  and  sacramental  princi])le,  sacraments  become  tlie 
expression  of  great  truths  in  human  language  ;  and  the  doctrine  is  fostered  that 
material  phenomena  become  the  instrument  of  communicating  unseen  things,  to 
whicli  the  mind  of  man  is  unequal ;  as  if  water  could  2)urge  away  the  pollutions  of 
sin,  or  bread  and  wine  could  give  eternal  life,  and  so  nature  becomes  a  parable,  and 
revelation  an  allegory.  The  inevitable  consequence  is,  a  Church  armed  with 
awfully  mysterious  sacraments  and  rites  as  channels  of  saving  grace,  and  with  a 
narrow  religious  teaching  founded  on  the  will  of  the  Church,  as  she  chooses  to  define 
it  from  time  to  time.  After  that,  of  course,  the  Eule  of  Faith  is  found  in  the  Cath- 
olic teaching  of  the  early  centuries — in  the  decrees  of  councils — -and  in  sanctioned 
usages.  At  this  point,  the  right  of  private  judgment  is  entirely  cut  oft",  because  a 
new  power  has  been  created  on  earth  which  is  competent  to  push  aside  the  indi- 
vidual right  to  reason  and  judge  about  the  demands  of  Divine  Trutli,  as  its  facts 
and  exactions  assert  themselves.  Tiiat  right  once  yielded,  the  Church  claims  to 
judge  infallibly  for  all  men  on  all  religious  questions  ;  and  it  must  be  obeyed  with- 
out a  word.  Independency  of  mind  being  thus  destroyed,  paralysis  of  the  mtellect 
follows,  the  courage  of  the  soul  dies  with  its  liberty,  discussion  becomes  dangerous  ; 
and  so,  all  must  submit  and  be  silent,  as  it  is  safe  to  yield  to  absolute  authority 
where  one  dare  not  dissent.  The  final  consequence  is,  that  it  becomes  a  crime  to 
claim  the  personal  right  to  obey  that  truth  whicli  rests  on  the  sole  authority  of  the 
Inspired  Word. 

Yet,  this  fact  is  perfectly  clear,  namely :  That  the  New  Testament  contains  all 
that  entered  into  the  faith  and  practice  of  the  Apostolic  Churches.  "Whether  it 
cotitains  little  <ir  much,  it  covers  all  that  they  had,  and  all  that  we  have,  which  has 
any  claim  un  the  Churches  of  Christ.  It  is  the  only  revealed  record  of  Christian 
truth.  It  is  stamped  with  the  divine  character,  and  it  utterly  excludes  every  species 
of  authority  from  uninspired  sources.  Its  authority  stands  out  alone,  and  will 
allow  of  no  parallel  or  supplementary  authority  whatever,  however  venerable.  The 
most  revered  antiquity  stands  on  purely  human  ground,  without  any  thing  in  com- 
mon with  the  New  Testament,  when  that  antiquity  is  not  in  the  Holy  Book.  The 
age  of  a  custom  is  one  thing,  its  nature  is  another.  The  question  of  time  merely 
has  nothing  to  do  with  authority.  When  the  line  is  drawn  between  the  close  of 
insjiiration  and  all  after-time,  what  follows  stands  upon  another  and  a  lower  level, 
and  can  be  no  authority  whatever.  Even  the  Roman  Catholic  body  admits  this,  in 
the  claim  that  inspiration  is  still  needful  and  is  continued  in  her  deliberations  and 
decisions ;  hence,  that  they  arc  of  equal  value  with  the  New  Testament.  The 
purest  and  bust  of  the  ancient  fathers,  being  outside  of  the  finality  of  I'ible  inspira- 


1  1 8  THE    CHURCH. 

tion,  are  outside  forever;  ami.  foi- llic  |iiii-p(iscs  of  antliority  are  no  nearer  to  the 
fountain  of  truth  tli;iii  .•irc  tlic  iii\c>ti^af(ii^  ul'  (Jiir  day.  As  witnesses  to  tiie  facts 
which  occurred  in  thuir  (jwii  tinirs,  tliry  aiv  to  lie  prized,  as  trutliful  men  wlio  de- 
posed to  facts,  but  nothing' -e  ;  loi-  then  as  now  the  denuvnd  was  inexorable,  'To 

the  law  and  to  the  testimony.'  Wlieivver  tlie  fathers  deiiect  from  tlii.s  standard, 
their  testimony  is  of  no  more  nor  less  value  than  that  of  other  uninspired  men. 

II.  In  tue  Apostolic  Aoe.  tiik  ('iukcu  was  a  lolai,  jjouv  ;  a.\d  E.\rii 
Chubch  was  entikely  independent  of  every  otuek  Cuukcu.  The  simple  tei'm 
''Ecclesia''  designates  one  congregation,  or  organized  assembly,  and  no  more,  this 
being  its  literal  and  primal  meaning.  Our  Lord  himself  designated  such  a  society 
by  the  Aramaic  word  (jJih'iUo,  meaning  a  congregation;  answering  to  the  Greek 
^Ecclexia,^  whicii  is  translated  ijy  it  in  the  Aranuiic  version  of  the  Old  and  j*Vew 
Testaments.  These  words  are  exactly  equivalent  in  meaning.-  The  Septuagint 
renders  the  Hebrew  word  for  congregation  by  the  word  ^Ecclesia,'  where  it  desig- 
nates three  specific  bodies  :  1.  A  whole  people  collectively.  Ezra  ii,  64,  'The  whole 
congreyat'ion  together  was  forty-two  thousand  three  hundred  and  three-score.'  2.  A 
general  assembly  of  the  people.  '  A  very  great  congregation.'  Neh.  v,  7.  '  In  the 
day  of  the  assembly.'  Deut.  ix,  10.  3.  A  company  of  persons  associated  for  religious 
purposes.  1  Sam.  xix,  20.  '  Company  of  the  prophets.'  Psa.  Ixviii,  26.  '  In  com- 
panies they  bless  God.'  Joel  ii,  16.  '  Sanctify  the  congregation  ;'  '  Solemn  assem- 
bly.' Lev.  xxiii,  36,  and  elsewhere,  is  the  translation  of  a  different  word.  This 
w^ord  '■Ecclesia''  was  borrowed  from  the  Greek  translation  and  naturalized  into 
Christianity.  Jesus  and  his  Apostles  used  it  with  the  strictest  regard  to  its  etymol- 
ogy, and  if  we  would  catch  their  meaning  in  its  use,  we  must  interpret  it  by  its 
primitive  sense.  Its  contemporary  use  in  common  secular  life  answered  exactly  to  its 
sacred  use.  When  Jesus  first  used  it  to  characterize  an  association  of  Christian 
believers,  all  sorts  of  voluntary  societies  were  common  throughout  the  Eoman 
Empire,  in  the  form  of  clubs  and  guilds,  for  trade,  sports,  finance,  literature  and 
mutual  help  ;  all  of  which  were  known  as  the  'Ecclesia'  of  those  times.  Whether 
secular  bodies  existed  in  Palestine  in  our  Lord's  day,  under  this  name,  is  not  known, 
but  the  synagogues  were  known  by  this  title.  Amongst  the  Greco-Romans,  liow- 
ever,  the  large  number  and  importance  of  secular  bodies  called  '■Ecclesia^  demanded 
special  governmental  legislation,  defining  their  powers  and  limits,  as  a  guard  to  the 
public  weal.  After  a  time  the  Roman  authorities  came  so  to  understand  the 
primary  constitution  of  the  Christian  congregations,  as  to  l)ring  them  under  the 
general  law  wliich  regulated  all  other  voluntary  associations.' 

When  our  Lord  appropriated  this  secular  word  to  a  sacred  body,  he  threw  no 
sacred  meaning  into  the  term  itself,  but  retained  it  in  its  common  application.  The 
popular  '■Ecclesia^  in  a  free  Greek  city,  was  formed  of  those  who  were  selected  or 
called  out,  under  the  law^s  of  citizenship  for  the  transaction  of  public  business. 
These  qualified  voters  were  convoked  by  the  common  criers,  and  formed  the  legal 


CIIVRCn  INDEPENDENCY.  119 

assembly  for  deliljci'ation  and  decision  in  civic  affairs,  and  their  solemn  decisions 
were  binding.  Of  all  the  Greek  terms  which  designate  a  calm  and  deliberative  con- 
vocation, this  was  the  most  appropriate  to  characterize  a  body  of  Christians,  charged 
by  their  Master  with  concerns  of  vast  nioiiaiit.  Other  words  wonld  have  carried 
with  them  the  idea  of  a  crowd,  of  a  show,  or  of  a  [jurely  governmental  assembly, 
such  as  the  Senate  ;  having  other  elements  than  that  merely  of  a  properly  organized 
assembly.  Certain  passages  of  the  New  Testament  have  been  wrested  by  the  neces- 
sity of  a  hierarchy,  to  mean  that  all  separate  Christian  congregations  are  grouped  as 
an  aggregate  under  the  sense  of  this  word.  Christ  is  said  to  have  founded  liis 
"■Ecelcsia '  upon  a  rock,  to  be  its  Head,  and  to  give  it  pastors  and  teachers ;  but  this 
interpretation  is  foreign  to  the  scope  of  the  word,  and  loses  sight  entirely  of  the 
purely  tropical  sense  couched  in  such  passages.  The  trope  must  be  expressed  in 
exact  accord  with  the  literal  sense  from  wliich  it  is  boi'rowed.  When  Stephen 
speaks  of  the  ^Ecclesia''  in  the  wilderness,  the  term  evidently  means  the  whole 
people  assembled  at  the  Tabernacle,  as  the  commonwealth  was  not  many  assemblies, 
but  only  one  gathered  in  the  male  population.  So,  when  the  New  Testament 
speaks  of  the  entire  Christian  community  as  one  '  Ecclesia,'  it  simply  uses  a  common 
synecdoche,  by  which  the  whole  is  put  for  a  part  or  a  part  for  the  whole,  as  the 
case  may  be  ;  the  genus  is  put  here  for  many  individuals. 

Consequently,  when  Jesus  is  called  the  Founder,  tiie  Head,  the  Redeemer  of 
his  '■Ecclesia^  it  is  clearly  meant,  that  what  he  is  to  one  Christian  congregation  he  is 
to  all  such  congregations,  the  same  severally  and  collectively.  Exactly  the  same 
collective  figure  is  used  of  a  single  Christian  assembly,  which  is  made  up  of  many 
individuals.  It  'is  one  body,'  putting  the  one  for  the  many,  because  eacii  congrega- 
tion is  '  the  flock,'  the  '  family,'  the  '  household '  of  Christ,  and  what  is  true  of  each 
such  assembly  is  equally  true  of  all.  It  follows,  then,  that  the  New  Testament 
nowhere  speaks  of  the  '  Universal,'  '  Catholic,'  or  '  Invisible  Church,'  as  indicating  a 
merely  ideal  existence,  separate  from  a  real  and  local  body.  There  can  be  no  dis- 
tinction between  the  Church  and  the  members  who  constitute  the  Church.  Such  a 
generalization  is  a  mere  ideality,  incapable  of  organization  under  laws,  doctrines, 
ordinances,  and  discipline.  No  man  can  be  a  member  of  such  a  body,  because  it  can 
assume  no  responsibility  either  to  God  or  man  ;  it  can  have  no  representation,  and 
no  man  can  be  a  member  of  an  assembly  which  it  is  impossible  to  represent.  Every- 
where, the  Scripture  '■Ecclesia '  is  a  tangible  body,  numbering  so  many  by  count, 
properly  local  and  organized,  and  each  congregation  is  as  absolutely  a  Church  as  if 
there  were  not  another  on  earth.  But  as  there  are  more  than  one,  and  each  is  his 
'  body,'  his  '  flock  ; '  his  '  Church  '  is  made  up  of  every  congregation,  because  he  is 
equally  the  '  Head'  and  '  Shepherd  '  in  each.  The  same  thought  which  impels  Paul 
to  say,  that  believers  'are  members  of  each  other,'  leads  him  to  say  of  himself,  per- 
sonally, the  same  thing  that  he  says  of  every  Christian  congregation :  '  He  loved 
»/«',  and  gave  himself  for  me'     So,  he  says  to  the  several  Hebrew  Christian  congre- 


120  CIIJ'UCIl   GOVKHyMENT. 

gations  :  'Ye  arc  come  to  a  full  as>ciiilily.  to  tlic  A'vA,v/V«  of  tlie  lirst-horn  whose 
names  are  cnrollcil  in  licavcn/  It  is  dilKciilr  to  divc^st  tlie  iiiiii.l  (>f  the  merely 
Inimaii  an<l  mnderu  tliought,  tliat  aggrcuatccl  ecu- ivgations  only  form  the  body 
of  wliicli  Jcsii>  is  the  Head;  but  when  this  i-  dime  successfully,  inmicdiately  the 
|>rimitive  idea  of  one  congregation  attaches  to  tlie  term  Church.  A  local  organ- 
ization fully  expresses  the  meaning  of  the  word  Ei'r/i. •<!((,  wherever  it  is  found  in 
Holy  Writ. 

In  haniioiiy  with  this  thought,  as  Jesus  and  his  Apostles  expressed  it,  the  Apos- 
tolic congregations  ai'c  always  s[)oken  of  in  the  New  Testament  as  so  many  separate 
Churclies;  and  groups  of  sncli  coiigivgati..ns  are  designated  as,  tlie  Churches  in 
Asia,  Achaia,  or  ^Macedonia,  in  tlie  phiral  numlier.  Our  Engli^li  word  Church  is 
from  tlic  Saxon  /■//■//■,  changing  tlie  -■  hard  to  ,■//  ,•  and  this  woi'd.  as  the  Scotch  use 
it,  is  from  the  (ireek  ////•/<'*/  ,///v«,  -house  <,f  the  Lord.'  Even  the  word  Church, 
then,  uncorrupted,  is  not  a  term  which  expresses  a  sensibility  or  a  figment,  but  a 
material  substance ;  that  is,  an  assembly  of  rational  beings  among  whom  God 
dwells. 

As  to  government,  no  man  can  pro|ierly  say  that  Christ  laid  down  no  definite 
laws  for  the  government  of  his  Churches,  simply  because  he  did  not  give  those  laws 
a  prescriptive  form.  Oneness  of  faith  and  practice  worked  out  the  same  results  in 
all  those  Churches,  and  these  are  recorded  in  the  New  Testament  as  matters  of  fact. 
In  conserving  true  Christian  principles  they  needed  no  more  than  this  in  attaining 
their  status,  and  what  more  do  we  need  in  reaching  ours?  Christ's  positive  law  was 
written  in  these  facts,  just  as  the  law  of  redemption  is  written  in  the  facts  of  his 
birth,  life,  death  and  resurrection.  In  liotli  cases,  the  facts  embody  his  law  for 
every  age.  In  their  vital  regeneration  as  believing  souls,  and  in  their  uniform 
organization,  he  gave  the  law  of  their  constitution,  to  be  kept,  as  changeless  in  the 
united  body  as  the  saving  life  was  to  be  preserved  in  the  individual  member.  He 
established  his  doctrines  on  divine  principles,  without  the  formula  of  a  creed,  and  in 
like  manner,  the  Holy  Spirit  instituted  the  order  and  discipline  of  the  Churches  on 
divine  principles,  without  a  code  of  formal  precepts.  In  the  framing  of  doctrines, 
the  converting  of  members  and  the  constitution  of  Churches,  he  followed  the  same 
order.  Tlie  model  of  the  New  Testament  Church  i>  found  in  what  he  made  it,  in 
every  portion  of  the  total.  A  skilled  naturalist  takt's  the  separate  limbs  and  joints 
of  a  fossil,  and  by  these,  will  give  us  its  entire  structure  and  functions,  until  we 
have  an  outline  of  the  perfect  organism.  So,  by  carefully  following  the  unfoldiugs 
of  the  New  Testament,  any  man  may  trace  the  entire  order  of  the  New  Testament 
Churches,  as  they  reached  completion  from  the  hand  of  their  .Vutlior  and  Finisher. 
They  were  the  work  of  Christ,  wrought  througli  the  Apostles,  and  not  the  product 
of  Apostolic  plans.  Thus,  as  disconnected  stars  hanging  over  a  dark  sea  show  the 
doubting  mariner  his  course,  so  the  books  of  the  New  Testament,  liy  their  conjoint 
rays,  give  us  a  unity  of  truth  as  our  guide  in  the  matter  of  Church  governnieut. 


cnxanEnArioxAL  Rfcinrs.  121 

Tho  i-iglit  of  the  Churches  in  tlic  Apot^tulic  Age  to  luunagc  all  their  internal 
aifairs,  arose  primarily  from  the  fact  tiiat  each  eongi-egatioii  was  perfect  in  itself  for 
all  the  purposes  of  its  own  Church  life.  Whatever  fraternal  sympathy  and  fellow- 
shij)  it  might  crave,  it  was  in  itself  the  visible  Church  of  Christ,  and  complete  for 
all  the  ends  of  a  visible  Church.  Of  course,  this  Apostolic  idea  is  at  variance  with 
all  the  popidar  notions  of  Church  life  as  it  exists  to-day  ;  but  it  is  no  less  Apostolic 
on  that  account.  Well  does  Dr.  Carson  remark,  '  As  to  a  visible  Universal  Church, 
it  exists  nowhere  but  in  the  ideas  of  polemical  writers  and  the  absurd  distinctions  of 
scholastic  divinity.'^  An  invisible  Church  is  a  purely  indefinite  and  mythical  idea. 
How  can  we  'hear'  the  voice  of  an  impalpable  body  of  men  ?  The  New  Testament 
never  S2)eaks  of  all  Christians  in  all  localities,  as  if  they  belonged  to  one  outward 
and  visible  Church,  which  forms  one  corporate  body.  This  is  a  pure  myth  existing 
only  in  the  imagination.  But  the  Apostolic  Churches  were  local  bodies  that  could 
be  found  and  known  and  governed  ;  and  the  wording  of  the  New  Testament  is 
very  minute  on  this  point.  Hence,  these  local  Churches  are  never  designated  as 
the  Church  of  God  of  this  or  that  district,  province  or  nation,  but  the  Church  'in,' 
or  '  at '  such  and  such  a  place.  Moreover,  the  Churches  in  all  localities  were  organ- 
ized after  the  same  order ;  and  there  is  no  recorded  instance  of  any  one  of  them 
which  was  denied  the  right  to  regulate  all  its  affairs. 

Not  only  was  Ecclesia  a  word  in  common  use,  as  has  been  shown,  to  express  a 
civil  assembl}',  or  association,  as  these  were  formed  in  all  cities  and  circles,  but  it 
expressed  a  special  cult,  and  often  took  a  religious  cast  amongst  the  pagans.  Ulhorn 
says  :  '  The  burial  clubs,  the  guilds  of  artisans,  merchants,  working  men  of  various 
sorts,  all  of  which  gained  increasing  importance  to  society  during  the  Empire,  bore 
at  the  same  time  a  religious  tone.  Each  had  some  god  or  other  as  a  patron,  and 
was  instituted  in  part  for  his  worship.  His  image  and  altar  stood  in  their  place  of 
assembly,  and  every  meeting  began  with  a  sacrifice.''  We  clearly  see,  then,  that  when 
the  divine  Founder  of  the  Apostolic  Churches  incorporated  this  word  Ecclesia  into 
Christianity,  he  intended  the  usual  sense  of  the  word  to  limit  its  application  in  its 
new  sphere  to  a  local  body  of  men.  The  only  invisible  Church  that  exists  is  em- 
bodied in  the  visible,  local,  and  self-governing  Church. 

The  Eomish  figment  of  an  impersonal  and  invisible  Church  never  existed  until 
the  fourth  century,  when  it  was  created  in  order  to  bring  the  local  Churches  under 
the  yoke  of  an  irresponsible  and  arbitrary  power,  at  the  utter  sacrifice  of  those 
divine  rights,  with  which  Christ,  the  rightful  Head,  had  endowed  the  local  Churches. 
The  local  Church  was  the  only  Church  known  to  the  Apostles  themselves,  the  only 
body  which  they  ever  addressed,  and  which  they  knew  collectively  as  the  '  Churches 
sciittered  abroad.'  The  Church  at  lionie  was  made  up  of  those  who  lived  there, 
who  were  '  beloved  of  God,  called  to  be  saints ' — that  at  Corinth  of  '  them  that  are 
sanctified  in  Christ  Jesus' — and  the  Churcii  at  Ephesus  'of  the  faithful  in  Christ 
Jesus,'  who   lived  there.     Even   those  who   attended  worship  with   those  Churches, 


122  LOCAL    CIWIICII  DIHCJPUyE. 

but  were  not  numbered  with  the  believers,  had  nothing  to  do  with  their  govern- 
ment. Oidy  those  who  were  born  of  God,  and  met  in  any  one  phice  for  all  the  pur- 
])os('s  of  a  Church  under  obedience  to  Christ's  law,  were  the  Christian  Church  in 
tliat  place.  There  may  have  been  more  than  one  Church  in  a  given  city  ;  but  there 
is  not  hi  11--  ill  the  x^ew  Testament  to  show,  that  one  central  body  in  that  city  gov- 
erned all  its  Clmivlies,  if  there  was  in., re  tlian  one. 

The  power  of  discipline  beiii-  lodged  in  the  local  Church,  all  its  members  took 
part  in  its  enforcement.  The  ( 'orintliian  case  of  incest  is  markedly  in  point  here. 
1  (!or.  V,  4,  recpiires  the  whole  Churcli  to  meet  and  put  the  offender  away,  'when 
ye  arc  gathered  together,'  under  the  unseen  headsliip  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  when 
the  offender  repented  and  was  readmitted  to  fellowship,  the  same  sovereign 
tribunal  which  pronounced  his  sentence,  pardoned  and  restored  him.  2  Cor.  ii,  6. 
The  words  which  express  the  rights  of  these  Churches,  harmonize  with  the  princi- 
ples on  which  they  were  formed.  The  Epistles  are  not  addressed  to  their  officers, 
but  to  the  Churches  themselves,  and  none  of  these  letters  either  deny  the  i-ight  of 
self-government  to  the  Churches,  or  instruct  another  class  or  body  to  regard  itself  as 
higher  than  the  Churches  ;  but  every  thing  was  to  be  done  by  their  will.  The 
Churches  held  the  supreme  place  in  all  things,  each  being  expected  to  rectify  its 
own  evils ;  and  no  outside  power  is  appealed  to,  to  do  this,  nor  is  the  local  Church 
itself  referred  to  others  for  their  supervision.  There  was  nothing  that  partook  in 
the  slightest  degree  of  an  Apostolic  liierarchy,  and  no  one  Church  ranked  al)Ove 
another  in  control.  Each  Church  was  a  society,  a  family,  a  republic  in  itself,  form- 
ing a  perfect  sovereignty  for  the  ends  of  self-government.  Every  foundation  prin- 
ciple was  kid  down  indeed  by  the  precepts  or  example  of  Christ  and  the  Holy 
Spirit,  or  by  the  Apostles,  and  nothing  could  be  enforced  without  this  sanction.  So 
then,  no  legislative  power  was  given  to  them,  but  only  the  power  of  administration. 
In  minor  and  secondary  matters,  such  judgment  and  prudence  might  be  followed 
as  were  in  harmony  with  the  principles  of  Christ's  law,  but  these  were  not  to  be 
enforced  as  obligatory,  binding,  or  indispensable.  They  settled  every  question 
affecting  their  own  welfare  by  an  appeal  to  the  truth,  and  without  appeal  to  any 
other  authority.  It  could  not  be  that  these  powers  were  left  anywhere  but  inviola- 
bly in  the  local  Church,  in  which,  by  reason  of  its  purely  local  character,  no  sacer- 
dotal element  could  exist.  There  was  no  external  bond  of  central  unity  between 
the  Churches,  which  made  them  dependent  in  the  slightest  degree  upon  each  other. 
They  nevei-  met  in  a  general  association,  synod,  or  assembly  of  any  sort  up  to  the 
close  of  the  first  century,  though  they  might  have  consulted  with  each  other  if  they 
had  chosen  to  do  so  ;  exactly  as  the  Church  at  Antiocli  consulted  with  the  Church 
at  Jerusalem,  purely  for  fraternal  purposes.  But,  on  the  contrary,  they  each  fol- 
lowed the  law  of  perfect  liberty,  holding  one  another  in  sisterly  reverence,  having  a 
common  faith,  cherishing  a  common  love,  and  knowing  no  other  constraint  than  to 
keep  the  law  of  Clirist,  each  amongst  themselves. 


PASTORS   CnOSEN  BY    TUE   CnUIiCIIES.  1  2& 

III.  Each  ok  tiik  Apostolic  Chukches  elected  its  own  i'astoks  imhkcilv, 
IN  THE  EXERCISE  OF  TiiEiK  FKEE  SUFFRAGE.  Tliis  thcy  (lid  bj  stretcliiug  forth  tlieir 
liaiuls  as  the  sign  by  which  they  cast  their  vote,  as  many  deliberative  bodies  now 
east  their  vote  by  tiu'  uplifted  hand.  This  was  tin;  power  of  ordination,  which 
was  lodged  in  the  local  Church,  which  ordination  consi.'-ted  in  their  election.  In 
the  Apostolic  Churches  ordination  did  in  no  way  consist  in  the  laying  on  of  hands  ; 
for  the  appointment  of  a  man  to  the  pastoral  office  w'as  his  ordination,  with  or  with- 
out this.  The  laying  on  of  hands  was  often  connected  with  the  setting  of  any 
one  apart  for  ofHce,  or  for  a  special  service,  but  not  always,  in  either  of  these 
cases.  Our  Lord  'ordained'  his  Apostles,  but  not  by  the  laying  on  of  hands. 
He  observed  this  form  when  he  healed  the  sick  and  blessed  little  children,  be- 
cause both  these  acts  couched  a  special  benediction.  For  the  same  reason  it  accom- 
panied the  bestowment  of  supernatural  gifts,  as  when  I'ctcr  and  .I<iliii  laid  tlicir 
hands  on  the  Samaritan  believers,  and  they  received  the  Holy  Spirit  (Acts  viii,  17), 
and  as  when  Timothy  received  the  same  'gift  given  tlii'ough  i)rophcsy,  with 
the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  eldership.'  1  Tim.  iv,  14.  So  Paul,  who  had 
long  been  an  Apostle,  and  had  preached  the  (iospel  abundantly,  received  the 
laying  on  of  hands  at  Antioch,  not  to  induct  him  into  the  (iospel  ministry, 
but  into  a  special  missionary  work  on  a  sj)ecial  missionary  journey.  Acts  xiii, 
2,  3.  Dr.  Hacket  says  on  this  passage :  '  Paul  was  already,  a  minister  and  an 
Apostle  (see  Gal.  i,  1,  seq.),  and  by  this  service  he  and  Barnabas  were  now  merely 
set  apart  for  the  accomplishment  of  a  specific  work.  They  were  summoned  to 
a  renewed  and  more  systematic  prosecution  of  the  enterprise  of  converting  the 
heathen.' 

Again,  sometimes  the  laying  on  of  hands  was  attended  by  prayer,  and  some- 
times it  was  not.  But  in  time  it  became  subject  to  abuses  in  common  with  other 
apostolic  practices,  some  of  which  have  continued  unto  this  day.  It  became,  in 
post-apostolic  times,  an  efficacious  accompaniment  of  baptism,  of  the  Supper,  of  the 
restoration  of  the  excommunicated,  and  of  the  ordained  to  the  work  of  the  ministry. 
In  fact,  it  was  perverted — made  a  superstitious  and  sacei'dotal  act ;  and  Cyprian 
did  not  scruple  to  say  of  the  baptized  what  the  hierarchy  now  says  of  ordination : 
'Receive  the  Holy  Ghost  through  our  prayer,  and  the  laying  on  of  our  hands.' 
When  hands  were  laid  on  deacons  and  elders,  or  on  men  set  aj)art  for  any  sjiecial 
work,  it  was  the  siz/n  of  their  appointment  only. 

In  the  election  of  a  pastor,  the  whole  Churcli  united  in  prayer  for  the  blessing 
of  God  upon  the  man  wliom  they  had  chosen  to  serve  them  ;  and  the  laying  on  of 
hands  by  the  presbytery  of  the  local  Church  publicly  attested  their  suffrages.  The 
elders  or  bishops  of  another  local  Church  had  no  right  to  interfere  in  the  matter.* 
The  man  selected  was  a  member  of  the  Church  in  which  he  was  to  exercise  over- 
eight.  But  so  far  from  the  laying  on  of  hands  imlicating  that  the  work  to  which 
the  Ch\irch  had  called  him    was   perpetual  and  changeles.s,  he   might  cease  to  be  the 


124  MF/rilOl)    OF   TllhUll  Kl.FA'TlON. 

pastor  of  that  Church  at  any  time,  and  liis  eU'ction  and  the  act  of  the  Clnirch  in  liis 
case  left  liini  where  tliey  found  him. 

The  fullest,  clearest  and  m..st  reliahle  areount  known  to  tlie  writer,  setting 
forth  this  whole  matter,  is  from  the  pen  of  tiie  learned  Dr.  (iill,  an<l  may  he  protit- 
ahly  quoted  here : 

'  Ejiapliras,  a  faithful  minister  of  Chi-ist  fni-  the  Chui-eli  at  Colosse,  is  said  to  be 
one  of  yiiu.  a  member  of  that  Ciiurch,  (\A.  i,  7,  and  iv,  li';  one  that  is  not  a  mem- 
ber of  a  Chui-ch  cannot  be  a  pastor  of  it.  ...  As  every  civil  society  ha,-  a  i  i^lit 
to  choose,  appoint  and  ordain  their  own  officers,  as  all  cities  and  tu\\ii>  cor|N.i'ate 
their  mayors  or  provosts,  aldermen,  burgesses,  etc.,  so  Churches,  wiiich  ai-e  religii.ius 
societies,  have  a  right  to  choose  and  oi-dain  their  own  otlicers,  and  which  ai'e 
ordained,  avToiq,for  them,  and  for  them  "/////  ,•  that  is,  tm-  each  particular  Ciiurch, 
and  not  another.'  Acts  xiv,  23.  The  election  and  call  of  tlieni,  with  their  accept- 
ance, is  ordination.  The  essence  of  ordination  lies  in  the  voluntary  choice  and  call 
of  the  people,  and  in  the  voluntary  acceptance  of  that  call  by  the  person  chosen  and 
called ;  for  this  affair  must  be  by  mutual  consent  and  argument,  which  joins  them 
together  as  pastor  and  people.  And  this  is  done  among  themselves ;  and  iiul)Iic 
ordination,  so  called,  is  no  other  than  a  declaration  of  that.  Election  and  ordination 
are  spoken  of  as  the  same  ;  the  latter  is  expressed  by  the  former.  .  .  .  Paul  and 
Barnabas  are  said  to  ordain  elders  in  everij  c'dij  ( Acts  xiv,  23),  or  to  choose  them ; 
that  is,  they  gave  orders  and  directions  to  every  Church,  as  to  the  choice  of  elders 
over  them  ;  for  ))ersons  sometimes  are  said  to  do  that  whicli  they  give  oi'ders  and 
directions  for  doing,  as  Moses  and  Solomon  with  respect  to  building  the  tabernacle 
and  temple,  though  done  by  others;  and  Moses  pai-ticularly  is  said  to  choose  the 
judges.  Exod.  xviii,  25.  The  choice  being  made  under  his  direction  and  guidance.' ' 

Gill  further  says  of  elections  in  tlie  Apostolic  Churches : 

'  This  choice  and  ordination  in  primitive  times  was  made  two  ways  :  by  casting 
lots  and  by  giving  votes,  signified  by  stretching  out  of  hands.  .  .  .  Ordinary  officers, 
as  elders  and  pastors  of  Churches,  were  chosen  and  ordained  by  the  votes  of  the 
people,  expressed  by  stretching  out  tlieir  hands ;  thus  it  is  said  of  the  Apostles, 
Acts  xiv,  23.  When  they  had  ordained  them  elders  in  every  Church,  x^tpo-ovelv. 
by  taking  the  suffrages  and  votes  of  the  members  of  the  Churches,  shown  by  tlie 
stretching  out  of  tlieir  hands,  as  the  word  signifies,  and  which  they  directed  them 
to,  and  upon  it  declared  the  elders  duly  elected  and  ordained.' 

But  he  explicitly  denies  that  there  was  any  imposition  of  hands  used  at  the 
ordination  of  elders  or  pastors  in  apostolic  times,  in  tliese  w^ords  : 

'No  instance  can  be  given  of  hands  being  laid  on  any  ordinary  minister,  pastor 
or  elder  at  his  ordination  ;  nor,  indeed,  of  hands  being  laid  on  any,  ujion  whatso- 
ever account,  but  by  extraordinary  persons;  nor  by  them  upon  any  ministers,  but 
extraordinary  ones;  and  even  then  not  at  and  for  the  ordination  of  them.' " 

He  also  claims  that  whatever  'gift'  was  bestowed  ujjon  Timothy,  no  'office' 
was  bestowed  upon  him  either  by  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  Paul  or  of  tlie  pres- 
bytery, but  that  the  whole  proceeding  was  extraordinary.  He  further  deprecates 
the  practice  as  '  needless '  at  the  present  day,  and  as  a  '  weakness.'  This,  however, 
he  gives  as  a  mere  opinion,  in  view  of  the  abuses  to  which  tlie  imposition  of  hands 
has  been  subjected,  and  not  as  an  authoritative  utterance  based  on  the  requirements 


ji  Scri 

ptuiv. 

In    kc 

never 

l.el.l    r, 

luncils, 

nation 

of  men 

r.i  tlie 

Cliurdi 

I  wliicli 

calls  a 

CllVnCII  FHEK   FU().\f    Tllh:  STATK.  128 

:)ing  witli  tlifsu  views,  huwevei',  the  Eiiii-lisli  Baptists  have 
nor,  as  a  custom,  used  the  imposition  of  hands  for  tlie  ordi- 
uinistry,  l)Ut  have  left  the  whole  matter  in  the  hands  of  tlie 
nan  to  this  work;  a  prerogative  which  Christ  lodged  in  that 
Cluirch,  and  which  all  the  Churches  on  earth  cannot  remove.  The  ordinary  Church 
may  invite  sister  Churches  to  advise  her,  and  assist  her  in  the  matter,  or  she  may 
dispense  with  tliis  as  she  pleases.  15ut  when  once  her  sister  Cliurches  avow  that 
there  is  something  defective  in  the  ordination  if  they  and  their  elders  or  presbyters 
are  not  called  in  to  assist,  on  the  pretense  that  men  are  ordained  for  a  '  denomi- 
nation,' and  not  for  an  individual  Church ;  they  introduce  a  new  element  into  the 
Gospel  system,  and  deliberately  rob  a  Gospel  Church  of  her  inalienable  rights.  If 
hands  must  be  laid  upon  a  pastor  when  he  is  first  chosen  to  serve  a  Church,  it  is  in- 
finitely bettor  to  repeat  that  act  every  time  that  he  changes  his  pastorate,  than  that 
outside  Churches  should  interfere  with  the  Gospel  rights  of  a  sister  Church  under  the 
pretense  of  fraternity.  Once  violate  this  principle  in  the  genius  of  the  Gospel,  as 
neighboring  pastors  and  Churches,  and  we  depart  therefrom,  as  much  as  any  priest, 
primate,  or  pope  whatever,  and  become  partakers  of  their  sin.  According,  then, 
to  the  New  Testament,  the  right  to  ordain  pastors  is  given  by  Christ  to  the  indi- 
vidual Church  which  calls  them  severally,  with  or  without  a  council  as  she  pleases ; 
and  to  resist  her  right  in  this  matter  is  to  rc^-ist  a  divine  ordinance;  to  arrogate  a 
prerogative  which  would  disgrace  any  honest  pope,  while  it  honored  his  disgraceful 
office.  Leave  Christ's  Churches  where  he  left  them ;  to  their  own  Master  they  stand 
or  fall.  It  were  better  that  we  never  hold  another  council  while  the  world  stands, 
than  that  such  a  body  should  tyrannize  over  a  sister  Church  by  pretending  that  it  can 
set  any  man  apart  to  the  work  of  the  Gospel  ministry,  even  if  a  Church  should 
pretend  to  delegate  its  power  to  such  a  body;  a  thing  which  it  cannot  tlo  l)y  any 
permission  or  example  of  the  New  Testament. 

IV.  The  Apostolic  CnrKcnES  were  actively  independent  of  the  State. 
We  have  seen  that  Jesus  laid  the  corner-stone  of  religious  freedom  in  liberty  of 
conscience,  so  that  in  the  voluntary  service  of  God  his  followers  should  not  be  vas- 
sals to  human  dominion.  That  he  alone  should  be  obeyed  in  all  matters  of  faith 
and  practice,  is  the  spring  from  which  all  their  other  lilxTties  How.  In  this  law 
ho  set  forth  his  great  doctrine  of  the  majesty  of  the  soul,  \\iicii  left  to  the  sway  of 
intelligence  and  responsibility.  He  treated  a  man  as  a  man,  aiul  all  men  stood  be- 
fore him  on  a  common  level ;  hence,  he  addressed  each  man  personally,  inviting  him 
to  voluntary  discipleship,  through  his  own  reason  and  conscience,  making  himself 
the  absolute  King  of  willing  subjects.  Then,  his  inspired  Apostles  carefully  guarded 
this  holy  principle  of  soul-liberty  by  requiring  implicit  obedience  to  him,  and  en- 
forcing among  his  followers  all  the  relations  of  brotherly  democracy.  All  intrusion 
between  these  they  condemned  as  foreign  and  oppressive.  They,  therefore,  neither 
asked  permission  of  human  governments  to  preach  and  form  Churches,  nor  would 


126  FllKKDOM    OF   CONSCIKNCE. 

they  desist  from  doing  so  at  tlieir  command.  Cliri.-t  huiiig-  tlieir  only  religious  Sov- 
ereign, they  neither  sought  favor  nor  feared  hlaiuc  froiu  the  State;  every  man 
must  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind,  and  give  his  account  to  God.  M. 
Guizot  clearly  expresses  the  Apostolic  idea  wlien  he  sa^'s : 

'We  can  conceive  that  a  man  can  al^anduu  to  an  external  authority  the  di- 
rection of  his  material  interests  am]  his  tciii|i(iial  destiny.  But  M'hen  it  extends 
to  the  conscience,  the  thuu^ht,  and  the  iiitei-iial  existence,  to  the  abdication  of 
self-government,  to  the  delivering  one's  self  rn  a  foreign  power,  it  is  truly  a  mora! 
suicide,  a  servitude,  a  hundred-fold  worse  than  that  of  the  body,  or  than  that  of 
the  soil.* 

Neandei-,  in  a]iiilying  this  pi'inciple  laid  down  l)y  the  great  civilian,  lodges  the 
right  to  suul-liljei'ty  in  -the  peculiar  natui'e  of  the  higher  life  that  belongs  to  all 
true  Christians.'  This  is  Ijut  Christ's  doctrine:  'Ye  must  be  born  again,'  words 
which  demanil  that  the  whole  mental  and  moral  nature,  with  the  passions,  be  conse- 
crated to  him.  Here,  our  Lord  lifts  the  religion  of  the  individual  soul  above  all 
organization,  whether  in  Church  or  State  ;  the  existence  of  the  Church  itself  being 
dependent  upon  the  vital,  spiritual  life  of  the  indiviilual  Christian.  As  Head  of  the 
Church,  therefore,  Jesus  retained  all  judicial  power  in  his  hands  and  is  its  only 
Lawgiver,  taking  no  account  of  the  pains  and  penalties  of  civil  law;  for  the  civil 
power  in  religious  matter  ends  where  the  law  of  conscience  begins.  As  Jesus  him- 
self was  all  that  he  required  his  followers  to  be,  both  toward  God  and  man,  so  he 
made  duty  to  God  throw  light  on  duty  toward  man.  With  him,  personal  convic- 
tion said,  '  Render  to  God  the  things  that  are  God's  ;'  and  after  that,  '  Render  to 
Cwsar  the  things  that  are  Ciesar's.'  That  is,  obedience  to  his  Father  was  the  lirst 
obligation,  and  having  perfectly  met  that,  Rome,  by  her  highest  local  authority, 
pronounced  him  spotless :  '  I  find  no  fault  in  this  inan.'  His  disciples  were  to 
make  duty  to  God  their  calm,  staying  power,  without  any  civil  or  ex-cathedra  utter- 
ances ;  and  then  obedience  to  the  State  would  cheerfully  follow,  for  in  the  nature 
of  things  the  most  God-fearing  man  is  the  truest  citizen. 

We  have  already  seen  that  in  matters  of  faith,  all  forms  of  paganism  led  the 
State  to  tramjjle  upon  the  rights  of  conscience  at  will ;  so  that  at  the  coming  of 
Christ  the  whole  world  was  educated  in  this  false  theory  of  civil  government.  Such 
Statecraft  cared  nothing  for  the  individual,  but  only  for  the  State,  in  its  arbitrary 
and  conventional  claims.  Cicero  maintained  those  claims  when  he  said  :  '  Xo  man 
has  a  right  to  have  particular  gods,  not  recognized  by  the  law  of  the  State.'  But 
Christ  threw  himself  into  direct  opposition  to  all  such  tyranny,  by  uplifting  the 
natural  rights  of  man  God- ward;  and  the  Apostles  sustained  this  teaching  when 
they  introduced  a  new  issue  with  the  law,  in  the  fiice  of  the  current  civilization. 
They  demanded  the  right  to  worship  without  molestation,  and  if  need  be,  contrary 
to  the  mandates  of  the  law ;  nay,  and  to  invite  all  men  to  do  so.  Somehow  the  State 
has  always  been  troulded  with  what  it  had  no  concern.  Free  religious  inquiry  has 
always  disturbed  its  eijuanimity,  and  on  that  subject  it  has  far  transcended  its  real 


FHEEhOil   OF   CONSCIENCE.  127 

functions.  Josus  never  invoked  its  aid  to  enforce  his  religion,  and  never  liinted 
tliat  it  had  the  power  to  decree  opinions,  or  to  frame  and  propagate  creeds.  He 
left  it  to  attend  to  its  own  material  and  political  atfairs,  to  keep  its  hands  oflE  his 
religion  altogether;  but  on  tiie  orlicr  luuul,  he  enjoined  obedience  to  its  rightful 
powers,  and  interfered  in  nu  way  witli  its  pi-uper  governmental  rights.  Both  he 
and  his  Apostles  recognized  the  K.unaii  iMiipiro,  in  all  that  related  to  the  funda- 
mental idea  of  civil  government.  Tlirv  Mihmitted  to  it,  and  supported  it  in  all  tliat 
concerned  its  civil  well-being.  All  that  they  asked,  was  a  free  and  open  iield  for 
the  proclamation  of  Christian  doctrine  in  every  civilization,  and  that  it  might  adjust 
itself  every  where  to  its  natural  surroundings.  But  that  the  Churches  should  be 
put  under  its  control,  was  not  left  an  open  question.  Because  the  pagan  faith  had 
made  itself  an  engine  of  the  State  to  coerce  men  by  State  forces,  and  in  its  turn 
built  up  all  sorts  of  State  policy  he  said  :  '  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world.' 

Why  should  kings,  rulers,  and  magistrates  hold  in  their  hands  the  government 
of  the  Church  of  Christ?  Are  not  they  to  obey  the  Gospel  personally,  and  to  he 
subject  to  its  saving  influences,  the  same  as  all  other  sinners?  and  when  they  are 
converted  to  him,  are  they  not  to  stand  on  a  parity  with  all  other  converted  men  ? 
But  as  to  having  a  voice  in  the  control  of  (Jhrist's  (,'liureh  when  they  are  not  holy 
men,  or  above  other  holy  men  when  they  become  regenerate,  the  idea  is  prepos- 
terous in  the  extreme.  Civil  rulers  have  generally  sought  to  obtain  ascendency  in 
liis  Church  as  a  tool  in  their  secular  aims  ;  and  where  they  could  not  so  use  it,  they 
have  commonly  looked  upon  it  with  jealousy.  The  potentates  of  the  earth,  with 
few  exceptions,  have  not  recognized  such  a  thing  as  a  soul,  a  conscience,  a  man  ;  but 
only  a  body  and  a  sword,  which  placed  society  under  abject  domination.  Hence,  it 
never  did  matter  what  the  civilization  of  the  State  might  be,  the  moment  it  inter- 
fered with  Christianity  it  became  narrow  and  bigoted,  and  held  in  contempt  all  who 
dissented  from  its  dictates.  In  the  nature  of  things  every  form  of  govermneiitui 
religion  is  intolerant  and  persecuting,  and  disgraces  itself  when  it  prescribes  any 
form  of  faith  for  its  citizens.  In  Europe  and  Asia,  both  before  Christ  and  since. 
State  religions  have  always  cursed  all  lands  with  mobs,  and  massacres,  and  wars  of 
the  most  bloody  character.  Paganism  knew  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  and  none 
other.  The  fact  that  Christ  gave  birth  to  a  perfect  individuality  in  each  man,  and 
to  a  personal  responsibility  for  its  use,  forever  separated  pagan  oneness  of  religion 
and  legislation.  A  man  is  born  into  the  State  without  choice  ;  but  if  he  worships 
sincerely  he  worships  voluntarily  ;  to  bind  the  Church  to  the  State  is  to  destroy  the 
true  nature  of  both.  The  first  act  of  Christian  martyrdom  drew  a  line  beyond 
which  despotism  could  not  pass.  It  slew  the  enslaved  body,  but  left  the  native 
freedom  of  the  soul  untouched. 

Neander  says  of  the  Church  :  '  The  form  of  a  State  cannot  be  thought  of  in 
connection  with  this  kingdom.  It  is  a  community  whose  whole  principle  of  life  is 
love.     Outward  law,  forms  of  judicature,  administration  of  justice,  all  essential  to 


the 
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tilt 

:  Mick 

77//';  STATE   FRKE  FI!().\T    'THE    fllL'ltcif. 

■  in  tiie  jjerfect  kingduni  of  Clirist.' 
calls  the  Church,  to  tlie  State,  as  an 
nullities  into  monstrosities,  for  each  is 

rknii  tcinpural  power,  pomp  and  glory 
( ■hri.^t  and  his  Apostles  did  not ;  and 
alliance  with  the  State,  the  nnioii  has 
11  the  (;inirclies  themselves.  Always, 
1  to  its  own  level,  or  tlie  Chnrcli  has 
He  Ages.  This  struggle  for  freedom 
between  Christ's  kingdom  and  tlie  civil  power  lias  gone  on  through  eighteen  cent- 
uries. Ecason,  cndnrance  and  truth  require  the  contest  to  continue,  till  the  ideal 
of  Clirist  ill  n'oxenimeiit  is  \vn night  out,  and  the  double  usurjiatioii  is  banished  from 
the  earth,  namely  :  The  interference  nf  the  Cliurcli  in  temporals,  and  of  the  State  in 
spirituals.  The  State  has  introduced  sacerdotalism  into  the  Church  as  a  political 
policy,  and  the  Church  has  introduced  ritualistic  sacrameiitarlanism  into  the  State 
for  tlie  ends  of  temporal  aggrandizement,  in  the  place  of  saving  grace  and  holy 
living.  Thus,  out  of  a  Christian  democracy  this  union  exuhes  first  an  aristocracy, 
anil  then  a  hierarcliy,  for  the  enforcement  of  a  sacramental  salvation  by  the  secular 
power.  The  true  (-;os]iel  has  always  flourished  the  must  where  men  have  been  the 
freest  ;  where  no  artificial  lines  have  been  drawn  between  man  and  man,  class  and 
class  ;  and  where  no  fetter  of  party.  State,  ov  race  has  been  applied,  but  where  all 
have  stood  on  a  religious  equality. 

ISTow,  Jesus  left  his  simiile-licartcd  Churches  in  that  purely  organic  state  which 
his  Apostles  had  given  them.  Tlieir  faith  was  to  center  in  him  and  his  beiievoleut 
purposes,  without  reliance  on  national  revenues  or  political  weapons.  Eloquence 
and  art,  philosophy  and  legislation,  were  in  battle  array  against  them ;  yet  they 
must  plant  his  banner  in  all  lands  by  invading  their  cherished  interests  and  destroy- 
ing their  established  practices,  their  only  wt-apon  being  Lo\e.  This  was  to  make 
arid  deserts  blossom  like  the  rose.  No  tear,  thereafter,  should  fall  unseen  by  the 
eye  of  love,  and  no  sigh  expire  but  on  its  ear.  An  ideal  cross,  borrowed  from  the 
sign  of  felony,  was  to  be  their  insignia,  a  meritorious  doctrinal  cross,  ontliued  .against 
the  blackness  of  darkness  itself.  By  this  sign  they  were  to  conquer  obstinacy  and 
unbelief,  as  it  would  supersede  all  old  modes  of  thought,  bring  in  a  new  morality, 
create  new  intellect  and  goodness,  and  revolutionize  society.  The  cross  was  to  be 
the  new  scepter  over  human  spirits,  and  the  Crucified  should  say:  'Behold,  I  make 
all  things  new !' 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE    OFFICERS    AND    ORDINANCES    OF  THE  APOSTOLIC  CHU  RGH. 

THE  tirst  ufficc  tu  1)0  considered  is  tliat  of  the  dkacon.  This  word  is  the  English 
of  the  Greek  ch'nconos,  and  means  a  servant ;  literally,  to  pursue  after,  to 
hasten  by  speed  in  service.  The  cardinals  are  regarded  as  the  servants,  or  deacons 
of  the  Pope,  a  fact  which  accounts  for  their  strange  costume,  worn  in  imitation  of 
tlie  ancient  errand-man.  His  hat  lias  a  broad  brim  to  shade  the  eyes  from  the  sun, 
with  long  strings  to  tie  under  the  chin  in  windy  weather  ;  and  the  end  of  his  cloak 
is  tucked  under  his  girdle  so  that  tlie  limbs  may  be  free  for  speed.  The  outside 
pressure  of  persecution  at  Jerusalem,  and  the  burden  of  deep  poverty,  called  for 
great  sagacity  and  fidelity  in  the  Christian  leaders.  Both  Christ  and  his  Apostles 
were  poor,  so  that  his  servants  had  been  trained  to  mutual  dependence,  and  the  use 
of  a  common  treasury  during  his  ministry  had  thrown  a  new  light  upon  poverty, 
and  given  a  new  religion  to  the  poor.  Thus,  vvhen  thousands  of  the  same  class 
came  into  the  infant  Church,  their  dependence  seemed  crippling.  At  this  time  the 
whole  empire  was  poor,  and  the  endurance  of  Christianity  was  thoroughly  tried. 
The  financial  world  had  become  exhausted,  by  disruption  and  wai',  luxury  and 
waste,  and  society  was  demoralized  by  the  neglect  of  agriculture  in  large  tracts  of 
country.  A  few  were  wealthy,  but  taxation  was  oppressive  and  the  poor  were  very 
poor.  All  great  cities  were  deeply  in  debt,  having  borrowed  large  sums  of  money  to 
build  those  massive  structures  whose  ruins  are  now  the  wonder  of  the  world.  On 
these  loans  they  paid  exorbitant  interest,  which  left  them  bankrupt  and  filled  the 
land  with  paupers.  Rome  itself  had  44,000  wretched  lodging-houses  and  other 
apartments  where  squalor  abounded,  to  1,780  decent  habitations ;  and  Cicero,  who 
died  B.  C.  43,  reports  that  city  in  his  time  as  having  only  2,000  proprietors  out 
of  1,200,000  inhabitants.' 

But  no  province  of  the  Empire  was  so  impoverished  as  Palestine.  It  had 
always  been  an  agricultural  country,  without  manufactures  or  commerce.  Now, 
its  most  enterprising  people  were  scattered  over  the  world  for  the  purposes  of 
trade,  it  had  passed  through  a  long  succession  of  wars  and  reverses,  and  the  extor- 
tionate tribute  which  Eome  had  wrung  out  of  its  fibers  had  reduced  it  to  abject 
poverty.  The  site  of  its  capital  was  chosen  for  its  strong  natural  fortifications,  but 
when  it  proved  vulnerable  it  was  left  as  the  central  sanctuary  and  seat  of  theology, 
without  wealtli  to  give  it  attraction,  for  more  than  once  it  was  helped  by  outside 
charity.  Still,  to  all  foreign  Jews  it  was  the  monument  of  holy  memories,  and  the 
"lO 


ISO  .JKIU'SM.KM  POOH. 

object  of  life-liniu;  liopo.  The  vi.-its  df  the  wealthy  at  the  feasts  furnished  it  with 
some  supplies,  Imt  all  .lews  retiu-iicij  to  its  holy  places  and  privileges  for  the  solace 
of  their  souls,  when  deep  poverty  overtook  them,  especially  widows  and  orphans 
who  had  laid  the  bones  of  their  dead  in  strange  soil.  The  'chief  joy'  of  these  was 
to  gather  together  what  little  they  had,  and  hasten  to  die  within  the  shadow  of  its 
hallowed  walls,  even  if  they  slept  in  ■  tlu-  place  \n  Imi-y  .-tranne-rs  in."  Yet  these 
classes  were  not  always  welcome;  even  the  docti.i-s  of  the  law,  who  treated  all 
women  lightly,  refused  religious  teaching  to  \voiiien.  This  state  of  things  ac- 
counts for  the  great  poverty  which  Christianity  founil  in  Jerusalem,  and  gives 
new  weight  to  Christ's  saying:  'The  poor  ye  liave  always  witli  you.'  Sometimes 
pagan  rulers  and  corporations  wei'e  moved  with  pity  to  the  extix.aiiely  p(.)or  :  but  here 
is  a  new  thing  in  the  earth,  in  tht'  form  of  a  new  n'ligiou  whieh  made  benevolence 
its  ideal.  Its  lM)Uiider  had  been  Ixirn  in  a  stable,  had  ^peiit  his  life  in  deep  poverty, 
had  been  buried  in  another  man's  tomb;  and  miw  he  had  made  men  members  one 
of  another,  had  created  a  new  virtue  in  the  lieart  towai'd  the  weak,  and  had 
elevated  men  to  thrift  by  sympathy.  The  poor,  therefore,  emliraeed  the  Go.sjiel  as 
a  fresh  source  of  strength ;  it  made  them  rich  in  bread  as  well  as  in  faith,  and 
consumed  the  partition-walls  between  the  poor  and  rich  in  the  flames  of  brotherly 
love.  Instead  of  demanding  hecatombs  of  beasts  at  the  hands  of  widow  and 
or])lian,  it  tendered  them  '  one  sacriflce  for  sin,"  offered  forever,  ami  made  tlie 
outcast  and  famishing  its  altar  of  sacriflce.  Sue)]  love  led  those  who  had  worldly 
goods  to  give  to  the  poor,  and  bound  the  members  of  the  new  faith  in  a  oneness 
which  made  all  things  common.  Yet  they  neither  abandoned  the  rights  of  owner- 
ship in  private  property,  as  Peter's  questions  to  Ananias  show,  nor  adopted  a 
communist  life,  such  as  would  paujierizc  tlie  members  of  the  Church. 

A  mere  glance  reveals  the  diflieulty  of  the  twelve  in  dealing  with  this  state 
of  affaii-s ;  they  spread  a  free  table  daily  for  such  as  needed  the  bounty  of  the 
Church,  for  as  yet  they  had  no  division  of  labor  with  others,  and  out  of  this 
common  meal  served  to  the  multitude  the  deacon's  office  arose.  The  Church  at 
Jerusalem  was  composed  entirely  of  Jews  and  proselytes  from  paganism  to  the 
Jewish  faith,  some  natives,  some  foreign  born.  Those  Ijorn  in  Palestine  spoke  the 
Aramaic  and  read  the  Scriptures  in  the  Hebrew;  hence  they  were  called  Hebrews. 
Those  boi'u  in  other  lands  read  and  spoke  the  Greek  or  Hellenic  (from  Hellas,  in 
Thessaly,  the  cradle  of  the  Greeks),  and  were  called  Hellenists.  These  were  held 
in  disrepute  by  the  native  Jews,  and  were  treated  as  inferiors  because  they  mixed 
with  the  Gentiles.  They  had  seen  more  of  the  world  than  the  Hebrews,  were  less 
hampered  by  the  rigid  and  official  orthodox}^  of  Jerusalem,  and  were  more  cosmo- 
politan and  less  aristocratic  in  their  feelings  toward  others.  These  phases  of  human 
nature  brought  jealousies  into  the  fraternity,  and  as  the  Hellenist  widows  were  the 
most  numerous,  they  necessarily  called  for  a  larger  share  of  the  bounty.  So  the 
more  strict  brethren  took   it  into   their    heads  that  their  poor  were    'overlooked,' 


DEACOyS:    rilKIll    QUALiricATIOSS.  18  1 

and  with  tlie  true  iii.stinct  of  iiiodurn  IJaptist  ynimblcrs,  they  began  to  lill  the 
Cliurch  witli  coinphiints  that  the  distribution  of  bread  was  not  even  and  fair. 
The  adjustment  of  tliis  business  so  diverted  tlie  attention  of  the  Apostles  and 
consumed  their  rime,  tliat  they  asked  the  Church  to  select  seven  men  from  th(  imwu 
ranks,  who  should  '  lieli),"  '  wait '  and  'serve,'  at  the  provision-tablo,  and  thi-y  would 
contirm  the  popular  choice.  Tlicy  also  laid  down  clearly  the  (iu;diti<-alioiis  for  the 
work.  They  mu.st  be  'of  ij'ood  ivport,  full  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  wi.MJom  ;"  discreet, 
having  the  confidence  of  the  people;  being  marked  for  consecration,  integrity,  sound 
judgment,  and  impart!, dity ;  all  this,  although  their  duties  were  purely  material,  or, 
as  Jerome  expresses  it.  they  were  '  attendants  on  tables  and  widows.'  '  Tiie  seven ' 
were  selected,  but  we  are  not  to  infer  that  they  were  all  Hellenists  because  they 
bore  Greek  names,  as  the  Jews  commoidy  took  such  names,  whicli  renders  it  likely 
that  impartiality  ruled,  and  that  they  wei'e  taken  ecpially  from  both  factions,  with 
one  'proselyte'  to  keep  the  balance  even.  I'oor  human  nature  always  tells  the 
same  story. 

Yet  those  chosen  to  this  service  are  not  called  '  (UaconH^  but  simply  the 
'seven,'  to  distinguish  them  from  the  'twelve.'  We  meet  this  word  first  in  the 
New  Testament  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Philippians,  and  some  think  that  the  ofUce 
was  borrowed  from  the  almoners  of  the  synagogue.  Dr.  Lightfoot,  the  present 
Bishop  of  Durham,  pi-onounees  it  'a  baseless  thougli  a  sox^  common  assumption, 
that  the  Christian  diaconate  was  copied  from  the  arrangenients  of  the  synagogue.' 
The  duties  of  the  Levite  in  the  temple,  and  the  office  of  the  Chusan  in  the  syna- 
gogue, were  of  an  entirely  different  character  from  those  of  the  deacon.  The  Levite 
took  care  of  the  temple  sacrifices,  removed  the  blood,  offal  and  ashes  of  the  altar, 
served  as  door-keeper  at  the  gates,  and  aided  in  the  chorus  of  the  psalmody.  The 
duties  of  the  Chusan  were  of  the  same  order,  so  far  as  care  for  the  synagogue 
went,  and  aid  in  the  services  allowed.  But  the  only  work  of  the  deacon  was 
to  serve  at  the  table  in  the  daily  meal  and  relieve  the  poor,  a  labor  which  called 
for  another  class  of  qualifications  from  those  of  these  Jewish  officers.  In  that  dis- 
honest and  licentious  age  such  a  delicate  trust  as  that  held  by  the  deacon  requii'ed 
rare  spirituality  and  spotless  character,  keen  insight  of  human  nature,  large  paticTice 
and  sin-idar  tact  in  dealing  with  the  suffering,  as  well  as  a  broad  and  intelligent 
sympathy.  In  a  word,  his  sacred  duties  called  for  the  'Holy  Spirit  and  wisdom,' 
special  graces  which  neither  Levite  nor  Chusan  needed  for  their  work. 

The  fact  is  most  marked  that  those  officers  at  a  heathen  feast,  whose  duty  it 
was  to  serve  the  portions  of  food  which  were  eaten,  were  called  the  '  deaconts."  One 
officer  slew  the  victims ;  another  offered  them  in  sacrifice  or  cooked  them ;  then 
this  third  officer  served  the  flesh  to  tlie  devotees.^  This  fact  is  very  suggestive,  as 
.showing  the  unpretentiousness  of  the  office  and  title,  and  may  account  for  the  sacer- 
dotal air  wliich  superstition  has  thrown  around  the  diaconate  in  some  communions. 
This  election   created  a  new    otlice   in    the   Church,   but   not  a   new  order  in  tht 


1S2  DEACONS  NOT  MlNrsTKIiS. 

ministry,  as  that  term  is  now  technically  used.  Alford  warns  his  readers  (on 
Acts  vi)  '  Not  to  imagine  that  we  have  here  the  institution  of  an  ecclesiastical  order 
so  named  ' — deacons,  in  modern  parlance  they  were  '  laymen '  before  their  election, 
and  they  remained  so  after.  The  reason  given  for  the  creation  of  their  office  was, 
that  the  Apostles  might  be  relieved  from  those  duties  which  interfered  with  their 
full  '  ministry  of  the  Word.'  One  set  of  ministers  was  not  created  to  help  another 
(o  do  the  same  work,  but  duties  that  wei-e  not  ministerial  or  pustoral  were  separated 
from  those  that  were,  and  yivuii  into  i.ither  hands.  So  that  the  deaeonship  was  not 
probationary  to  the  cldLTshi|),  iiur  ha\'u  \vc  any  evidence  that  in  tlic  tirst  century  any 
deacon  became  an  elder.  >«'eitlier  did  their  tiffiee  i)re\-ent  their  doing  other  Christian 
work,  for  we  find  riiilij)  the  tirst  witnes.s  for  C'hrist  in  yaniaria.  Ihit  he  did  not 
publish  the  good  news  by  virtue  of  liis  otfice  as  a  deacon,  any  more  than  Stejjhen 
was  martyred  as  a  deacon.  Bishop  Tayhir  lias  abundantly  shown,  in  his  'Liberty 
of  Prophesying,'  that  in  the  Apostolic  Churches  each  believer  of  the  brotherhood 
had  the  right  to  proclaim  the  Gospel  as  well  as  the  pastors.  The  work  of  spreading 
it  by  jjreaching  was  left  to  each  one  as  a  question  of  cajjacity  and  not  of  office. 
Even  the  private  M'orshipers  amongst  the  Jews  had  the  right  of  public  speaking 
in  the  s^'nagogue,  as  we  see  by  the  freedom  of  our  Lord  and  his  Apostles  there,  for 
they  were  not  officers  in  that  assembly.  So  it  was  in  the  Christian  congregations ; 
and,  of  course,  the  office  of  a  deacon  did  not  deprive  him  of  the  right  to  teach  in 
common  with  his  brethren.  Luke  tells  us  that  the  jiei'secution  at  Jerusalem 
scattered  the  Church  there  '  except  the  Apostles,"  and  that  the  '  scattered,'  the  whole 
lay  membership  of  that  Church,  preached  the  Word.  So  the  deaeonship  did  not  shut 
up  a  deacon  to  the  service  of  tables  only  ;  he  might  do  missionary  work,  by  right  of 
his  personal  regeneration,  and  attend  to  his  office,  also.  Did  the  Apostle  Paul  act 
improperly  when  he  carried  the  collection  of  the  Grecian  Churches  to  Jerusalem, 
because  he  was  not  officially  a  deacon  ?  Thus  a  deacon  might  engage  in  other  re- 
ligious labor  besides  that  imposed  by  his  office. 

The  instructions  given  to  the  deacon  in  the  Epistles,  show  the  functions  of 
his  office  to  have  been  the  same  in  the  latter  period  of  the  Apostolic  Age  that 
they  were  when  the  office  was  created  ;  and  it  nowhere  appears  that  they  exer- 
cised the  pastoral  or  ministerial  office.  Even  in  matters  relating  to  the  relief  of  the 
poor  they  were  not  supreme.  When  Paul  and  Barnabas  brought  relief  to  the  poor 
saints  at  Jerusalem,  they  delivered  the  gift  to  the  'elders'  and  not  to  the  deacons: 
and  no  deacons  assisted  in  the  call,  deliberations,  or  decisions  of  the  advisory  Council 
at  Jerusalem.  Paul's  associations  there  were  all  with  the  elders  and  not  the  deacons 
of  the  Church,  showing  that  the  deacons  held  no  rank  in  the  pastoral  office. 
Thirty  years  after  their  office  was  formed,  he  instructs  them,  and  enjoins  precisely 
those  qualifications  for  filling  it,  -wdiich  were  needed  in  one  whose  business  it  was  to 
go  from  house  to  house  dispensing  alms,  and  none  other.  Li  his  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians,  A.  D.  57,  he  calls  them  'helps;'  in  that  to  the  Romans,  'the  minis- 


TIIK   DEACONESS.  133 

tratioii ; '  and  iu  his  letter  to  Timothy,  he  lays  special  stress  upon  their  liolding 
'  the  faith  in  a  good  conscience,'  as  men  free  from  vices,  especially  the  sins  of  greed 
and  gossiping,  not  even  mentioning  that  they  should  be  '  apt  to  teach  ; '  which  would 
be  a  strange  omission  if  ti'acliin;^-  were  a  special  part  of  their  office,  as  a  subordinate 
order  in  the  pastoral  ministry.  In  liis  Epistle  to  Titus,  about  A.  D.  QQ,  he  does  not 
mention  the  deacons  at  all,  although  he  says  much  to  'elders,'  of  their  appointment, 
work  and  qualifications ;  showing  again  that  he  did  not  rank  deacons  in  the  pastoral 
office,  nor  were  they  so  ranked  in  that  age.  In  the  third  century,  when  there  were 
forty-six  elders  in  the  congregation  at  Eome,  there  were  only  seven  deacons ;  and  the 
Council  of  JSTeo-Cffisarea,  A.  D.  314-325,  decreed  that  no  Church  should  have  above 
seven.  Origen  says,  that '  The  deacons  dispense  the  Church's  money  to  the  poor ; '  and 
in  non-Episcopal  Churches  this  office  remains  substantially  uncorrujited  to  our  times. 
TuE  DEACONESS,  in  the  Apostolic  Churches  did  much  the  same  work  as  the 
deacon.  Grotius  says :  '  In  Judea  the  deacons  could  administer  freely  to  the 
females,'  but  amongst  the  Greeks  and  farther  East,  the  enforced  seclusion  of 
women  deprived  them  largely  of  the  public  administrations  of  men ;  this  was  the 
case,  to  a  certain  extent,  amongst  the  Eomans  also.  But  all  through  the  Oriental 
nations  men  were  excluded  from  the  apartments  of  females,  contrary  to  that  social 
freedom  which  marks  western  civilization.  In  all  the  spheres  of  life,  woman  suf- 
fered a  degradation  to  which  we  are  strangers,  and  Christianity  purposing  to  lift 
her  up,  provided  for  her  the  deaconess,  to  bless  her  own  sex  in  her  own  peculiar 
way,  publicly  and  privately.  Phoebe  is  the  first  known  to  us  who  filled  that  honor- 
able office,  and  Paul  passes  a  high  encomium  upon  her,  'she  succored  many.' 
There  was  abundant  room  for  these  valuable  helpers  as  the  Churches  were  then  con- 
stituted, amongst  the  rich  and  poor,  women  of  reputation  and  the  debased  slave- 
women.  The  deaconess  possessed  high  qualifications,  being  '  grave,  sober,  faithful, 
and  not  slanderous.'  Her  sacred  duties  demanded  devotion,  approved  character 
and  ability,  requiring  her  to  be  kind,  intelligent,  courteous,  and  to  follow  '  every 
good  work.'  Eight  years  after  Paul  had  spoken  so  gratefully  of  Phoebe,  he  gives 
full  instruction  as  to  these  qualifications.  These  honorable  women  were  chosen 
from  matrons  or  widows  well  advanced  in  life,  and  many  of  our  best  interpreters 
think  that  Paul  describes  them  in  1  Tim.  v,  9,  10:  'Let  not  one  be  enrolled  as  a 
widow  under  threescore  years  old,  having  been  the  wife  of  one  husband ;  well 
reported  of  for  good  works;  if  she  brought  up  children,  if  she  lodged  strangers,  if 
she  washed  the  feet  of  the  saints  [in  hospitality],  if  she  relieved  the  afflicted,  if  she 
diligently  followed  every  good  work.'  We  have  reason  to  believe  that  many 
of  these  '  elect '  ladies  brought  great  honor  to  the  faith,  for  Pliny,  in  his  famous  let- 
ter to  the  Emperor  Trajan,  A.  D.  110-111,  says,  that  he  had  just  examined  'two 
women-servants  who  are  called  ministers,'  deaconesses;  by  which,  he  means  that  he 
had  tortured  them,  as  was  common  when  Ciiristian  women  suffered  persecution  for 
Christ. 


..f 

wuiiiiin  : 

;  thui 

1   wlio  didst  fill  M-itli 

thy 

III 

ildali:  tl 

lull     V 

l-llo     <li.!st     Vol.rhsitV 

to  a 

S(. 

111:  .  .   . 

\,n,]< 

down  now  upon  this, 

thy 

^I'ii' 

it,  that  h 

die-    11 

lav  worthily  i)crf(.nii 

the 

t(i 

the   -lo 

ry  of 

Christ.'      So  long  as 

the 

tlif 

Cluirdi. 

.s,  tl. 

u  deaconess  waited  upon 

K. 

jiirick :  ' 

This 

class   of  females  having 

The  order  of  deaconess  continued  in  the  Lathi  Chiin-li  (hiwii  to  about  the  sixth 
century,  and  in  the  Greek  to  the  twelfth  ;  and  w'as  disconiiniu'd,  iiriiicipaliy  because 
the  (liaconatc  became  a  priestly  office  which  women  could  imt  till;  nuns  tlien  took 
tlic  jilace  of  deaconesses.  Anciently  they  ■were  ordaiiK-il  liy  funu  as  well  a>  by 
vote,  and  the  work  known  as  the  '  Ajjostolic,  CJoiistitutions,'  written  about  A  1>. -■inii, 
contains  this  beautiful  prayer  used  at  thrii-  oriliiiati(_in :  'Eternal  God,  Fatliei  of  (.)iir 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Creator  of  man  and 
ISplrit,  Miriam,  Deborah,  Hannah,  and 
wimian  the  birth  of  tliy  only  begotten 
handmaid,  and  best.,w  (.11  lier  the  Holy  h 
work  permitted  toiler  to  thy  honor,  and 
inlnler^ioll  of  adult  females  remained  in 
them  ill  baptism;  but,  says  Archbishop 
ceased,  from  a  variety  of  causes,  it  became  expedient  to  abstain  from  the  immersion 
of  females;'  and  he  adds  the  reason, 'it  is  certain  that  the  applicant  entered  the 
font  in  a  state  of  entire  nudity.'^  According  to  ' Hanbury's  Memorials,'  the  Con- 
gi'egationalists  of  England  and  Holland  restored  the  office  to  some  extent,  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  and  the  Moravians  continue  it  to  this  time.  Also  the  Broad- 
mead  Tlaptist  Church,  at  Bristol,  England,  two  centuries  ago,  adopted  the  full 
Apostolic  model,  by  selecting  a  plurality  of  elders,  with  deacons  and  deaconesses, 
making  the  duties  of  the  latter,  the  care  of  the  sick  and  tlie  poor. 

The  shepherds  or  pastors  of  the  Apostolic  Churches  were  known  as  Pkesby 
TEES,  or  Elders,  fi'om  pfeshutemi  ;  and  as  Bishops,  or  o\'erseers,  from  ejn.dvjjoi. 
This  fact  should  stand  in  its  own  order  of  New  Testament  time  ;  for  if  we  take  it 
out  of  its  historical  surroundings  and  throw  it  backward  or  forward  into  another 
century,  it  will  lose  its  distinctive  value.  Dean  Alford  says,  with  clear  chronolog- 
ical truth  :  '  In  those  days  titles  sprung  out  of  realities  and  were  not  merely  hier- 
archical classifications.'  In  such  a  question  as  this,  chronology  is  the  stoutest  logic. 
We  must,  therefore,  consider  and  restrict  these  titles  to  their  primitive  sense,  as  best 
defining  the  office  which  they  represent.  They  are  entirely  synonymous  in  the  Kew 
Testament,  and  the  nature  of  the  office  which  they  represent,  is  to  be  di-awn  from 
their  acknowledged  meaning. 

Pastors  appeared  in  all  these  Churches  very  early  after  their  organization,  and 
the  Hebrew  Christians  called  them  presbyters  (elders)  while  the  Gentile  Churches 
called  them  bishops  (overseers),  the  terms  being  interchangeable.  The  leaders  or 
rulers  of  the  synagogue  were  called  presbyters,  but  they  were  not  prototypes  of  the 
Christian  presbyters,  for  there  was  next  to  nothing  in  common  between  the  two. 
The  synagogue  could  in  no  sense  become  the  pattern  of  the  Christian  congregation, 
which  was  constituted  for  a  different  purpose,  and  demanded  that  freer  and  more 
independent  form,  which  was  in  harmony  with  the  genius  of  Christ's  more  generous 
teaching. 


PASTOliS  ARE  JUS  HOPS. 


Neandcr  says : 


'  It  may  be  disputed  whether  the  Apostles  designed  from  the  first,  that  believers 
should  form  a  society  exactly  on  the  model  of  tiie  syinii^ogue.  The  social  element 
of  both  iiad  something  of  similarity,  enough  to  warrant  tlie  use  of  the  current  word 
presbyter  in  the  ancient  sense  of  leadership  ;  this  being  the  sense  in  which  both 
civil  and  sacred  rulers  had  long  been  known  in  Israel,  and  by  which  the  members  of 
the  Sanhedrin  were  then  known.'  * 

80,  then,  every  one  knew  what  parties  were  referred  to  in  the  Christian  con- 
gregation w'hcn  its  '  elders '  were  spoken  of.  But  the  Gentiles,  who  were  not 
familiar  with  the  peculiarity  of  Jewish  titles  and  institutions,  could  not  so  well 
come  to  a  knowledge  of  this  spiritual  office  by  the  use  of  the  word,  when  standing 
alone  and  unexplained.  To  them,  the  term  elder  expressed  age,  but  little  of  fitness 
or  i-ank.  Another  term  was  in  use  amongst  the  Greeks  which  exactly  expressed  the 
duties  of  the  Christian  presbyter,  namely,  the  word  episkopoi,  overseer.  With 
them,  this  was  purely  a  civil  and  secular  name,  which  was  used  in  private  associa- 
tions, or  in  municipal  and  magisterial  bodies.  The  superintendents  of  finance,  of 
workmen,  the  inspectors  of  bread  and  produce,  and  the  overseers  of  public  iiffairs 
generally,  were  designated  by  this  term.  In  fact,  all  persons  w\\q  had  oversight  of 
affairs,  either  public  or  private,  were  known  as  bishops.  For  this  reason  the  same 
class  of  men  who  were  known  as  elders  in  the  Jewish-Christian  Churches,  were  called 
bishops,  or  overseers,  in  the  Gentile  Churches. 

Thus  Bishop  Lightfoot,  after  speaking  of  the  presbyters,  asks  : 

'  What  must  be  said  of  the  term  bishop  ?  It  has  been  shown  that  in  the  Apos- 
tolic writings  the  two  are  merely  different  designations  of  the  same  office.  How  and 
where  was  this  second  name  originated  ?  To  the  officers  of  Gentile  Churches  is  the 
term  applied,  as  a  synonym  for  presbyter.  At  Philippi,  in  Asia  Minor,  in  Crete, 
the  presbyter  is  so  called.  In  the  next  generation  the  title  is  employed  in  a  letter 
written  by  the  Greek  Church  of  Rome  to  the  Greek  Church  at  Corinth.  Thus  the 
word  would  seem  to  be  especially  Hellenic.  Beyond  this  we  are  left  to  conjecture. 
But  if  we  may  assume  that  the  directors  of  reliiiious  and  social  clubs  amongst  the 
heathen  are  commonly  so  called,  it  would  naturally  ncciii',  if  not  to  the  (ientile 
Christians  themselves,  at  all  events  to  their  heathen  assuciates,  as  a  fit  designation 
for  the  presiding  members  of  the  new  society.  The  infant  Church  of  Christ  which 
appeared  to  the  Jew  as  a  synagogue,  would  be  regarded  by  the  heathen  as  a  confra- 
ternity.' * 

The  duties  of  the  bishop-elders  were,  to  feed  and  rule  the  flock  of  Christ  as 
she})herds,  by  guidance,  instruction,  and  watch-care.  Paul  first  uses  the  word 
bishop  at  Miletus,  when  he  chai-ges  the  presbyters  of  the  Church  at  Ephesus  to  take 
heed  to  the  flock  over  wdiich  the  Holy  Spirit  had  made  them  bishops.  Here  lie 
two  names  are  used  interchangeably  as  descriptive  of  the  same  thing.  On  this  point 
Neander  remarks : 

'  That  the  name  also  of  episcopus  was  altogether  synonymous  with  that  of 
presbyter,  is  clearly  collected  from  the  passages  of  Scripture  where  both  appellations 
arc  interchanged  (Acts  xx  ;  compare  versu  17  with  verse  2S  ;  Titus  i,  5-7),  as  well 


136  PLURALITY   OF  ELDERS. 

as  from  tliose  where  t.lie  mention  nf  tlie  ofBee  of  deacon  follows  immediately  after 
that  of  '■'■L'jjlucojwi,'''  so  that  a  tliii-d  clu^s  of  (jfticers  could  not  lie  between  the  two. 
Phil,  i,  1 ;  1  Tim.  iii,  1-8.  This  inti  /■r/nnnjc  of  the  two  appellations  is  a  proof  of 
their  entire  cohwidence' " 

As  to  the  kind  of  I'lde  which  these  liishops  exercised,  it  was  executive  onh',  and 
for  the  jinrpose  of  moral  np-l)uildinf;-,  in  submission  to  the  truth  which  they  taught, 
and  not  for  the  exercise  of  loi'dship.  So  far  from  its  being  an  exercise  of  per-sonal 
power,  they  were  held  responsible  to  the  local  Church  wliich  they  served  for  their 
conduct  as  stewards.  Neander  says  again  :  '  They  were  not  destined  to  be  unlim- 
ited monarchs,  but  rulers  and  guides  in  an  ecclesiastical  repiiMic,  and  to  conduct 
every  thing  in  conjunctitjn  with  the  ('hui'ch  assembled  together,  as  the  servants  and 
not  the  masters  of  which  they  were  to  act." '  The  congregation  having  first  taken 
them  from  the  common  ranks  by  their  own  democratic  action,  as  Athens  invested 
its  officers  with  governing  powers  in  olden  times,  they  were  responsible  to  the  body 
whicli  created  them  for  the  exercise  of  their  powers. 

All  sorts  of  false  pretentions  have  been  hung  upon  the  word  '  liishop,'  as  used 
by  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament.  But  Pliil.  i,  1  ;  Acts  xx,  17 ;  and  James 
V,  14,  set  forth  the  fact  that  there  were  several  bislK)ps  in  the  same  congregation,  an 
idea  whicli  will  not  harmonize  with  the  assumption  that  a  bishop  ranks  above  an 
elder,  or  even  a  body  of  elders.  Then,  1  Peter  v,  1,  2,  solemnly  charges  the  '  elder ' 
to  use  well  his  episcopal  functions.  Even  as  late  as  Jerome  A.  D.  .3.31-370,  this 
oneness  of  office  was  generally  admitted  in  the  Cluirches,  for  he  says  :  '  The  elder  is 
identical  with  the  bishop,  and  before  pai'ties  had  so  multiplied  under  diabolical 
influence,  the  Churches  were  governed  (meaning  each  Church)  by  a  council  of 
elders.' 

Nor  were  the  so-called  '  powers '  of  Timothy  and  Titus  in  any  sense  those  of 
the  modern  prelate.  They  were  merely  the  functions  of  missionary  evangelists. 
These  holy  men  were  sent  to  establish  feeble  Churches  already  planted,  and  to 
organize  new  ones,  as  the  same  class  of  men  to-day  who  labor  without  prelatieal 
authority.  Neither  did  James  assume  authority  at  Jerusalem  after  the  foi-m  of  a 
modern  diocesan.  He  simply  attained  greater  influence  than  other  pastors  by  his 
all-absorbing  consecration  to  God,  and  to  the  feeding  of  his  flock,  as  a  holy  pastor 
over  that  single  congregation.  In  association  with  his  fellow-elders  in  that  body,  he 
sacredly  guarded  its  interests  as  a  brotherhood.  Persecution  was  perpetually  breaking 
up  this  and  other  Churches,  and  was  one  of  the  things  which  made  this  plurality 
of  elders  in  the  same  congregation  necessary.  The  first  blow  was  generally  aimed 
at  the  elders,  as  the  official  heads  of  these  communities.  Some  of  them  were  cut 
down,  others  were  obliged  to  flee  for  their  lives,  and  at  the  best  the  Chui'ches  were 
broken  into  groups,  especially  in  large  cities,  so  that  they  must  be  ministered  to, 
when,  where,  and  as  they  could.  When  the  elders  did  meet  together  for  con- 
sultation, either  in  time  of  peace  or  in  persecution,  some  one  nmst  preside  over 


C'AnSOX,    CAMPBELL,   DAVIDSON.  137 

their  conferences  ;  and  lie  wlio  did  so,  acted  simply  as  the  peer  of  his  Ijretlircn, 
without  aiithority  over  them ;  for  while  he  was  a  bishop  each  one  of  his  Iji'ethren  was 
the  same.     This,  James  did  at  Jerusalem,  no  more  and  no  less. 

Again,  what  was  known  as  the  presbytery  in  the  Apostolic  Churches  was  not 
made  up  of  a  body  of  elders,  or  pastors  from  the  various  local  Churches,  for  'Script- 
ure presbytery,'  as  Dr.  Carson  says,  'is  the  eldership,  or  plurality  of  elders  in  a  par- 
ticular congregation.' '  There  is  absolutely  nothing  in  the  New  Testament  which 
gives  those  who  rule  in  one  Church  any  authority  in  another ;  and  more,  no  Church 
is  mentioned  as  having  but  one  bishop  or  elder.  These  had  no  power  out  of  their 
own  congregation,  and  no  such  distinction  exists  even  there  as  pastoral  elders  and 
ruling  elders. 

Both  Dr.  Geo.  Campbell  and  Xeander  have  clearly  shown  that  the  elders  in 
one  Church  were  all  rulers,  for  the  liberty,  edification,  and  usefulness  of  the  body, 
and  that  no  class  or  distinction  existed  amongst  them.  Had  there  been  two  classes, 
their  qualifications  had  differed  with  their  duties,  and  so  they  would  have  been  des 
ignated  by  different  names.  No  elders  are  spoken  of  who  do  not  rule,  who  are  not 
pastors,  but  all  pastors  are  known  as  elders.  "We  read  of  '  all  the  elders  at  Jerusalem,' 
of  'elders  for  each  Church'  (not  an  elder),  as  at  Derby,  Lystra,  Antioch,  and  other 
places.  At  Lystra  Paul  met  with  Timothy,  and  most  likely  it  was  there  that  '  The 
hands  of  the  presbytery'  were  laid  upon  him.  Not  the  hands  of  presbyters  from 
various  local  Churches ;  but,  in  the  language  of  Dr.  Samuel  Davidson : 

'  The  elders  set  over  a  single  Congregational  Church.'  ^  The  phrase,  '  The  pres- 
bytery,'as  the  phrase,  'the  lawyer,'  'the  statesman,'  in  the  classification  of  men, 
means  every  presbytery,  in  the  classification  of  the  body  of  elders  in  the  sevei'al 
Churches.  Carson  says,  that  the  word  denotes :  '  A  certain  kind  of  plurality  of 
elders.  It  represents  stated  association.  The  accidental  or  occasional  meeting  of 
the  elders  of  a  number  of  Churches,  would  be  a  meeting  of  the  elders,  not  of  the 
presbytery.  The  word  denotes  both  the  plurality  and  the  union.  The  senate  is  not 
even  a  plurality  of  senators.  ...  It  is  taken  for  granted  in  this  kind  of  expression, 
that  it  i~  a  (1(  liiiitr,  wril-kiiuwn  body  of  men  acting  in  association.  As  there  is  no 
such  a-MH-iatiuii  aiiiKii^-  ilic  elders  of  different  Churches,  it  must  be  theeldersof  one 
Cliurcii.'"  -Neundcr  corruborates  this  view,  thus:  'It  is  certain  that  every  Church 
was  governed  by  a  union  of  the  elders,  or  overseers,  chosen  from  among  them- 
selves, and  we  find  among  them  no  individual  distinguished  above  the  rest,  who  pre- 
sided as  ap)'inius  inter  pares,  first  among  equals.' 

But,  above  all  absurd  positions,  is  that  which  makes  tiie  bishop  of  modern  times 
the  successor  of  the  Apostles.  When  they  died  they  appointed  none  to  fill  their 
places,  for  their  office  was  peculiar  and  connected  only  with  the  planting  of  Chris- 
tianity, by  upholding  Christ's  teachings  and  requirements ;  their  mission  being  con- 
firmed by  the  special  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  All  this  was  indispensable  until  the 
standard  of  faith  and  practice  was  settled  in  the  inspired  Books ;  they  themselves,  for 
the  time  being,  tilling  the  place  of  those  writings,  as  the  chosen  organ  of  the  Spirit. 
Then,  they  were  the  only  authoritative  guides  for  the  Gospel  Churches,  by  whom  the 


138  NO   DTOCESAN  EPISCOPACY. 

will  of  Cliii-t  was  conunuiiieated.  Tlirniii;]i  tlieir  tongue  and  pen  tlie  Spirit  gave 
his  tliivcti.iiis  aii.l  ilcciM.^.ns,  and  tliuv  aiv  now  exactly  what  the  Churches  of  their 
;iMV  iTcoi;iii/.c(l  tli(_-ni ;  the  New  Testament  sn|)]ilied  their  place  as  tlie  channel  through 
which  the  Spii-it  now  speaks  to  the  ( 'hurchcs. 

Those  who  would  tV>ist  diocesan  ei)iM-opac,v  upon  the  New  Testament  Churches, 
tliinh  that  thcv  lin.l  their  stnm-hold  in  the  phrase  'angel  of  the  Church'  (<ni,j,lvs), 
which  is  simply  a  mosenger.  In  Matt,  xi,  l(»,  .Tehovah  himself  calls  John  tlie 
l^aptist,  'my  angel'  (messengei-),  and  in  tui-n,  John  calls  his  own  messengers  to 
Christ,  'angels/  Luke  xviii,  18-24.  I!ut  wert"  these  j)rototypes  of  modern  prelates? 
Even  Paul's  thorn  in  the  flesh  is  called  hy  him^elt  an  'angel,'  '  a  messenger  of  Satan.' 
L'  Cor.  xii,  7.  So,  the  seven  letters  to  the  (  huivho.  Kev.  ii,  iii.  imply  that  the  angel 
of  the  Churches  was  some  person  sent  fidm  eai-h  (d'  them  on  a  temporary  mission, 
and  chosen  by  the  Church  itself  for  that  nns^ion.  Eu(;li  of  the  Churches  had  its 
separate  messenger;  there  was  not  one  angel  oidy  for  the  seven,  after  the  order  of 
modern  episcopacy.  A  cause  mn^t  lie  hard  pi'es^ed,  to  lay  violent  hands  upon  this 
part  of  the  Apocalypse  in  support  of  such  an  innovation. 

Patmos,  where  the  Apostle  John  wi-ote  this  hook,  was  not  far  from  the  seven 
Churches  of  Asia,  and  it  was  natural  that  the  holy  pia^oiier  should  recpiest  each  one 
of  them  to  send  some  faithful  messenger  who  should  receive  from  him,  personally, 
what  message  he  had  from  Christ  to  send  to  them  severally.  The  Apostle  Paul  sent 
his  Epistles  to  the  Churches  in  the  same  \\  ay,  fui-  each  messenger  who  carried  them, 
was  then  capable  of  proving  that  they  were  not  forgeries.  And,  now,  this  \vas  the 
only  means  left  at  the  command  of  John  for  sending  Christ's  revelations  to  the 
Churches,  by  trustworthy  hands.  Is  it  surprising,  then,  that  Jesus  should  instruct  his 
imprisoned  servant,  to  write  this  and  that  message  to  this  and  that  Church,  aud  to 
entrust  the  message  to  these  individual  messengers?  The  trust  which  the  Saviour 
liimself  conflded  to  them,  entitled  them  to  be  called  'seven  stars,'  each  bearing  new 
light  to  one  of  the  seven  Churches  (d'  which  they  themselves  were  the  'seven  lamp 
stands'  set  for  the  illumination  of  all  around  them.  These  Churches  were  not  to  be 
deprived  of  necessary  light  because  John  was  a  prisoner;  but  Jesus  would  prove 
to  them  by  these  seven  epistles,  that  he  still  hehl  them  as  stars  in  his  right  hand, 
and  had  not  turned  over  their  keeping  to  a  sevenfold  episcopacy,  but  maintained  for 
each  of  them  a  separate  message,  to  be  bi'ouglit  to  them  by  seven  faithful  messen- 
gers, as  seven  separate  congregations,  wdio,  despite  their  faults,  were  still  dear  to 
their  Sovereign  Lord. 

Baptism  was  the  first  ordinance  of  the  Apostolic  Churches.  Our  Lord  stamped 
this  institution  with  a  marked  and  reverend  dignity,  putting  higher  honor  upon  it 
than  on  any  act  in  Christianity,  by  making  it  the  oidy  institution  to  be  enforced  in 
the  august  names  of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit.  Xeither  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel,  the  administration  of  the  Siipjier,  n..r  any  other  transaction  has  this  high 
sanction  from  his  lips,  because  none  of  them  hold   the  same  solemn  relation  to  the 


THE   COMMO.X  ABl'SK    OF  n.lPTfS.Af.  139 

Trinity  wiiicli  tliis  liol.js.  lie  did  m.nv  tliau  iiKTcly  (•<.iiuuan(i  i)ai)tism  to  be  ad- 
miuistered  In-  tiie  autluirity  of  tiic  Trinity;  as  Dr.  Dwight  puts  the  formula,  'Not 
m  but  into  tlie  name '  of  the  Trinity.  Of  course,  not  into  the  essence  of  the 
Godhead,  but  tlie  baptized  are  publicly  introduced  into  the  family  of  God,  and  are 
entitled  in  a  special  manner  to  the  name  of  God  ;  or,  as  Dr.  TroUope  better  expresses 
the  sense :  '  By  this  solemn  act  we  are  devoted  to  the  faith,  worship,  and  obedience 
of  these  three,  as  Creator,  Eedeemer,  and  Sanctilier.'  The  conception  of  divine 
dignity  whicli  Christ  threw  into  baptism,  led  the  Apostolic  Churches  to  see  the 
proper  place  which  it  holds  in  the  Gospel  system,  and  to  shape  their  polity  accord- 
ingly. Their  conduct  contrasts  strikingly  with  that  modern  fanaticism  which 
pushes  it  out  of  the  place  given  to  it  by  Christ,  either  by  making  it  the  source  of 
moral  regeneration,  or  by  depreciating  it  as  an  optional  rite  or  form.  Our  only  safety 
is  in  brushing  away  the  fog  which  this  abuse  has  thrown  about  it,  and  in  going 
boldly  back  to  examine  and  practice  it,  as  we  find  it  in  the  New  Testament. 

Jesus  declared  it  to  be  from  heaven ;  he  doubly  honored  its  appointment 
by  his  Father,  by  obediently  submitting  to  it  on  the  opening  of  his  own  min- 
istry, and  by  enjoining  it  on  others  to  the  end  of  time.  It  was  the  first  institu- 
tion in  his  mind  when  he  himself  began  to  preach  ;  and  the  last  that  he  pressed 
upon  those  whom  he  left  to  preach,  w-hen  he  charged  them  on  the  '  mountain 
in  Galilee,'  as  he  spoke  his  last  command  in  his  resurrection  body.  As  John 
Henry  Newman  says:  'Friends  do  not  ask  for  literal  connnands,  but  from  their 
knowledge  of  the  speaker  they  understand  his  half-words,  and  from  love  to  him 
they  anticipate  his  wishes.'  Here  is  not  even  the  reverend  '  half-word,'  it  is  his 
last  command  that  all  believing  men  should  be  baptized  upon  their  faith.  As  the 
Captain  of  salvation  he  gave  this  military  mandate,  'Follow  me!' and  made  the 
law  doubly  positive  by  his  own  example.  It  was  this  simple,  heart-felt  sincerity  in 
obeying  hira  which  led  a  noted  saint  to  say  :  '  Wherever  I  have  seen  the  print  of  his 
shoe  on  earth,  there  I  have  coveted  to  set  my  foot,  too.'  The  Apostolic  Churches 
associated  those  primal  exercises  of  the  heart — repentance,  forgiveness  of  sin,  and 
regeneration  of  soul — with  baptism  ;  these  were  the  preparation  for  baptism,  which 
exhibited  the  new  religious  state  into  which  their  members  were  brought.  Hence, 
says  Dr.  Jacob :  '  It  was  evident  from  the  first  that  Christian  baptism,  though  in  its 
outward  form  one  single  act,  represented  no  single,  isolated  state  of  feeling — but  a 
spiritual  transaction  carried  on  in  the  spirit  and  conscience,  and  then  declaring  itself 
externally.  .  .  .  Consequently,  the  fact  that  persons  liad  been  baptized  is  in  the 
New  Testament  often  referred  to,  both  as  indicating  their  privileged  position,  and 
as  reminding  them  of  their  serious  obligation  to  live  in  a  manner  not  unworthy  of 
it.">  This  exactly  accords  with  the  inspired  teaching.  '  Through  grace  ye  are  all 
the  children  of  God,  for  as  many  of  you  as  were  baptized  into  Christ,  put  on  Christ.' 
Gal.  iii,  27.  'Buried  with  him  in  your  baptism  in  which  ye  were  also  raised  up 
with  him,   through  faith  in   tiie  operation  of  God.'     Col.  ii,  12.     ileu  who   pro- 


140  THE  PLACE  FILLED   BY  BAPTISM. 

fessed  i'Mitli  ami  wciv  baptized  were  regarded  l)y  tliose  Cliurelies  as  true  believers, 
until  tlieir  cuiKluct  jimved  the  contrary.  Peter  teaches  the  same  doctrine  when  he 
says  that  '  ba|itisin  is  nut  the  putting  away  of  the  tilth  of  tlie  flesh,'  the  mere 
cleansing  u[  the  budy  ;  it  goes  deeper  and  signifies  the  inward  state  of  the  baptized, 
which  must  cori-cspiind  with  the  outward  appearance;  by 'the  answer  of  a  good 
conscience  toward  God.'  What  a  tei'i'ible  rt'luike  is  this  to  the  ignorant  notion  that 
if  your  own  conscience  approves  oi'  yuui-  liaptism,  you  have  all  the  baptism  that 
you  need.  No,  the  Apostle  insists  that  the  purity  of  your  conscience  as  a  saved  man 
must  correspond  to  the  profession  wliich  you  make  when  you  are  buried  with 
Christ  in  baptism.  Thus,  Jerome  understood  the  New  Testament,  and  says  :  '  First 
tliey  taught  all  nations,  then  immei-se  those  that  are  taught,  in  water ;  for  it  cannot 
be  that  the  body  should  receive  the  sacrament  of  baptism  unless  the  soul  has  before 
received  the  truth  of  faith.'  '- 

In  the  last  edition  of  Ilerzog's  '  Encyclopsedia '  {Art.  Tanfe)  these  words  are 
used:  '  Every-where  in  the  New  Testament  the  presupposition  is,  that  only  those 
who  believe  are  to  be  baptized.  That  in  the  New  Testament  no  direct  trace  of 
infant  l>aptisni  is  found  may  be  regarded  as  settled.  Eiforts  to  prove  its  presence 
suffer  from  tlie  lack  of  presupposing  what  is  to  l)e  pn^ived.' 

Although  Liddon  makes  baptism  the  instrument  of  i-egeneration,  perhaps  no 
modern  writer  so  lucidly  sets  forth  its  relation  to  regeneration  as  he,  and  his  force- 
ful clearness  will  justify  the  following  long  (]uotation : 

'Regeneration  thus  implies  a  double  process,  one  destructive,  the  other  con- 
structive ;  by  it  the  old  life  is  killed,  and  the  new  life  forthwith  bursts  into 
existence.  This  double  process  is  effected  by  the  sacramental  incorporation  of  the 
baptized,  first  with  Christ  crucified  and  dead,  and  then  with  Christ  rising  from  the 
dead  to  life;  although  the  language  of  the  Apostle  distinctly  intimates  that  a 
continued  share  in  the  resurrection-life  depends  upon  the  co-operation  of  the  will  of 
the  Christian.  But  the  moral  realities  of  the  Christian  life,  to  which  the  grace  of 
baptism  originally  introduces  the  Christian,  cori-espond  with,  and  are  effects  of, 
Christ's  death  and  resurrection.  Regarded  historically,  these  events  belong  to  the 
irrevocable  past.  But  for  us  Christians  the  crucifixion  and  the  rosnrroftion  are  not 
mere  past  events  of  history  ;  they  are  energizing  facts  from  whicli  no  lapse  uf  centu- 
ries can  sever  us;  they  are  perpetuated  to  the  end  of  time  within  ihe  Kingdom  of 
the  Redemption.  The  Christian  is,  to  the  end  of  time,  crucilied  with  Christ;  he 
dies  with  Christ ;  he  is  buried  with  Christ ;  he  rises  with  Christ ;  he  lives  with 
Christ.  He  is  not  merely  made  to  sit  together  in  heavenly  places  as  being  in  Christ 
Jesus,  he  is  a  member  of  his  Body,  as  out  of  his  Flesh  aild  out  of  his  Bones.  And 
of  this  profound  incorporation  baptism  is  the  original  instrument.  The  very  form 
of  the  sacrament  of  regeneration,  as  it  was  administered  to  the  adult  multitudes 
who  in  the  earh  davs  (if  the  Church  pressed  for  admittance  into  her  communion, 
harmonizes  \\\\\\  ilu'  spiritual  results  which  it  effects.  As  the  neophyte  is  plunged 
beneath  the  waters,  so  the  old  nature  is  slain  and  buried  with  Christ.  As  Christ, 
crucified  and  entondied,  rises  with  resistless  might  from  the  grave  which  can  no 
longer  hold  him,  so,  to  the  eye  of  faith,  tlic  ('hiistian  is  raised  from  the  bath  of 
regeneration  radiant  with  a  new  and  supei'iiatural  life.  His  gaze  is  to  be  fixed 
henceforth  on  Christ,  who,  being  raised  from  the  dead,  dieth  no  more.'  '^ 


SCHOLARS   ON  BAPTISM.  ]  4  1 

Tliis  high  (li)pti-iiial  significance  of  baptism  was  constantlj  kept  in  mind  in  \\w 
Apostolic  Ciiurdies,  when  they  buried  the  bodies  of  believers  in  the  waters  of  seas, 
rivei-s,  and  other  convenient  places,  and  it  could  not  be  set  forth  in  any  other  way. 
It  would  be  wearisome  to  quote  critics,  liistorians,  theologians,  and  the  highest 
authorities  in  exposition  to  sustain  this  position,  still  a  few  may  not  be  amiss. 

Dr.  Cave  says  of  ancient  immersion  : 

'By  the  persons  being  put  into  water  was  lively  represented  tlic  ])iittiHg  off  of 
the  sins  of  the  flesh,  and  being  washed  from  the  flltli  and  pollution  of  them  ;  by  his 
abode  under  it,  which  was  a  kind  of  burial  into  water,  bis  entering  into  a  state  of 
death  and  mortiflcation,  like  as  Christ  remained  for  some  time  under  the  state  or 
power  of  death  .  .  .  and  then  by  his  emersion,  or  rising  up  out  of  the  water,  was 
signified  bis  entry  upon  a  new  course  of  life,  differing  from  that  which  he  lived 
before.' " 

Dean  Goulburn  voices  the  higher  scholarship  on  this  subject  in  these  words  : 

'There  can  be  no  doubt  that  l>a|>ri-^ni,  when  adinini^tcred  in  the  pristine  and 
most  correct  form,  is  a  divinely  (•()ii>tiiiii'il  ciiililnii  nf  Inidily  resurrection.  .  .  . 
Animation  having  been  for  one  instant  mi-^i  ikK  il  licinath  the  water,  a  type  this  of 
the  interruption  of  man's  energies  by  death,  tlie  ixjdy  is  lifted  up  again  into  the  air 
by  way  of  expressing  emblematically,  the  new  birth  of  resuri'ection.'  '^ 

The  entire  Greek  Church,  which  at  present  numbers  about  70,000,000  of  com- 
municants, and  whose  custom  it  has  always  been  to  immerse,  thus  strongly  expresses 
itself  in  its  great  standard,  the  'Pedalion,'  a  folio  of  4S4  pages,  and  sent  forth 
under  the  authority  of  the  Patriarch  and  Holy  Synod,  on  pp.  20-33  : 

'The  distinctive  character  of  the  institution  of  baptism,  tln'ii,  is  ininnTsion  (hop- 
tisma),  which  camiot  be  omitted  without  destroying  the  iii\ -iniMii-  iiMMiiin-  (,f  the 
sacrament,  and  without  contradicting,  at  the  same  time,  the  ctynHiid-ic:!!  .-i-iiilic-aii(in 
of  the  W(ji-d  wliich  serves  t(j  (le.-i--uate  it.  The  Western  (Koiuan)  Church,  tlierefore, 
ha.~  x'liaraiiMl  iVdiii  the  imitation  of  Jesus  Christ :  she  has  caused  all  the  sublimity 
of  ilie  external  .-i-n  to  ili^apiieaf  ;  in  sliort,  she  is  guilty  of  an  abuse  of  words,  and 
of  ideas  in  practicing  l)aptisiii  by  aspersion,  the  mere  announcement  of  which  is  a 
laughable  contradiction.' 

With  equal  decision,  but  in  inilder  terms,  the  Dean  of  Norwich  complains  that 
the  substitution  of  sprinkling  for  immersion  has  utterly  obscured  'the  emblematical 
significance  of  the  rite,  and  renders  unintelligible  to  all  but  the  educated,  the  Apostle's 
association  of  burial  and  resurrection,  with  the  ordinance.'  Those  who  are  not  Bap- 
tists find  fault  on  this  subject  more  bitterly  than  they  do.  A  treatise  authorized 
by  the  patriarchs  of  Jerusalem,  Constantinople,  and  Alexandria,  declares  in  Chapter 
vii,  that  the  attempt  to  prove  that  the  ancients  sprinkled,  is  merely  an  attempt 
to  palm  off  '  lies.'  Chapter  xix  attempts  to  show  '  that  sprinkling  being  satanical,  is 
opposed  to  Divine  Baptism ; '  and  Chapter  xxxiv  decides, '  That  sprinkling  is  a  Heret- 
ical Dogma.'  Moses  Stuart,  the  great  scholar  of  our  own  country,  says  :  '  I  cannot 
see  how  it  is  possible  for  any  candid  man  who  examines  the  subject  to  deny  this,' 
namely  :  that  A]50stolic  Baptism  was  immersion.     But  Dr.  Paine,  Professor  of  Eccle- 


142 

.1  rriroiiiTiKs  cnxrixrKn. 

si:istical  Ilistc 

iry  ii 

1   till 

■  Thcoln-ical  Sriniiiarv  at    l!an-.>r,  wlici 

1   oliar-cMl  In 

■  some 

of 

liis  hivtlin-ii  V 

vith 

i;a|., 

Ust  scntiliicllts  iKTailM'  lie  tea. -lies  that   il 

muRTsiou  pn 

L'vailed 

ill 

allCIiiuvhus 

t'roiii 

tl,f 

A]in.stl(_'s  (IdWii,  ivplics  witli  Liavat  .-pirit 

'As  to  tlie  question  of  fact,  the  testinicaiy  i^  ample  ami  ileeisive.  No 
matter  of  Chnrcii  history  is  clearer.  The  evidence  is  all  mie  way,  ami  all  ClmiX'h 
historians  of  any  repute  agree  in  acceptiiii;'  it.  AVe  cuiinot  claim  even  orig- 
inality in  teaching  it  in  a  Congregational  seminary  ;  and  we  really  feel  guilty  of  a 
kind  of  anaclironism  in  writing  an  article  to  illsi^t  upon  it.  It  is  a  point  on  which 
ancient,  medi:eval  and  iihhIci-ii  historian^  alike,  ('atholic.^  and  Protestants,  Lutherans 
and  Calvinists,  ha\e  ni>  emiti-nvei-.-y  ;  and  the  simple  i-ca-(,n  for  this  uniformity  is, 
that  the  statements  of  the  eai-ly  Fathers  are  so  clear,  and  the  light  shed  upon  these 
statements  from  the  early  customs  of  the  Church  is  so  conclusive,  that  no  historian 
who  cares  for  his  reputation  would  dare  to  deny  it,  and  no  historian  who  is  worthy 
of  the  name  would  wish  to.  There  are  some  liistorioal  questions  concerning  the 
early  Church  on  which  the  most  learned  writers  disagree  ....  but  on  this  one  of 
the  early  practice  of  immersion,  the  most  distinguished  antiquarians, — such  as  Bing- 
ham, Augusti,  Coleman,  Smith,  and  historians  such  as  Mosheim,  Giesler,  Hase, 
Neander,  Millman,  Scliaff  and  Alzog  (Catholic)  hold  a  common  language.  .  .  .  Any 
scholar  who  denies  that  immersion  was  the  baptism  of  the  Christian  Church  for 
thirteen  centuries,  betrays  utter  ignorance  or  sectarian  blindness.'^'' 

Ilerzog  says  :  '  Baptism  was  always  performed  by  immersion  in  flowing  water.'  " 

So  the  learned  Scliafl:',  on  Kom.  vi.  3  :  '  The  meaning  of  haptiso  in  this  passage 
is  undoubtedly  iiinnrrsf,  and  the  whole  force  and  beaiUy  of  the  illustration  lies  in 
this  very  allusion  to  the  act  of  immersion  and  emersion."  '* 

The  following  extract  from  Coleman's  '  Antiquities '  very  accurately  expresses 

what  all  agree  to  : 

'  In  tlie  ]irimitivo  Church,  immersion  was  undeniably  the  common  mode  of 
baptism.  The  iitiii(»t  that  can  be  said  of  sprinkling  at  that  early  period  is  that  it  was 
in  case  of  necessity  piTinitted  as  an  exception  to  a  general  rule.  This  fact  is  so  well 
established  that  it  is  needless  to  adduce  authorities  in  proof  of  it. 

The  Sub.iects  of  Bai-tism  in  the  Apostolic  Churches,  were  those  who  repented 
of  sin,  and  confessed  their  faith  in  Christ  for  salvation  ;  none  else  were  admitted, 
hence,  infant  baptism  was  unknown  amongst  them,  either  by  precept  or  example, 
nor  have  we  any  definition  of  the  relation  of  infants  to  the  Church,  or  any  provision 
for  their  discipline.  In  itself  baptism  was  the  confession  of  reliance  on  Christ, 
having  no  reference  to  parental  faith,  or  federal  relationship.  The  infinite  dif- 
ference between  the  Theocracy  and  the  Christian  Church,  measured  the  wide 
stretch  between  circumcision  and  baptism.  Admission  into  the  first  was  by  birth- 
right without  choice,  the  subject  being  'born  of  blood  and  of  the  will  of  man.' 
Men  entered  the  see  tnd,  by  bowing  the  heart  and  will  to  Christ,  by  the  personal 
abandonment  of  sin  for  his  sake,  and  by  personal  choice  of  him  as  tlieir  Saviour. 
Christ  was  a  member  of  the  Jewish  nation,  but  when  he  reached  manhood,  he  was 
haptized  on  his  own  volition  as  an  obedient  Son.     No  question  of  federal  holiness 


NO   IIACI-:    IN   CHRIST  JESUS.  143 

w;is  inviihi'd  \\vw.  Marv  had  takrii  liiiri  to  the  Temple  to  be  circumcised,  but  she 
never  brougiit  liim  to  .l(jhii  ti.  be  baptized.  IbiT  wbv  not,  if  infant  bajitism  takes 
the  place  of  cii'cnmcision  i  aiui  wliy  did  lie  carefully  avoid  making  infant  baptism  an 
institute  in  his  kingdom,  when  one  sentence  fi\im  his  lips  would  liave  established  it 
forever  i 

Singularly  enough  the  liaptism  of  believers  is  practiced  by  all  Christians,  who 
l)ractice  baptism  at  all,  because  Jesus  positively  commanded  that  it  should  be  ; 
yet  some  who  practice  infant  baptism  do  so  because  Christ  did  not  connnand  it,  but 
was  silent  on  the  subject.     One  of  onr  tirst  scholars  and  historians  says  : 

'  True,  the  New  Testament  contains  no  express  connnand  to  bajjtize  infants  ; 
such  a  comnumd  would  not  agree  with  the  free  spirit  of  the  Gospel.  Nor  was 
there  aiiy  compulsory  or  general  infant  baptism  before  the  tmioii  of  Church  and 
State.  Constantino,  the  first  Christian  emperor,  delayed  his  baptism  till  his 
death-bed  (as  many  now  delay  tiieir  repentance) ;  and  even  after  Constantine 
there  were  examples  of  eminent  teachers,  as  Gregoi-y  Nazianzen,  Augustin, 
CliryMistoni,  who  were  not  baptized  in  early  manhood,  although  they  had  Christian 
mothers.  But  still  less  does  the  New  Testament/b/'iiVZ  infant  baptism,  as  it  might 
1)0  expected  to  do  in  view  of  the  universal  custom  of  the  Jews  to  admit  their 
children  by  circumcision  on  the  eighth  day  after  birth,  into  the  fellowship  of  the 
old  covenant.' " 

A  guileh'ss  investigator  of  historic  truth  will  naturally  ask  here,  1.  If  'the 
free  spirit  of  tiie  Gospel'  would  not  have  agreed  with  an  express  command  from 
Christ  to  baptize  infants,  how  does  their  baptism  loithout  his  commands  agree 
with  that  '  free  spirit  ? '  2.  Gospel  baptism  was  for  '  all  nations,'  '  all  the  world,' 
without  regard  to  Jew  or  Gentile  as  such,  what  then,  had  natural  '  birth '  to  do  witli 
the  question,  in  any  way?  Jews  and  Gentiles  were  admitted  to  baptism  on  the 
same  terms,  and  millions  of  Gentiles  were  baptized.  l)ut  oidy  a  few  thousand  Jews. 
In  fact,  the  baptized  Churches  refused  to  know  men  either  as  Jew  or  Gentile, 
becan.se  in  Christ  Jesus  there  is  no  race.  The  Gentiles  had  nothing  to  do  with  cir- 
cumcision, as  the  ordinance  of  a  covenant  in  which  they  had  never  had  and  never 
were  to  have  a  part.  "Was  baptism  substituted  for  circumcision  to  accommodate 
them,  when  they  had  no  naturdl  interest  in  either  ?  The  Jews  needed  no  such 
change.  Any  one  of  them,  old  or  young,  male  or  female,  could  accept  the 
liedeemer  on  choice,  by  passing  out  of  the  Old  Covenant  into  the  New  with  him 
through  baptism,  by  simply  asking  the  privilege.  Infant  baptism  could  not  be 
a  substitute  for  circumcision  with  the  Gentiles,  and  the  Jews  could  have  both  if 
they  wished,  as  in  the  cases  of  Paul  and  Timothy.  Then  what  had  circumcision 
to  do  with  the  question  anyway,  when  baptism  affected  only  'a  new  creature?' 
3.  As  to  New  Testament  silence  on  the  subject  of  infant  bap*^-sm  :  Did  the  Apos- 
tolic Christians  understand  that  whatever  Jesus  did  not  forbid  they  were  in  duty 
bound  to  incorporate  into  the  Christian  system  ?  Then,  any  rite,  fervice  or  prac- 
tice, superstition  or  dogma  whatever,  might  have  been  introduced,  uidess  expressly 


144  DOES   SILENCE  ENJOIN   IXn'V? 

forbiddon.  Tliis  casts  all  tlio  bulwarks  of  purity  to  the  four  winds,  aud  is  the 
essence  of  Komanisni.  Where  does  the  New  Testament  'forlid'  infant  com- 
munion, the  elevation  and  adoration  of  the  cup,  the  limit  of  its  use  to  the  clergy, 
the  use  of  holy  watei-,  tlie  ]iriestly  miter  and  dress,  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  the 
conduct  of  worship  in  Latin  ;  the  use  of  salt,  oil,  honey  and  saliva  in  baptism,  the 
baptiMu  of  l)ells,  a  college  of  cardinals,  archbishoijs,  auricular  confession,  the  pope's 
infallibility,  nay,  the  pope  himself,  with  a  thousand  other  nuimmeries  ad  nau- 
seam f 

If  it  is  a  canon  in  Christianity  that  silence  gives  consent,  and  consent  imposes 
duty,  then  it  is  not  only  our  duty  to  baptize  our  children,  whether  the  '  Christian 
motlicrs'  of  Chrysostom  and  Augustine  baptized  theirs  or  not,  but  to  do  many  other 
things  which  '  his  holiness '  curses  us  for  not  doing.  Luther  honestly  said  :  '  It  can- 
not be  proved  by  the  Sacred  Scriptures  that  infant  baptism  was  instituted  by  Christ, 
or  begun  by  the  first  Christians  after  the  Apostles.'  So,  when  Carlstadt  asked  him : 
'  Where  has  Christ  commanded  us  to  elevate  the  host  ? '  he  answered,  '  Where  has 
he  forhidden  it  ? '  As  if  this  absurd  answer  rendered  his  act  a  whit  the  less  a 
trifling  with  Christ's  will  in  either  case.  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
contains  no  express  connnand  to  establish  a  monarchy  and  elect  a  king,  '  still  less ' 
does  it  ^forhid^  this;  therefore  any  faction  is  at  liberty  to  establish  a  kingdom 
and  elect  a  sovereign  !  Such  work  would  probably  be  deemed  'treason'  under  our 
positive  political  institutions,  but  somehow  the  same  silence  affecting  an  institution 
of  Christ  is  used  to  impel  to  superserviceable  loyalty. 

Our  Lord  instructed  his  Apostles  whom  to  baptize,  and  on  what  conditions,  and 
they  went  no  further.  God  commanded  Abraham  to  circumcise  '  his  seed,'  but  he 
did  not  practice  the  rite  upon  other  men's  children,  because  he  was  not  forbidden  to 
do  so.  Baptism  is  met  with  in  the  New  Testament,  only  in  association  with  a  cer- 
tain set  of  persons,  sentiments  and  virtues.  The  baptized  are  characterized 
as  '  elect,'  '  saints,'  '  disciples,'  '  believers,'  and  their  state  of  mind  as  that  of  '  faith,' 
'  obedience,'  '  remission  of  sin,'  '  following  after  holiness,'  and  '  enduring  hardness  as 
good  soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ ;'  names  which  cannot  be  given  to,  aud  things  which 
cannot  be  said  of,  infants. 

Besides,  the  universal  testimony  of  Church  history  says  that  they  were  not 
infants,  but  refers  the  whole  question  of  infant  baptism  to  empty  inferential  usage. 
Bunsen  writes :  '  It  was  utterly  iinknown  in  the  early  Church,  not  only  down  to 
the  end  of  the  second,  but  indeed  to  the  middle  of  the  third,  centurj'.' -"  Hahn  of 
Breslau  testifies,  that  '  Neither  in  the  Scriptures,  nor  during  the  first  hundred  and 
fifty  years,  is  a  sure  example  of  infant  baptism  to  be  foxmd  ;  and  we  must  concede 
that  the  numerous  opposers  of  it  cannot  be  contradicted  on  Gospel  ground.'^' 
Curcellaeus  declares  that,  '  The  baptism  of  infants,  in  the  first  centuries  after  Christ, 
was  altogether  unknown ;  but  in  the  third  and  fourth  was  allowed  by  some  few. 
In  the  fifth  and  following  ages  it  was  generally  received.     The  custom  of  baptizing 


snior.Mis  ox  inf.wt  baptism.  i4s 

infants  did  not  begin  licfure  tlie  third  age  after  Ciirist  was  born.  In  the  former 
ages  no  traces  of  it  appear,  and  it  was  introduced  witliout  tlie  command  of  Christ.'"^ 
These  testimonies  might  be  ninltiplied  at  length,  but  only  a  few  of  great  weight 
may  be  added.     Dr.  Jacob  says  : 

'Notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  written  by  learned  men  upon  this  subject, 
it  remains  indisputable  that  infant  baptism  is  not  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament. 
No  instance  of  it  is  recorded  there  ;  no  allusion  is  made  to  its  eifects  ;  no  directions 
are  given  for  its  administration.  However  reasonably  we  may  be  convinced  that 
we  find  in  the  Cliristian  Scriptures  "  the  fundamental  idea  from  which  infant  bap- 
tism was  afterwai'd  develo])ed,"  and  by  which  it  may  now  be  justified,  it  ought  to 
be  distinctly  acknowledged  that  it  is  not  an  Apostolic  ordinance.  Like  modern 
Episcopacy,  it  is  an  ecclesiastical  institution  legitimately  deduced  by  C'liurch  author- 
ity from  Apostolic  principles ;  but  not  Apostolic  in  its  actual  existence.'  ^ 

The  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  recently  deceased,  says : 

'I  most  candidly  and  broadly  state  my  conviction  that  there  is  not  one 
]>assai:e  niir  one  word  in  Scripture  which  directly  proves  it — not  one  word,  the 
undeniable  and  lo-irai  |)()wer  of  which  can  be  adduced  to  prove,  in  any  way  of  fact, 
that  in  tiie  Scri])ture  age  intants  were  baptized,  or  of  tlie  doctrine  that  they  ought 
to  be  baptized.  Nor,  1  believe,  is  there  any  such  direct  statement  to  be  found  in  any 
writings  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Church  before  the  latter  end  of  the  second  century.' 

Beck  has  well  summed  up  the  constituency  of  an  Apostolic  Church  thus  : 

'  They  are  baptized  on  the  strength  of  personal  faith,  and  pass  from  the  old 
union  witli  the  world  into  the  new  associations.  It  is  not  baptism  in  itself,  there- 
fore, which  niakr-  the  (  Inuch,  it  is  faitii  which  qualifies  both  for  faith  and  for  the 
Church.  This  faith  throu-h  which  a  man,  of  his  own  free-will,  unites  Iiimself  with 
(hi.IV  Milvatiuii  in  Christ  leads  to  baptism;  in  which  (.d.l  unites  hiia.-clf  \n  men  fur 
their  MiKatiun,  for  the  forgiveness  of  tlieirsins  and  tlic  -iff  of  ilic  S|iirif.  And  siu-li 
baptized  persons  form  the  Church  which  is,  tlieiTrdrc,  styled  "Tlie  niiiltitudc  of 
them  that  believed." '  ^ 

Because,  then,  there  is  no  authority  for  its  practice  from  Christ  or  his  Apostles, 
it  falls  to  the  ground.  Of  what  weight  is  it  that  it  be  a  tenet  of  '  deduction,'  '  infer- 
ence,' 'Church  authority  '  or  any  other  authority  ;  no  matter  what  the  pretense  may 
l)e  'i  In  that  case  it  is  of  purely  human  origin,  manufactured  for  some  end  which 
the  oracles  of  God  did  not  contemplate,  and  is  an  act  of  empty  will-worship, 
for  which  a  man  can  give  no  solid  account  to  Ciirist.  The  late  Archbishop  Hughes 
saw  this  point  clearly,  and  said,  in  his  '  Doctrinal  Catechism  : '  '  It  does  not  ap])ear 
from  Scripture  that  even  one  infant  was  ever  baptized ;  therefore,  Protestants 
should  reject,  on  their  own  principle,  infant  baj^tism  as  an  unscriptural  usage.'  But 
Professor  Lange,  of  Jena,  a  weightier  authority  still,  says :  '  Would  the  Protestant 
Chureh  fulfill  and  attain  to  its  final  destiny,  the  baptism  of  infants  must  of  neces- 
sity be  abolished.  It  has  sunk  down  to  a  mere  formality,  without  any  religious 
meaning  for  the  child ;  and  stands  in  direct  contradiction  to  the  fundamental  doc- 
trines of  the  Reformers,  on  the  advantage  and  use  of  the  sacraments.  It  cannot 
fmm  any  point  of  view  be  justified  liy  the  Iluly  Scriptures.'^ 


146  riiK  /.o/;/)'s  srr/'h'/i'. 

Tliere  are  tliree  eases  of  lujiLseliuld  baptism  lueiitiuiied  in  tlic  New  Testament, 
but  tlie  language  of  each  record  strongly  sustains  the  above  testimony.  In  the 
household  of  Lydia  (Acts  xvi,  40),  those  who  were  baptized  with  her  are  called 
'brethren,'  and  are  'exhorted'  by  Paul.  In  the  jailer's  household  (Acts  xvi, 
31-34),  Paul  'spoke  the  word  of  the  Lord  to  <ill  that  were  in  his  house,"  and  they 
all  'believed  in  (4od  and  rejoiced.'  And  (if  the  househohl  of  Stephanas  (1  Cor. 
xvi,  15),  which  Paul  bajitized,  he  says  that  tiiey  'addicted  themselves  to  the  ministry 
of  the  saints.'  These  are  things  which  no  infant  can  do,  and  prove  tliat  in  each  case 
they  first  heard  the  Gospel,  and  then  were  baptized  \\\kiu  their  pcr-oiial  faith  in  the 
Lord  Jesus.     The  second  ordinance  of  the  New  Testament  Chui-ches  was  : 

The  Loed's  Suppek.  Its  design  was  purely  commemorative  of  Christ's  death. 
Onr  Lord  instituted  it  on  the  night  before  he  was  offered.  He  gave  broken  bread 
to  his  disciples,  to  represent  his  body  as  it  should  be  mangled  the  next  day  by  cruci- 
fixion ;  then  they  each  drank  of  the  cup,  wliich  represented  the  shedding  of  his  blood 
for  the  remission  of  sins.  All  his  disciples  prcst-nt  ]iartook  of  these,  and  he  made 
the  commemoration  perpetual,  saying, 'Tliis  do  in  remembrance  of  me.'  Here  is 
the  simple  and  beautiful  ordinance  about  wliicii  his  folkiwers  have  wrangled  for 
centuries  in  the  most  shameful  manner.  Human  manipulations  have  made  it  an 
'  awful  mystery,'  a  '  dreadful  sacrament,'  or  oath,  and  even  a  base  idolatry,  put  in 
the  place  of  Christ  himself.  With  many  who  reject  the  Eomish  teaching  of  the 
Supper,  an  accretion  of  ideas  and  applications  are  associated  with  it,  which  amount 
to  bald  superstitions.  We  hear  devout  and  eidightened  Protestants  calling  it '  the  food 
of  the  soul,'  a  '  banquet  of  flesh  and  blood,'  an  '  eating  of  Christ's  flesh  and  blood,' 
and  the  like  nonsense.  Some  even  pervert  such  passages  as  this  by  applying  them 
to  the  Supper  :  'If  ye  eat  not  my  flesh  and  drink  not  my  blood  ye  have  not  eternal 
life,'  whereas  Jesus  spoke  these  words  a  year  and  a  half  before  the  Supper  was  estab- 
lished ;  and  if  they  bear  upon  it  at  all,  they  imply  that  eternal  life  itself  can  be  had 
by  taking  bread  and  wine  at  the  table.  Others,  in  some  way.  wliich  nobody  knows 
any  thing  about,  find  a  real  presence  of  Christ  at  the  Table,  as  they  lind  him  in  no 
other  religious  observance,  and  so  they  insist  upon  it  that  the  saints  have  fellowship 
with  him  and  with  each  other  there,  such  as  they  can  have  nowhere  else,  and  in 
no  other  way.  Hence,  without  intending  it,  contempt  is  brought  upon  the  Bible 
teaching  that  Christ  himself  and  not  bread  is  the  food  of  the  soul,  that  the  atone- 
ment brings  salvation  and  not  the  act  which  commemorates  it,  in  the  use  of  bread 
and  wine.  Christ  is  the  only  bond  of  vital  union,  and  the  only  test  of  fellowship 
amongst  saints,  and  not  a  material  ordinance.  If  fellowship  amongst  Christians  is 
purchased  by  sitting  with  each  other  at  the  same  table,  their  love  is  bought  at  a  very 
light  cost.  Oneness  with  Christ  himself,  the  brotherhood  of  regeneration  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  mutual  burden-bearing  and  mutual  watch-care,  formed  the  visible  bond 
of  fellowship  in  the  Apostolic  Churches.  This  sort  of  unity  cost  them  something,  it 
was  not  a  vaporing  sentiment,  and  was  worth  all  that  it  cost.     There  is  not  a  case  in 


JESUS  0M,y  IS  Tin-:  box/)  of  r.xioy.  147 

ecclesiasticiil  history  where  thu  yii])i)er  lias  held  any  siiiijle  coiig-regatioii  togetlier  for 
a  day.  Churches  of  all  names  who  celebrate  it  constantly,  live  in  open  contention  year 
by  year.  The  love  of  Judas  for  John  was  cramped  iiito  a  close  corner  when  they  sat 
at  the  same  table,  and  ate  the  sop  from  the  same  dish.  If  Christians  arc  not  ruie 
on  a  much  higher  plane  than  that  of  eating  and  drinking  the  Sui)[)er  with  each 
other,  their  true  unity  is  a  hopeless  business.  In  fact,  as  if  to  prove  the  perfect 
emptiness  of  this  pretension,  in  some  Protestant  communions,  the  Supper  itself  has 
been  the  subject  of  hot  dispute,  the  chief  bone  of  contention  from  century  to  cent- 
ury. The  greatest  bitterness  has  been  indulged,  ami  anathemas  have  been  bandied 
iihont,  pro  and  con,  with  afreedom  which  has  marked  no  other  form  of  discussion, 
and  by  men,  too,  who  regularly  meet  at  the  same  table. 

About  a  quarter  of  a  century  after  Christ's  death,  the  Corinthian  Church  had 
corrupted  the  Supper  by  the  introduction  of  startling  abuses.  1  (!or.  xi.  They 
a.ssociated  the  love-feast  therewith,  and  indulged  in  gluttony  and  drunkenness. 
Christ  corrected  these  abuses  by  a  new  revelation  through  Paul,  and  gave  a  second 
definition  of  the  design  of  the  Supper,  in  exposition  of  the  first.  '  As  often  as  ye 
eat  this  bread  and  drink  this  cup,  yer proclaim  the  Lord's  death  till  he  come.'  Paul 
'received  of  the  Lord,'  that  he  intended  the  Supper  as  a  memorial,  preaching 
institution,  whereby  the  redeemed  Church,  known  as  the  '  Ye '  meeting  in  '  one 
place,'  preached  Christ's  death.  The  Primitive  Churches,  then,  threw  no  super- 
stitious mystery  about  it,  ascribed  to  it  no  semi-saving  efficacy,  accompanied  it  with 
no  popish  mortification,  self-humiliations,  super-solemnities,  distempered  enchant- 
ments, or  pious  legerdemain.  To  them  it  was  a  'feast'  of  artless  thanksgiving, 
kept  with  the  '  leaven  of  sincerity  and  truth,'  for  the  preaching  of  a  sacrificial 
Redeemer.  The  bread  and  wine  were  common,  like  any  other  bread  and  wine,  and 
Christ  was  present  with  them  by  his  Spirit  as  in  prayer,  praise,  and  other  acts  of 
worship,  no  more  sacredly  and  no  less.  The  converts  who  had  been  baptized  met 
together  on  '  the  first  day  of  the  week,'  and  Justin  Martyr,  A.  D.  150,  says:  'It  is 
not  lawful  for  any  to  partake,  but  such  as  believe  the  things  that  are  taught  by  us 
to  be  true,  and  have  been  baptized.'  There  were  no  such  things  as  '  different  deuom- 
inatiiins'  amongst  them.  Some  congregations  had  factions  amongst  them,  which  are 
called  •  sects,'  but  no  sect  of  Churches  was  distinguished  from  other  sects  of  Churches 
by  a  different  order  of  faith  and  practice.  In  this  respect  they  walked  under  the 
same  rule,  were  all  immersed  believers,  and  were  in  perfect  accord  in  their  Gospel 
practice.  Whdn  men  are  willing  to  return  to  the  Gospel  order  of  regeneration  and 
baptism,  their  own  obedience  to  Christ  Jesus  will  remove  all  controversy  on  these 
subjects  by  restoring  things  to  the  Gospel  siati/s  ;  and  then  tliere  must  of  necessity 
be  again:  'One  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism,'  and  one  Table.  But  until  then  there 
never  can  be ;  and  what  is  more,  there  never  ought  to  be,  except  on  this  Apostolic 
Church  principle. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

THE    BAPTIST    COPY    OF    THE    APOSTOLIC    CHURCHES. 

FIIOM  tlic  tall  of  .Tei'u.sik'iii,  A.  I).  70,  to  the  end  of  the  century,  great 
changes  occurred  in  the  Roman  Empire,  some  of  wliich  seriously  aifected 
the  Christian  Churches.  Domitian  occupied  the  throne  from  M  to  96,  and  like  all 
tyrants,  he  was  weak,  cruel,  despotic.  He  exhausted  the  tiiumces  of  the  empire  by 
lavish  expenditures,  and  laid  a  heavy  tax  iijjon  the  Jews.  He  also  banished  literary 
men  and  philosophers  from  Rome,  and  persecuted  the  Christians  as  'Atheists,' 
because  they  worshiped  an  unseen  God,  without  visible  representation,  figure, 
symbol,  image  or  altar.  Besides  this,  the  emperor  claimed  divine  worship  for 
himself,  as  much  as  had  Caligula  before  him.  He  every-where  ])olluted  the 
temples  with  his  statues,  and  we  are  told  that  endless  sacrifices  were  ofliered  at  his 
altars.  His  decrees  began  M'itli  the  words:  ^ Domimis  et  Dcus  noster''  (our  Lord 
and  God)  commands  this  and  that,  and  whoever  spoke  of  him  otherwise  was  sub- 
ject to  the  charge  of  treason.  Some  Jews,  to  evade  the  tax,  denied  their  nationality, 
and  as  the  Christians  were  classed  with  Jews,  strict  examination  was  made  of  their 
persons  and  rites.  Because  they  refused  to  pay  him  the  profane  worship  which  he 
demanded,  he  was  inflamed  with  rage.  The  doctrine  of  the  second  advent  of  Christ 
was  confused  with  the  Jewish  belief  in  a  coming  Messiah,  and  this  kept  him  on  the 
alert  with  suspicion,  lest  a  political  rival  should  make  him  trouble.  Hence,  great 
numbers  of  Christians  suffered  the  confiscation  of  their  goods,  others  were  put  to 
death  or  exiled,  and  the  '  gloomy  atheists '  who  escaped,  were  treated  by  society  as 
impious  persons.  Happily,  his  wrath  was  launched  against  them  late  in  his  reign,  or 
the  persecution  would  have  reached  a  level  of  severity  with  that  of  Nero.  His 
successor,  Nerva,  A.  D.  96-98,  was  more  just  and  humane,  revoked  the  edict  of 
Domitian,  recalled  the  banished  from  the  mines  and  the  Islands  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean, and  in  fact,  forbade  the  further  persecution  of  Jews  or  Christians.  Then, 
Christianity  came  near  to  the  Csesars  and  even  reached  the  royal  family.  Flavins 
Clement  was  cousin  to  Domitian,  high  in  office  and  in  the  regard  of  the  people ; 
and  there  seems  to  be  good  evidence  that  he  and  his  wife,  Domatelli,  became  Chris 
tians,  with  others  in  the  highest  ranks  of  society. 

At  the  close  of  the  First  Century,  Christianity  stands  in  its  ideal  lieauty,  fresh 
from  Christ,  full  of  new  life  given  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  in  the  pure  mold  wliicb 
inspired  Apostles  had  formed,  without  one  defect  from  the  touch  of  human  govern- 
ments.    It  looked  like  a  frail  craft  tossed  on  a  stormy  sea,  though  freighted  witli  all 


IS   TUE  MODEL   LOST?  149 

tlio  wealtli  (if  heaven.  It  was  the  first  beam  from  the  ]\[oriiiiig  Star,  making  its 
way  out  of  infinite  solitudes  as  fleetly  and  softly  as  the  Dove  of  Jordan.  Jesus  had 
come  in  the  Augustan  Age,  had  uttered  every  word  which  man  needed  to  hear,  and 
finished  every  deed  needed  for  his  salvation.  Yet,  his  new  scepter,  swayed  over 
tlie  human  spirit,  was  never  to  be  broken,  lie  came  t(j  make  life  higlier,  poetry 
broader,  history  brighter,  and  religion  snblimer;  an  art,  which  should  lift  the  vulgar 
into  the  ideal,  and  perfect  praise  out  uf  low  human  passions.  When  the  heavens 
closed  on  our  ixscended  Lord,  his  Apostles  went  forth  to  the  great  uplifting  movement 
amongst  slaves,  and  the  poorest  of  the  common  people.  By  a  natural  but  sure 
process  the}'  laid  its  foundations  in  their  confidence,  toil  and  blood,  and  built  from 
this  basis  to  the  top-stone  of  society.  The  century  opened  with  the  cries  of  the 
liethleliem  Baljc,  and  closed  with  the  Man  of  Sorrows  on  his  throne,  in  the  heaven 
of  heavens.  To  the  far  East  he  had  become  the  Day-sjjring,  to  the  far  "West  the 
Kising  Sun.  Warlike  people  and  pastoral,  polite  and  barbarian,  had  begun  to  feel 
his  power,  from  Rome  to  the  far-off  shores  of  the  Empire,  which  were  washed  by 
every  sea.  Those  Apostles  who  had  stood  with  him  on  the  mountain  in  Galilee,  had 
done  their  work,  and  were  now  enthroned  with  hira.  Their  names,  yet  unrecorded 
in  the  annals  of  the  Empire,  were  written  in  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life  forever. 

Plaving  thus  found  the  model  of  the  New  Testament  Church,  the  question  is 
forced  upon  us :  Whether  or  not  this  pattern  is  retained  in  any  of  the  Churches 
of  the  present  day  ?  Without  casting  iingeneroiis  reflections  upon  any  Christian 
I)<)dy  whatever,  it  may  ue  said  that  as  to  substance  and  form,  the  most  accurate 
resemblance  to  this  picture  of  the  Apostolic  Churches,  is  now  found  in  the  Baptist 
( 'hurches  of  Europe  and  America.  Dr.  Duncan  reports :  '  That  when  Gesenius,  the 
great  German  Hebraist  and  Bil)lical  critic,  first  learned  what  Baptist  Churches  were, 
he  exclaimed  :  '  How  exactly  like  the  Primitive  Churches  !  "  So  Ypeig,  late  Pro- 
fessor of  Theology  in  the  University  of  Groningen,  and  Dermout,  Chaplain  to  the 
King  of  Holland,  who,  together,  prepared  a  History  of  the  Netherland's  Reformed 
Cinircli  for  that  government,  have  the  same  principles  in  view  when  they  say : 

'  We  have  now  seen  that  the  Baj^tists  who  in  former  times  were  called  Ana- 
baptists, and  at  a  later  period  Mennonites,  were  originally  Waldenses,  who,  in  the 
historv  of  tlic  (^hurch,  even  from  the  most  ancient  times,  have  received  such  a  well- 
(liM  IV,  .1  !h.iii:i-e.  On  this  account  the  Baptists  may  be  considered,  as  of  old,  the 
oiilv  iili^ioiis  community  which  has  continued  from  the  times  of  the  Apostles;  as  a 
Ciiii^tiiui  Society  which  has  kept  pure  through  all  ages  the  evangelical  doctrines  of 
religion.  The  uncorrupted  inward  and  outward  condition  of  the  Baptist  community 
affords  proof  of  the  truth  contested  by  the  Romish  Church,  of  the  great  necessity 
of  a  reformation  of  religion  such  as  that  which  took  place  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
and  also  a  refutation  of  the  erroneous  notion  of  tlie  lioinan  Catholics  that  their 
ilenomination  is  the  most  ancient.'  ^ 

The  late  Dr.  Oncken  assured  the  writer  that  in  forming  a  new  Church  at 
Hamburg,  A.  D.  1S34,  the  constituent  members  first  resolved  that  they  would  shut 
tliemselves  up  entirely  to  the  Apostolic   model,  as  found   in  the  New   Testament. 


180  FOUNDATION  DOamiNEH  t^TATKT). 

They,  therefoi'e,  devoted  themselves  for  some  time  to  prayer  and  the  exclusive  study 
of  that  Book  as  an  inspired  Church  Manual ;  and  on  comparing  the  result,  to  their 
surprise,  they  found  themselves  compelled  to  form  a  Church  in  accord  with  the 
Baptist  Churches  in  England  and  America.  Yet,  there  is  nothing  strange  in  this ; 
the  New  Testament  is  ever  the  same,  and  it  is  lint  natural  that  when  the  devout 
miiid  is  left  free  from  all  standards  Imt  this,  with  tlie  determination  to  follow 
it  in  the  most  simple-hearted  manner,  it  should  i>roduce  the  same  stamp  of  New 
Testament  Churches  every-where  and  always. 

In  what,  then,  do  the  Baptist  Churches  of  to-day  differ  from  other  ecclesiastical 
bodies?  Oidy  in  retaining  certain  peculiarities  of  the  New  Testament  Churches 
which  others  have  laid  aside.  And  in  what  do  Baptist  peculiarities  consist?  The 
fundamental  difference  between  them  and  others  lies  much  deeper  than  the  question 
of  Baptism,  either  as  regards  the  act  itself  or  its  subjects.  The  distinction  is  much 
broader,  deeper  and  more  radical.  There  was  no  need  for  serious  protest  against 
the  Komish  hierarchy,  for  example,  on  the  subject  of  immersion,  down  to  the  thir- 
teenth century,  for  that  was  her  settled  custom  to  that  time;  while  it  is  still 
the  custom  of  the  Greek  Church.  The  living  and  underlying  principles  of 
Baptist  Churches,  relate  to  the  sovereign  and  absolute  headship  of  Christ  in  his 
Churches;  to  the  exclusive  authority  of  the  Scriptures,  as  containing  his  law  for  their 
direction  in  all  things ;  to  the  supernatural  regeneration  of  each  Christian  forming 
the  Churches ;  and  to  the  liberty  and  responsibility  to  God,  of  each  individual  con- 
science. Here  we  find  the  great  staple  of  Baptist  life  and  history,  and  all  other 
questions  are  subordinate,  growing  out  of  these.  Aside  from  these  peculiarities, 
Baptists  stand  side  by  side  with  many  denomiiuitions  of  Christians  in  the  present  age, 
and  heartily  hail  the  present  state  of  divinity,  as  set  forth  in  the  clear  and  vigorous 
teachings  of  tlie  Reformed  Churches.  These  are  our  precious  treasure,  in  common 
with  the  holy  inheritance  of  other  God-fearing  men,  and  we  cling  to  them  with 
gratitude,  as  in  the  main,  the  embodiment  of  New  Testament  truth. 

It  must  ever  be  kept  in  mind,  that  the  whole  body  of  Baptists  have  never  put 
forth  an  authorized  expression  of  their  principles  and  practices  in  the  form  of  a 
creed.  Some  few  of  their  Churches  have  never  made  a  formal  declaration  of  their 
faith  aside  from  the  Bible;  while  in  the  main,  eacli  separate  Church  expresses  what 
it  thinks  the  Scriptures  require  of  it  as  a  (  Inirch,  in  a  '  Declaration  of  Faith.'  There 
is  a  substantial  agreement  in  the  entire  fraternity  of  our  Churches,  which  it  is  not 
difficult  to  set  forth.  In  common  with  other  orthodox  Christians,  so  called,  we  believe 
the  doctrines  of  the  Divine  Unity  and  Trinity ;  of  Christ's  incarnation  and  proper 
Deity  ;  of  man's  fall  and  helplessness,  and  his  redemption  by  the  vicarious  sacrifice 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  of  the  Personality  and  Deity  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  his 
plenary  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Scriptures ;  of  free  justification  by  Christ's  mediato- 
rial work;  of  sanctification  by  the  inwrought  agenc_y  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  of  holy 
living  on  earth  after  God's  couimaudmunts ;  of  a  future  resurrection  of  the  body, 


IfO   M'THORITATIVE   CREEDS.  181 

and  tlie  clay  of  jiulgmont ;  ami  of  a  state  of  eternal  rewards  and  punisliiuents  in 
another  world.  Of  course,  as  in  all  other  bodies  of  Christians,  controversies  exist 
amongst  ourselves  touching  the  variuu.s  modifications  of  these  doctrines;  enough,  at 
least,  to  show  that  there  is  and  must  be  diversity  of  view,  where  the  divine  right  of 
interpretation  is  exercised  amongst  thoughtful  men.  The  distinguishing  principles 
of  Baptists,  then,  may  be  stated  thus : 

I.  That  the  Inspired  Soriptukes  contain  the  full  and  supreme  authority 
OF  Christ  in  all  that  relates  to  Christian  faith  and  practice,  whether  in 

DOCTRINE,    ORDINANCE,    THE    ORDERING    OF    A    HOLY    LIFE,    OR    IN    THE    ADMINISTERING 

OF  Church  government.  These  alone  must  be  followed ;  and  all  legislation,  canon, 
creed  or  decree,  springing  from  tradition,  ecclesiastical  authority,  or  usage  of 
antiquity,  not  enjoined  in  the  Scriptures,  is  to  be  resisted  and  rejected,  from  what- 
ever source  it  may  spring,  either  inside  the  local  Church  or  outside,  as  intolerable  in 
the  faith  and  practice  of  the  Churches.  We  find  a  wide  difference  between  a 
simple  confession  or  declaration  of  what  tlie  Bible  teaches,  and  an  authoritative 
creed.  A  creed  is  an  imperative  test  which  must  be  enforced  in  the  interests  of 
absolute  uniformity ;  and  this  is  the  exact  position  of  Rome.  She  reasons  thus : 
'  Divine  truth  is  one ;  therefore,  true  believers  cannot  differ  in  their  subscription  to 
the  truth.  But  they  do  differ;  therefore,  in  difference  there  is  heresy.  Now, 
heresy  must  be  kept  out  of  the  Church ;  therefore,  make  a  creed  to  keep  it  out. 
Who,  then,  has  the  sole  right  to  make  a  creed  ?  Of  course,  only  the  Church.' 
Thus,  the  Bible  is  interpreted  by  creed-making,  and  its  teachings  to  the  individual 
man  are  vetoed,  because  he  is  compelled  to  accept  tlie  interpretation  in  the  creed. 
Creeds  tell  men  what  they  shall  find  in  tiie  Bible  if  they  consult  it,  and  if  they  find 
not  that,  they  shall  find  nothing.  For  the  time  being,  what  the  majority  condemns 
is  heresy,  and  the  heretical  minority  must  be  punished  until  they  become  the 
majority.  Yet,  no  creed  can  be  made  a  full  and  perfect  unity ;  nothing  can  be  that 
unity  but  the  Divine  Testimony,  and  tiiat  must  be  personally  consulted,  man  by 
man.  llu  must  be  bold,  indeed,  wlio  tiii's  to  unify  God's  word  by  drawing  up  a 
creed,  either  to  supplement  it  or  push  it  aside.  God  crystallized  his  own  Oracles  as 
a  perfect  and  changeless  creed  forever ;  and  when  man  takes  it  into  his  head  that  he 
can  improve  its  formulation,  he  betrays  his  conceit  by  perpetually  giving  us  new 
creeds,  in  which  he  appeals  to  the  Bible  for  their  support,  provided,  that  we  will 
read  the  Sacred  Text  through  his  colored  glass.  But  because  the  Bible  has  never 
beeu_  outgrown  as  the  one  standard,  and  cannot  be  creed iiied  in  brief;  the  Baptist 
holds  the  substitution  of  any  authoritative  creed  as  the  first  step  in  apostasy. 
Another  distinctive  principle  with  Baptists  is  : 

II.  That  a  Christian  Church  must  be  made  up  only  of  persons  who  are 

MORALLY  regenerated;  AND  TIIAT  IT  IS  No  I  A  SIMPLE  VOLUNTARY  ASSOCIATION,  BUT 
A     BODY     OK     MEN    CALLED    OUT    OF    TME    WuKI.I)    ABOUT    THEM,    BY    ChRISt's     SPECIAL 

AUTHORITY,  Ttj  BE  A   I'Kiii'LK  PECULIAR   i(j  uiMsKLF.     The  re^jreneration  of  each  man 


152  RKCKNEUATION  BY   THE  irOLY  SPn?TT. 

in  Christ's  Clmrcli  must  be  wrought  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  lie  must  bo  baptized  upon 
his  own  choice,  and  covenant  to  maintain  the  order  of  the  Gospel  in  its  purity. 
We  hold  that  the  fundamental  decession  from  Apostolic  teaching,  which  has 
created  scandal,  shame,  and  division  amongst  Christians,  lodges  in  that  ritualistic 
grace  which  has  scorned  a  soul-renovation  wrought  by  the  Sjiirit  of  God,  as  a  piece 
of  fanaticism,  and  has  put  this  fal)le  in  the  place  of  the  Spirit's  saving  work.  This 
legerdemain  has  been  foisted  in  under  that  shadowy  figment  called  catholicity,  and 
outward  ordinances  liave  been  made  the  channel  of  saving  efiBcacy  in  place  of  '  a 
new  creature  in  Christ  Jesus.'  With  us  spiritual  regeneration  is  the  moot-point 
against  all  heresies,  for  on  this  all 'cognate  points  have  turned  in  every  cent- 
ury. Jorg  says  of  Dr.  Lange,  that  he  declared  publicly  in  1854 :  '  It  was  not 
opposition  to  infant  baptism,  biit  Church  order  and  fellowship  that  is  the  culmi- 
nating essence  of  all  Baptists,  in  the  past  and  present.'  ^  Sacramental  salvation  has 
been  the  seed  from  which  every  distortion  of  Apostolic  Christianity  has  sprung. 
Baptists  have  stood,  and  still  stand,  in  stout  and  holy  protest  against  the  abominable 
doctrine  that  baptism  and  the  LiiriTs  Su])per  are  saving  institutions;  and  they 
demand  that  before  any  man  shall  put  his  hand  to  eitlier  of  these,  he  shall  be  reno- 
vated by  the  Spirit  of  God,  through  faith  in  his  Son,  and  then  he  shall  be  entitled 
to  them  because  he  is  regenerate,  his  regeneration  having  made  this  both  his  duty 
and  privilege. 

This  radical  principle  compels  them  to  reject  infant  baptism,  because  in  the 
nature  of  the  case  the  infant  cannot  be  a  witness  to  Christ,  as  the  salt  of  the  earth 
and  the  light  of  the  world.  Baptism  puts  the  infant  into  a  most  questionable  posi- 
tion. It  cannot  bring  him  into  any  covenanted  relation  to  Christ  which  did  not 
exist  befoi'e.  Unbaptized,  he  was  not  a  member  of  Christ's  Church  at  all,  and  his 
baptism  does  not  so  make  him  a  member  thereof,  as  to  put  him  under  its  responsi- 
bilities, or  call  him  to  its  duties,  or  make  him  answerable  to  its  discipline,  or  require 
him  to  honor  its  brotherhood.  Though  baptized,  he  is  not  allowed  to  come  to  the 
Lord's  Table,  because  he  cannot  'discern  the  Lord's  body;'  but  he  was  compelled  to 
be  baptized,  whether  he  could  discern  the  Lord's  baptism  or  not.  If  he  had  died 
unbaptized,  he  would  have  been  numbered  amongst  the  saints  in  heaven  without 
repentance,  faith  or  any  other  religious  act ;  but  if  he  grows  up  to  manhood  after 
his  baptism,  he  must  be  converted  before  he  is  fitted  even  for  the  Church  on  earth. 
What,  then,  has  his  baptism  done  for  him  either  in  this  world  or  that  which  is  to 
come  ?  No  satisfactory  and  logical  answer  can  be  given  to  this  question  but  that 
given  by  the  pope,  namely :  That  his  baptism  is  his  regeneration  de  facto.  It 
admits  him  into  the  Church  on  earth  with  all  its  privileges  so  long  as  he  lives ;  and 
it  delivers  him  from  a  horrible  limbus  infantum,  if  he  dies  in  infancy,  and  secures 
salvation  for  him,  die  when  he  may.  The  rejection  of  infant  baptism  by  Baptists  is 
not  a  mere  whim  or  narrow  prejudice,  but  in  their  judgment  this  institution  vitiates 
the  purity  of  Christ's  Church,  as  is  seen  in  all  the  State  Churches  of  Europe,  where 


cnrnrn  nKspoxsTmr.TTi/cs.  ibs 

the  law  makes  the  wliole  population  iiieiiilwrs  of  tlie  C'liurcli  tliroiia:li  tliis  rite.  It 
attaches  an  importance  to  baptism  wliicli  does  jiot  belong  to  it,  and  so  perverts  the 
design  of  the  Gospel  ordinance,  by  exalting  it  entirely  above  its  proper  place  ;  and 
it  places  the  innocent  child  in  a  nondescript  position  to  which  he  is  a  stranger  in  the 
Gospel ;  thus  tliere  can  be  no  natural  place  for  it  in  the  Churcli  of  Cln-ist.  The 
very  object  of  a  Gospel  Church  is  the  promotion  of  mutual  growth  in  truth,  purity, 
and  love ;  the  advancement  of  Christ's  cause  on  earth,  and  the  salvation  of  the 
Christless ;  to  none  of  which  ends  a  babe  can  contribute.  Then,  as  Baptist 
Churches  are  pure  democracies,  they  cannot  deprive  a  child  of  the  right  to  choose 
Christ  for  himself,  for  in  them  all  are  equal ;  each  memljcr  having  his  own  vote  in 
all  that  concerns  their  well-being,  a  responsibility  M'hich  a  child  cannot  assume. 
Thus  we  consider  that  a  Church  made  up  of  unregenerate  members  takes  the  second 
step  in  apostasy.     One  more  distinctive  principle  of  Baptists  is  : 

III.      TuAT    THEY     MAINTAIN     BaPTISM     AND     THE     LoEd's     SurPKK     AFTKK     THE 

Apostolic  appointment  both  as  it  kegards  theik  kelations  to  themselves  as 
OKDiNANCES,  AND  TO  OTHER  GREAT  GosPEL  TEACHINGS.  We  usc  neither  of  them 
as  a  charm,  or  spiritual  amulet  to  serve  the  ends  of  superstition  in  the  suj)po- 
sition  that  the  iirst  can  wash  away  sin,  or  that  the  other  exerts  any  moral  efficacy 
on  the  soul.  All  the  waters  of  the  sea  cannot  wash  away  a  moral  stain  from  man, 
nor  can  all  the  bread  and  wine  brought  from  the  harvest-fields  and  vineyards  of 
earth  strengthen  his  innnortal  soul.  We  think  that  the  Suppei-  should  only  be  cele- 
brated when  and  where  the  purpose  of  its  celebration  can  be  properly  served.  Hence, 
we  take  the  elements  only  when  the  local  Church  is  met  '  in  one  place '  as  a  body, 
and  shun  the  popish  custom  of  carrying  them  to  the  room  of  the  sick,  as  if  they 
contained  salvation,  or  some  magical  influence.  Christ  personally  is  the  healing 
medicine  of  the  afflicted  Christian,  and  not  bread  and  wine.  We,  therefore,  hold 
that  every  idea  of  sacramental  grace  is  a  piece  of  superstition,  to  be  sacredly  dis- 
carded. Sacramentarianism  is  the  third  step  in  apostasy.  The  last  distinctive  prin- 
ciple of  Baptists  is : 

lY.  That  they  earnestly  oppose  all  connection  of  the  Church  with  the 
Static,  and  all  distinctions  made  by  the  State  amongst  its  citizens,  on  the 
GROUND  OF  religion.  They  protest  that  the  State  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  con- 
trol of  religion  ;  but  that  it  nuist  give  unresti-icted  religious  freedom  to  all,  as  their 
sacred  and  natural  right  in  the  exercise  of  a  free  conscience.  All  true  soul-liberty 
arises  in  that  purity  of  conscience,  which,  unbound  itself,  leaves  all  other  con- 
sciences free.  Our  idea  is,  that  as  the  untrammeled  conscience  is  the  inalienable 
right  of  man,  he  can  be  made  accountable  only  to  God  for  its  exercise.  Hence, 
when  any  human  power  proscribes  or  persecutes  man,  by  j)utting  him  under  pains 
or  penalties  for  following  his  convictions  of  duty  in  obeying  God,  such  inter- 
ference is  an  usurpation.  When  a  man  follows  these  convictions,  he  is  entitled  to 
the  honest  respect  and  love  of  ail  ;  and  lie  is  bound  to  extend  the  same  rights  to 


f34  PEIiSEruriON   FOR    RELIGION,     WICKED. 

Others  which  he  claims  for  himself.  Nay,  fidelity  to  manhood  and  to  God  requires 
us  to  contend,  and  if  need  be  to  suffer,  for  this,  as  the  right  of  others,  and  to 
treat  those  who  differ  from  us  in  religions  opinion  and  practice,  with  the  respect  and 
love  which  sacredly  honors  our  own  immunities.  This  holy  principle  lays  the  ax 
at  the  root  of  all  legal  pi'oscription  and  persecution.  Tlie  persecution  of  one  Christian 
I)y  another  is  the  coolest  wickedness  that  can  be  perpetrated,  because  it  hides  under 
the  color  of  law ;  and  when  so-called  Christian  States  inflict  martyrdom,  they  simply 
inflict  cold-blooded  nnirder.  Men  who  kill  others  against  law,  generally  do  so 
under  the  impulses  of  irregular  passion.  But  those  who  legally  put  men  to  death 
because  they  cannot  conform  to  their  religion,  lift  up  red  hands  as  their  only  right- 
ful claim  to  Christian  discipleship  ;  for  they  have  methodized  homicide  under  the 
pretense  of  a  holy  regularity.  They  make  piety  toward  God  preside  with  prayers 
at  the  blood-shedding  of  redeemed  men.  This  State-murder  has  been  steadily  dealt 
out  to  Baptists  by  every  dominant  sect  of  religion,  with  scarcely  an  exception,  after 
allying  itself  with  the  State ;  while  our  people  have  insisted  on  their  right  to  the 
free  exercise  of  their  own  faith,  and  to  the  freedom  of  all  other  men  to  serve  God 
on  their  own  volition,  without  dictation  from  any  man. 

According  to  the  estimate  of  Sharon  Turner  there  were  at  the  close  of  the  first 
century  already  about  500,000  Christians  in  the  woi'ld,  and  the  iScripturcs  sliow 
that  they  cherished  the  sacred  principles  here  set  forth.  These  doctrines  are  still 
as  fresh  as  ever,  and  are  as  soundly  reproduced  in  the  Baptists  of  the  nineteenth 
century  as  in  those  of  the  first.  It  will  now  be  our  business  to  show  how  and  where 
they  have  lived  in  the  intervening  centuries,  when  not  an  Apostle  was  left  to 
expound  or  defend  theui,  l)ut  only  the  Word  of  God  in  which  they  abide,  and  must 
live  forever.  Yet,  the  question  is  constantly  arising  why  all  Christians  do  not 
earnestly  strive  to  go  back  to  the  pattern  of  the  Apostolic  Churches  i  Beck  force- 
fully answers  this  inquiry  thus  : 

'  It  is  quietly  assumed  that  the  original  arrangements  of  the  Church  were  only 
possible  at  that  time,  and  that  in  later  ages  they  have  become  impracticable  and 
unsuitable.  People  have  got  into  the  habit  of  regarding  this  Scriptural  pattern  as 
an  ideal  that  cannot  be  carried  out  in  practice.  But  why  can  we  not  realize  it  ?  Is 
the  cause  to  be  found  in  the  fanatical  character  of  the  first  period  of  Christianity,  or 
does  it  lie  in  the  fact,  that  the  latter  progress  has  proved  untrue  to  the  ideal  to 
which  the  First  Age  remained  true?  The  latter  is  the  case.  The  Scriptural 
Church  constitution  takes  for  granted,  a  society  which  grows  and  develops  from 
within  by  the  free  faith  of  those  who  compose  it,  and  which  separates  itself  from 
the  rest  of  the  conmiunity.  If  doctrine  and  sacrament  must  be  founded  on  the 
divine  word,  in  order  to  represent  and  promote  true  Christianity,  this  is  no  less 
essential  also  for  the  constitution  and  discipline  of  the  Church.  The  two  things 
cannot  be  separated,  as  the  history  of  the  great  Churches  shows,  without  entailing 
increasing  evil  and  injury  on  the  Church.  "The  union  between  doctrine  and  consti- 
tution must  take  place  in  accordance  with  what  the  divine  word  represents  to  have 
been  the  rule  and  the  practice  from  the  beginning.  This  is  the  only  right  way  to 
improvement.'  ■* 


POST-APOSTOLIC  TIMES 


CHAPTER   I. 

SECOND     CENTURY. 

IT  is  estimated  that  at  tlie  opening  of  this  century,  from  two  to  thi'ee  hundred 
Churclies  had  been  gathered,  some  of  them  thousands  of  miles  apart.  When  the 
Apostles  died,  tlieir  authority  died  with  them  and  they  lived  only  in  their  writings. 
Their  office  did  not  allow  of  perpetuation,  for  tliey  were  the  chosen  witnesses  of 
Christ's  life  and  work,  and  could  not  bequeath  their  oral  testimony  to  others.  When 
these  orphaned  flocks  were  left  alone  in  all  their  humanness,  their  only  directory  was 
the  Book  by  which  the  Apostles  had  transmitted  their  witness  and  revelations,  under 
the  infallible  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  No  miraculous  agency  was  needed  to 
supplement  their  writings,  and  the  Awful  Volume  finished,  their  twelve  thrones 
were  left  vacant.  Woe  to  him  who  makes  the  Bible  a  foot-stool  to  climb  into  their 
empty  seats.  For  the  first  time  man  was  left  on  common  ground,  with  the  choice  of 
making  the  unmixed  authority  of  tliat  book  his  guide  to  Christ,  or  of  committing  his 
sou!  to  the  lead  of  uninspired  men.  This  fact  alone  put  the  Gospel  to  its  severest 
test,  and  made  the  second  century  a  most  solemn  period,  as  Christians  had  no  alter- 
native but  to  follow  the  New  Book.  How,  then,  did  they  l)ear  themselves  toward 
the  Sacred  Oracles  ( 

Eusebius  says,  that  they  '  Vied  with  each  other  in  the  preaching  of  Christ,  and  in 
the  distribution  of  the  Scriptures.'  The  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians  was  written 
about  twenty  years  after  the  crucifixion,  and  the  last  of  the  New  Covenant  books 
witiiin  fifty  years  thereafter.  Probably  Paul's  Epistles  were  first  collected  into  one 
volume;  but  within  lialf  a  century  after  the  death  of  John,  the  four  Gospels  were 
publicly  read  in  the  Churches  of  Syria,  Asia  Minor,  Italy  and  Gaul,  and  all  the  New 
Testament  books  were  collected  by  about  A.  D.  150.  The  first  translation  appears 
to  have  been  tlie  Syriac,  called  Peshito  (litei'al),  for  its  fidelity,  rendered  most  faith- 
fully into  the  common  language  of  the  Holy  Land.  Some  think  that  our  Lord's 
exact  language  is  better  preserved  in  this  version  than  in  the  Greek  manuscripts 
themselves.  J.  Winchelaus,  who  devoted  much  research  to  its  history,  says  that  it 
preserves  the  letter  of  sacred  Scripture  truly,  and  Michaelis  jironounces  it  '  The  very 
best  translation  of  the  New  Testament  that  I  have  ever  read.'  It  throws  a  strong 
light  upon  the  act  of  baptism  in  that  age.     The  won!  which  expresses  tiiat  act  is 


156  EMILY    TUANSLATIOXS. 

aiiuul,  whicli  the  Sjri;ic  lexicons  dutiiiu  bj  '  inimcrsu.'  Bernstein  uses  these  words: 
'  He  was  dipped,  immersed :  he  dipped  or  phinged  liimself  into  sometliing.' 
Michaelis  deehires,  that  this  is  the  Sjriac  word  wliicli  Jesus  would  use  for  ba])tism, 
in  the  vcriuicnhir  lan-na-e  wlii.-li  he  sp,,ke.  This  version  was  read  in  tlie  Christian 
assemblies,  witli  tlie  ori-inals,  and  where  they  eonld  nut  be  understood  by  the 
peoj)le,  interpreters  rendered  them  into  their  mother  tongue  on  the  sjiot.  In 
this  age  a  Latin  version  was  also  made,  whieh  eaine  into  general  use  immedi- 
ately. Woide  ascribes  the  translation  of  the  SaJuJic,  the  dialect  of  Upper  Egypt, 
aud  the  Coptic,  that  of  Lower  Egypt,  to  this  i>eriod.  In  the  Latin,  the  word  l)aptizo 
was  rendered  by  the  word  tinxjo,  to  dip,  or  immerse ;  in  the  Sahidic  it  was  transferred, 
evidently,  because  as  a  Greek  term  it  was  well  understood  in  Upper  Egypt ;  aud  iu 
the  Coptic  it  was  translated  by  the  word  omas,  to  immerse  or  plunge.  Latin  ver- 
sions were  soou  multiplied.  Augustine  says :  '  Those  who  have  translated  the  Bible 
into  Greek  can  be  numbered,  but  not  so  the  Latin  versions ;  for  in  the  first  ages  of 
the  Church,  whoever  got  hold  of  a  Greek  Codex,  ventured  to  translate  it  into  Latin.' 
He  also  decides  that  the  ancient  Italic  is  the  most  literal  of  the  Latin  versions. 
Irenanis,  too,  speaks  of  many  barliarous  tribes  who  had  'salvatioTi  in  their  hearts 
without  ink  or  paper;'  alluding  to  the  fact  that  tlie  unlearned  heard  the  Scriptures 
read  in  their  own  tongue  in  the  public  assemblies.  Tliese  early  Baptists  decided  all 
questions  of  doctrine  by  an  ap]>eal  to  their  Sacred  Books ;  being  very  jealous  of 
forged  books,  which  abounded  very  early.  Tertullian  tells  us  where  some  of  the 
inspired  autographs  could  be  found  at  that  time.  "The  very  images,'  he  says,  'of 
their  voice  and  person  are  now  recited  and  exhibited.  Do  j-ou  live  in  Acliaia  ?  There 
is  Corinth.  Are  you  not  far  from  Macedonia  ?  You  have  Philippi  and  Thessalonica. 
Are  you  nigh  unto  Asia?  There  is  Ephesus.  Or,  if  you  border  upon  Italy,  there 
is  Eome.' '  And  as  late  as  the  fourth  century,  Peter  of  Alexandria  said,  that :  The 
Gospel  of  John,  written  with  his  own  hand,  was  still  preserved  and  venerated  in 
the  Church  at  Ephesus.  Before  Christ,  spurious  Jewish  writings  purporting  to  be 
genuine,  appeared ;  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  incorporate  some  of  these  man- 
ufactures with  certain  apochryphal  gospels,  into  the  Christian  Scriptures,  in  order  to 
incorporate  Jewish  notions  and  pagan  philosophy  into  Christianity.  These  false  lights 
misled  many  of  the  primitive  Christians,  and  have  had  a  shameful  influence  in  shap- 
ing current  Christian  history. 

Then,  a  pernicious  tradition  began  to  inject  itself  into  the  teaching  of  the 
Churches.  By  tradition  is  meant,  from  traditio,  that  which  is  delivered  orally,  and 
is  left  unwritten,  passing  by  word  of  mouth  from  one  to  another.  Of  these,  Euse- 
bius  first,  and  Jortin  in  modern  times,  call  Papias  'the  father.'  He  died  A. D.  163, 
leaving  a  collection  of  random,  hearsay  discourses  and  sayings  of  Jesus  and  his  Apos- 
tles, called  '  Oracles  of  the  Lord.'  He  tells  us  that  this  was  made  up  of  first-hand 
evidence  only,  and  that  he  preferred  oral  testimony  to  written  ;  hence,  he  details 
many  ridiculous  things,  showing  that  he  was  fond  of  gathering  up  floating  stories. 


RAriD   SPREAD   OF  CHRISTIAXirT.  157 

lie  says  tliat  he  made  iiujuiry  of  tlie  Elders,  'What  did  Andrew  or  Peter,  Tlioiiias 
or  Philip,  or  James,  say  "i '  Yet,  it  is  doubtful  whether  he  had  seen  any  of  them. 
lie  had  a  great  dislike  for  Paul,  wliicli  Jortin  excuses,  on  the  ground  that  he  was  '  a 
simpleton,'  and  wliich  reconciles  us  to  the  loss  of  his  writings,  beyond  a  few  frag- 
ments. But  tliis  turbid  stream  of  tradition  widened  and  deepened,  notwithstanding 
Irenajus  says,  that  the  Christians  came  to  salvation  :  '  By  the  will  of  God  delivered 
to  us  in  writing,  to  be  the  foundation  and  pilfer  of  our  faith.' 

These  Churches  were  full  of  missionary  energy.  The  iron  republic  had  first 
given  place  to  the  pen  of  the  lettered  empire,  and  that  in  turn  had  opened  the  way 
for  the  conquering  cross ;  for  by  A.  D.  180  the  Gospel  had  reached  all  its  provinces 
from  Britain  to  the  Tigris,  and  from  the  Danube  to  the  Libyan  Desert,  in  many 
cases  including  the  learned  and  rich.  Justin  Martyr  wrote  that  there  was  no  race, 
Greek  or  barbarian,  that  either  wandered  in  wagons  or  dwelt  in  tents,  which  did 
not  offer  praise  to  the  Crucified.  And  Tertullian  said,  in  his  Apology  to  the  Em- 
peror :  'We  are  but  of  yesterday,  yet  we  have  filled  your  empire,  your  cities,  your 
islands,  your  castles,  your  corporate  towns,  your  assemblies,  your  very  camps,  your 
tribes,  your  companies,  your  palace,  your  senate,  your  forum  ;  your  temples  alone 
are  left  to  you.  So  great  are  our  numbers,  that  we  might  successfully  contend  with 
you  in  open  warfare ;  but  were  we  only  to  withdraw  ourselves  from  you,  and  to 
remove  by  common  consent  to  some  remote  corner  of  the  globe,  our  mere  secession 
would  be  suflicient  to  accomplish  your  destruction,  and  to  avenge  our  cause.  You 
would  be  left  without  subjects  to  govern,  and  would  tremble  at  the  solitude  and 
silence  around  you, — at  the  awful  stillness  of  a  dead  world.'  AVhen  Pliny  governed 
Bythnia  under  Trajan,  in  the  beginning  of  this  period,  he  complained  that  '  The 
sacrifices  of  the  gods  were  neglected  and  the  temples  deserted,'  so  enthusiastic  were 
the  Christians.  Their  risen  Saviour  awakened  every  power  of  their  nature,  and 
they  caught  his  sublime  benevolence  .and  self-sacrificing  spirit,  each  regenerated  man 
toiling  for  him.  Their  individual  names  have  almost  all  faded  from  the  pages  of 
history.  Of  all  who  lived  contemporary  with  the  Apostles  and  used  the  pen  in 
the  service  of  Christ  we  have  but  si.x,  half  the  number  of  their  noble  chiefs.  These 
are  called  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  namely :  Barnabas,  Clement  of  Rome,  Hcrmas, 
Ignatius,  Polycarp  and  Papias,  of  whom  the  last  is  doubtful.  It  would  be  most 
interesting  to  trace  the  biography  of  this  grouj)  of  old  Baptists,  but  space  will  not 
allow. 

A  word  only  may  be  indulged  concerning  several  of  them.  Clement  was 
pastor  at  Rome  A.  D.  91-100.  He  was  a  man  of  great  administrative  ability,  and 
his  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  has  come  down  to  us.  For  a  long  time  this  was  read 
aloud  in  the  Churches.  The  Church  at  Corinth,  being  divided  and  in  trouble, 
sought  advice  of  her  sister  Church  at  Rome,  which  answered  through  its  pastor, 
without  command,  authority,  or  fatherly  curse.  The  Church  at  Rome  places  her- 
self on  a  perfect  equality  with  the  Church  at  Corinth,  thus  :  '  Tiie  Church  of  God 


158  'APOSTOLIC  fathers: 

which  sojourns  at  Roiiiu,  to  tlie  Chuivh  of  God  which  sojourns  at  Corinth.'  Even 
thus  early  the  Corintliian  Baptist  Church  liad  learned  how  to  abuse  its  own  chosen 
pastors,  and  this  liriii-lnuided  old  elder  says  :  '  It  is,  beloved,  exceedingly  disgraceful 
that  siU'li  a  thiiij;-  slionlil  be  heanl  of,  as  that  tlie  most  steadfast  and  ancient  Church 
of  the  Corintliians  should,  on  account  of  one  oi'  two  persons,  engage  in  sedition 
ai;airist  its  |iresl)yters.'  The  letter  exh<.irts  tliciii  to  'do  as  it  is  written,'  saying: 
'  \v  knew  full  well  the  Iloly  Scriptuties,  ami  have  thoroughly  searched  the  Oracles 
of  (lod.'  IIekmas  wrote  the  '  Shepherd,'  and  Moberiy  ranks  him  with  the  laymen 
of  his  time.  His  book  is  disfigured  with  snatches  of  fantastic  poetry  and  is  full  of 
visions,  parables  and  commands.  Being  very  popular  in  its  day  and  full  of  simili- 
tudes, it  has  been  called  the  '  Pilgrim's  Progress '  of  the  second  century,  not  much 
to  the  honor  of  either  of  the  Bapti.st  dreamers.  Jerome  calls  it  'childish,'  and  Ter- 
tullian  '  apocryphal ;'  to  say  the  least,  it  is  a  singular  production.  Ignatius  was  a 
brave  and  noble  character,  but  his  name  has  been  shamefully  abused,  in  the  attempt 
to  palm  u])on  him  a  series  of  deliberately  forged  epistles,  to  make  him  the  repre- 
sentative of  an  episcopal  hierarchy.  Trajan  demanded  that  he  should  sacrifice  to 
the  gods,  when  the  venerable  pastor  of  Ajitioch  replied,  that  he  carried  God  with 
him,  for  he  carried  Christ  within  his  breast.  The  emperor  demanded  :  '  Dost  thou 
not  think  we  have  the  gods  within  us  T  lie  replied,  that  there  was  but  one'God, 
Jesus  Christ.  Trajan  asked  if  he  meant  the  Grucitied  One,  when  he  answered  that 
he  did.  He  was  put  in  chains,  sentenced  to  be  devoured  by  beasts,  and  sent,  under 
a  guard  of  ten  soldiers,  to  Rome,  where  he  was  torn  to  pieces  in  the  Flavian 
amphitheater,  amid  the  shouts  of  80,000  spectators. 

PoLYCARP  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  pastor  at  Smyrna  in  the  days  of  the 
Apostle  John,  and  was  the  veriest  Christian  patriarch.  But  in  his  Epistle  to  the 
Philippians,  which  was  long  read  in  the  Churches  of  Asia,  he  draws  a  great  distinc- 
tion between  himself  and  the  Apostles,  and  apologizes  for  writing  to  a  Church  which 
had  received  an  Epistle  from  Paul.  A  great  plague  ravaged  the  East  in  the  reign 
of  Marcus  Aurelius,  and  popular  clamor  demanded  Polycarp  as  an  atoning  victim  to 
the  gods ;  at  the  age  of  ninety  years  he  suffered  martyrdom,  A.  D.  166, 167.  He  had 
retired  to  the  country,  but  one  of  his  servants  betrayed  him.  When  he  approached 
the  city  the  chief  magistrate  took  him  into  his  chariot,  asking  him  :  '  What  harm  is 
there  in  saying  Lord  Cfesar,  and  sacrificing  ?'  This,  he  said,  he  could  not  do,  when 
he  was  cast  violently  from  the  chariot,  and  lamed  one  foot  in  the  fall.  He 
limped  into  the  stadium,  where  the  crowd  cried  for  his  blood  ;  and  he  believed  that 
he  heard  a  voice  commanding,  '  Polycarp,  play  the  man  ! '  He  was  ordered  to 
swear  by  the  fortunes  of  Csesar,  and  cry,  '  Away  with  the  Atheists,'  the  proconsul 
offering  him  liberty  if  he  would  revile  Christ.  The  answer  of  the  simple-hearted 
old  Baptist  was :  '  Eighty  and  six  years  have  I  served  him,  and  he  never  did  me 
any  wrong ;  how,  then,  can  I  blaspheme  my  King  and  Saviour  ? '  The  proconsul 
cried  :  '  I  have  wild  beasts  at  hand,  to  them  I  will  cast  thee,  except  thou  repent.' 


A[.I,   ZKAI.Ors   Foil    ClIlllST.  159 

•  Call  tliuiii,'  answered  tlie  holy  mail.  '  Thou  dcspisct-t  the  wild  beasts;  I  will  have 
thee  coiisuinud  by  fire.'  Again  lie  replied, '  Why  dost  thou  tarry?  I)ring  fortli  what 
thou  wilt.'  The  Iierald  was  commanded  to  cry  three  times, '  Polycarp  has  confessed 
himself  a  Christian  !'  At  once  the  multitude  gave  a  shout  of  fury,  and  called  for  a 
lion  to  be  let  loose  ;  but  the  magistrate  said :  '  Let  him  be  burned ! '  A  pile  of 
fagots  was  brought,  the  elder  loosed  his  girdle,  laid  aside  his  outer  garments,  and 
when  about  to  be  nailed  to  the  stake  begged  :  '  Leave  me,  I  pray,  unfastened.  He 
who  gives  me  strength  to  bear  the  fire,  will  hold  mo  to  the  pile.'  They  simply  tied 
him  with  cords  ;  when  looking  up  to  heaven,  he  said  :  '  O,  Lord  God  Almighty  !  I 
give  thee  thanks  that  thou  hast  counted  me  worthy,  this  day  and  this  hour,  to  have 
a  i)art  in  tlie  number  of  thy  martyrs,  in  the  cup  of  thy  Chi-ist.'  The  flames  were 
kindled,  but  they  arched  over  him  and  would  not  touch  him  ;  seeing  which  an  exe- 
cutioner plunged  a  dagger  into  his  body,  and  he  ascended  to  his  Lord. 

At  this  time,  the  whole  body  of  laymen  were  as  much  alive  to  Christ  as  their 
jiastors,  and  Bingham  tells  us  of  two  joung  men  who  were  taken  captive  into  India, 
and  estal)lif;]ied  Churches  there;  also  of  a  Christian  young  woman  who  broiight  the 
king  and  queen  of  the  Iberians  to  Christ,  and  through  them  the  nation.  Christians 
gave  their  money  for  Christ  as  well  as  their  toil.  Marcion  brought  his  whole  fortune, 
between  $7,000  and  $8,000,  in  our  currency,  and  gave  it  to  the  common  fund,  when 
he  united  with  the  congregation  at  Kome.  Lucian,  the  cynic  philosopher,  says  con- 
temptuously :  '  These  poor  creatures  are  firmly  persuaded  they  shall  one  day  enjoy 
eternal  life.  .  .  .  They  despise,  therefore,  all  earthly  possessions,  and  look  upon 
them  as  common.'  The  most  lowly  in  the  Churches  took  an  active  part  in  the  post- 
Apostolic  synods  in  Palestine,  Pontius,  Gaul,  and  Kome,  of  which  Eusebius  gives 
an  account,  and  exerted  great  influence  in  these  bodies.  And  all  the  Churches 
maintained  their  independency,  after  the  original  model.  Neander  says,  that  every 
Church  was  governed  by  a  union  of  elders,  '  chosen  from  among  themselves.'  The 
Churches  w'ere  so  many  loving  families  of  spiritual  disciples,  maintaining  their 
liberty  against  all  ambitious  pretensions  from  without.  Mosheim  shows,  that  they 
were  not  '  joined  together  by  association,  confederacy,  or  any  other  bonds  but  those 
of  charity.  Each  Christian  assembly  was  a  little  state  governed  by  its  own  laws, 
which  were  either  enacted,  or  at  least  approved,  by  the  society.'  Sometimes,  when 
they  sought  advice  of  each  other,  they  met  for  consultation,  but  these  assemblies 
were  simply  advisory.  Theophilus,  pastor  at  Antioch,  A.  D.  180,  compares  the 
Churches  to  so  many  islands,  as  a  strong  figure  of  their  independence.  But  toward 
the  close  of  the  century  those  of  Greece  and  Asia  began  to  meet  in  the  capital  of 
the  province,  in  the  spring  and  autumn,  and  to  frame  canons  for  general  observance, 
till  by  degrees  these  ecclesiastical  islands  formed  one  confederated  continent.  Not 
intending  to  create  a  new  governing  power,  they  lost  their  equality  and  independ- 
ency through  their  own  fault.  TertuUian  held,  that  '  three  pei-sons '  might  compose 
a  Church  ;  and  that   if  necessity  arose  any  Christian   might  administer  the   ordi- 


mPEItSTITION  CREEPS  IN. 


Clmivlio  wci 
general  cihiih 
.\ftrrth. 
l)ecainr  iioiuii 
int,.  lintl.  <](.(■ 


|)inioii   wliic] 

ii   Bisl 

lop 

Kaye 

excns 

independent  of  eacli 

.  other, 

anil 

was  lield  oi 

•  know 

-n  il 

!i  this  (• 

entun 

lirst  Ma/.r  nl 

:■  I'utin 

,lMa; 

-111  tl,<> 

1..VC    . 

il,  IK  it  a  fi'W 

ivlaps 

e.l  1 
Wi 

into  lie; 
fi.  +1.;  . 

itheni 

'"ilui"!/"! 

•tire, 
le    l,eii 

til  tlus 
Im,ito\V( 

_m1  tv. 

tilii;-   (ill    \]w 

.•l,:ak 

he 

l'(i]-e   ni 

ayer. 

,,    1 

lecaiise  :    ' 

All 

tlu 

•    Apostolic 

ila' 

1  ill  rank  ;, 

iiid 

aiith 

ority.'     No 

ni; 

my  waxeil 

c„l, 

1.  tl 

leir  reliii'ion 

1.  ; 

iinl   eiirnii 

lti..ll 

.   1h- 

;aii  tu  creep 

ni 

inecessary 

and 

,,lf. 

•iisive  ]irac 

t; 

lie   pagans. 

as 

the 

washiiii^  of 

Th 

e    practice 

of 

tun 

ling   to  the 

•sh 

ip,  and  iiKi 

ide 

eiiili 

leinatical  of 

IkukIs  ai 

east  in  prayer  was  horroweil  from  tl 
Ciirist.  They  also  stretched  their  liands  in  prayer,  in  imitation  of  Clirist's  out- 
stretched arms  on  the  cross ;  and  they  came  to  ahnse  the  Apostolic  kiss  after  prayer, 
by  ostentation.  Clement  of  Alexandria  rebuked  this,  thus :  '  Love  is  not  tested  by  a 
kiss,  but  by  friendly  feeling;  there  are  tho.se  wlio  make  the  Church  re-echo  with 
their  kiss,  but  there  is  no  love  underneath.'  Several  useless  ceremonies  were  added 
to  baptism,  amongst  them  the  use  of  tlie  sign  of  the  cross,  intended  as  a  simple 
emblem  of  the  Christian  faith,  but  which,  by  A.  D.  I'nu,  luid  become  an  idle  habit  in 
general  use.  Tertiillian  says  :  '  On  getting  iq.  or  going  to  bed,  or  putting  on  their 
clothes  or  their  shoes,  or  walking  out  or  sitting  down,  at  table  or  at  the  batli  ;  in 
short,  in  every  act  or  movement,  they  made  the  sign  of  the  cross  upon  the  fore- 
head.'- They  also  began  to  confine  baptism  to  the  festivals  of  Easter  and  Pente- 
cost,— to  anoint  the  candidate  with  oil  after  immersing  him  in  water, — and  to  give 
him  milk  and  honey  after  his  baptism,  to  symbolize,  that  n(.iw  he  nmst  live  on  the 
'  milk  of  the  Word.' 

But  the  most  destructive  error  which  crejit  in,  was  that  of  making  liajitism  the 
chaunel  of  regeneration.  Before  this,  it  was  generally  spoken  of  as  '  regeneration,' 
meaning,  as  the  Scriptures  teach,  that  the  regenei-ated  man,  by  baptism,  put  himself 
visibly  under  the  new  obligations  which  regeneration  imposed.  Now,  they  began 
to  make  it  a  'seal,'  which  bound  the  man  to  Christ  with  the  effect  of  an  oath  ;  and 
they  called  it  an  '  illumination,'  confounding  it  with  the  light  of  the  truth  which  it 
followed,  and  which  sprang  only  from  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  germ  grew,  and  in 
time  came  to  overshade  the  work  of  the  Spirit  on  the  heart,  and  threw  the  doctrine 
of  a  superhuman  regeneration  of  the  soul  into  the  background.  As  to  the  act  of 
baptism  itself,  there  was  no  change  in  this  age.  All  ecclesiastical  writers  agree  with 
Venema  that :  '  "Without  controversy  baptism,  in  the  primitive  Church,  was  admin- 
istered by  immersion  into  water,  and  not  by  sprinkling.  .  .  .  Concerning  immersion, 
the  words  and  phrases  that  are  used  sufficiently  testify,  and  that  it  was  performed 
in  a  river,  a  pool  or  a  fountain.'  The  literature  of  that  period  compels  this  testi- 
mony. Barnabas,  A.  D.  119 :  '  Happy  are  they,  who,  trusting  in  the  cross,  go  down 
into  the  water  full  of  sins  and  pollutions,  but  come  up  again  bringing  forth  fruit, 
having  in  the  Spirit  hope  in  Jesus.'  Justin  Martyr,  A.  D.  139,  describes  the  baptized 
as  those  '  who  receive  the  bath  in  the  water.'     Hernias,  about  A.  D.  150,  says,  that 


FIRST  BOOK   ON  BAPTISM.  161 

tlii'j  go  down  into  tlio  water  devoted  to  deatli,  and  come  up  assigned  to  life  ;  and 
that  the  Apostles  '  went  down  into  the  water  with  them,  and  came  up  again.'  ^ 

Tertullian,  A.  D.  160-240,  wrote  the  first  work  on  haptisni  in  the  Christian  era 
{De  Baptismo),  and  opens  liis  treatise  witii  this  enthusiastic  exclamation:  'O!  fort- 
unate sacrament  of  our  water."  He  wi'ote  in  Latin,  using  the  terms  '  tingo^  '  mer(jo^ 
'  immerqo^  and  '  mergito,'  with  their  connecting  words,  about  fifty  times,  making 
the  sense  '  to  immerse,'  in  each  case.  He  compares  the  baptized  to  the  earth  emerg- 
ing from  the  flood  of  Noah,  '  to  one  emerging  from  the  bath  after  the  old  sins,  the 
dove  of  the  Holy  Spirit  bringing  the  peace  of  God,  flies,  sent  from  heaven,  where 
the  Church  is  a  figurative  ark.'  Of  Christ's  commission  he  says:  ' The  law  of  dip- 
ping was  imposed,  and  tlie  form  prescribed,  "  teach  the  nations,  immersing  them 
into  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  tlie  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  .  .  .  and  so, 
after  that,  all  believing  were  immersed."  '  Somler  has  proved  that  he  quoted  from 
a  Latin  version  and  not  from  the  (4  reek.  In  his  ardor  he  lectured  those  who  denied 
the  need  of  water  baptism,  thus :  •  Vou  act  naturally,  for  you  are  sei'pents,  and 
serpents  love  deserts  and  avoid  water;  but  we,  like  fishes,  are  born  in  the  water, 
and  are  safe  in  continuing  in  it,  that  is,  in  the  practice  of  immersion.'  In  Jn's 
work,  De  Corona  (e.  iii),  he  takes  pains  to  (K^crihe  a  baptism  as  it  was  ])racticed 
in  his  day:  'A  little  before  we  enter  the  water,  in  the  presence  of  the  congrega- 
tion, and  under  the  hand  of  the  president,  we  make  a  solemn  profession  that  we 
renounce  the  devil,  his  pomp,  and  his  angels.  Upon  this,  we  are  thrice  immersed, 
making  a  somewhat  ampler  pledge  than  the  Lord  has  appointed  in  the  Gospel. 
When  we  come  up  out  of  the  water,  there  is  given  to  us  a  mixture  of  milk  and 
honey,  and  we  refrain  from  the  daily  bath  for  a  week.'  The  '  ampler  pledge,'  i-efers 
to  trine  immersions  instead  of  the  one  dipping ;  and  abstinence  from  the  common 
'bath  for  a  week.'  arose  from  tiie  superstition  that  they  might  wash  oil  the  bap- 
tismal water  and  oil. 

After  closely  scanning  all  tiie  e\  idence,  Coleman  concludes:  'In  the  second 
century  it  had  become  customary  to  immerse  three  times,  at  the  mention  of  the  sev- 
eral names  of  the  Godhead.'  ^  Guericke,  Neander,  Reuss,  Kurtz,  Weiss,  Schaff,  DiJl- 
linger,  Pressense,  Farrar,  Carr,  Conj'beare  and  Ilowson,  Stanley,  and  many  other 
historians,  not  ISaptists,  unite  in  like  testimony.  Stanley  sums  u])  the  evidence  in 
these  words : 

'  There  can  be  no  question  that  the  original  form  of  baptism — the  very  mean- 
ing of  the  word — was  complete  immersion  in  the  deep  baptismal  waters;  and  that, 
for  the  first  four  centuries,  any  other  form  was  either  uid<nown,  or  regai'ded,  unless 
in  the  case  of  dangerous  illness,  as  an  exceptional,  almost  a  monstrous,  ca.«c.  To  this 
form  the  Eastern  Chnrcii  still  rigidly  adheres;  and  the  most  illustrious  and  vener- 
able portion  of  it,  that  of  the  Byzantine  Emjiire,  absolutely  repudiates  and  ignores 
any  other  mode  of  administration  as  essentially  invalid.  The  Latin  Church,  on  the 
other  hand,  doubtless  in  deference  to  tiie  rec[uirements  of  a  northern  climate,  to  the 
changes  of  manners,  to  the  convenience  of  custom,  has  wholly  altered  the  mode, 
preferring,  as  it  would  fairlv  sav,  mercy  to  sacrifice;  and  (with  the  two  exceptions  of 
13^ 


162  INFANT  BAPTISM   UNKNOWN. 

tlic  (';itlH'dr;il  of  Milan,  atul  the  sect  u{  the  Baptists)  a  few  dnijjs  of  water  are  now 
tlie  Westi'i-n  sahstltute  for  the  three-fold  plunge  into  the  rushing  rivers,  or  the  wide 
baptisteries  of  tlie  East.' ^^ 

Tliere  was  no  baptism  of  liabes  in  tliis  century.  Barlow,  Bishop  of  Lmcoln, 
(piite  startled  the  world  when  he  said,  in  his  letter  to  Tonibes,  that  he  believed  there 
was  not  '  any  just  evidence  for  it,  for  about  two  hundred  years  after  Christ.'  Men- 
zell  calls  it  'an  abuse,  and  a  departui'e  tVuiu  the  original  form  of  the  sacrament.' 
Laiige,  ill  his  'History  of  Protestantism,' alleges  that :  'The  baptism  of  new-born 
infants  was  altogether  unknown  to  primitive  Christianity.'  The  writers  of  the  second 
age  imply  the  san)e  thing  when  they  speak  of  the  baptized.  Justin  Martyr  says, 
tliev  are  '  convinced,'  •  believe  the  (iospel  to  be  true,'  pray  and  '  fast  for  their  former 
sins;'  llermas,  that  they  'trust  in  the  cross;'  Iren;\!us,  that  they  are  'cleansed  of 
their  old  transgressions;'  and  Tertullian  declares,  'We  are  not  washed  in  order  that 
we  may  cease  from  sinning,  but  because  we  have  ceased,  because  we  have  already 
been  washed  in  heart.  .  .  .  The  divine  grace,  that  is,  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  remains 
unimpaired  for  those  who  are  to  be  baptized  ;  but  then  they  must  perforin  their  part, 
so  as  to  become  capable  of  receiving  it.' 

After  Neander  had  gone  over  the  whole  ground,  he  says,  that  baptism  was  not 
admissible  at  that  time : 

'Without  the  conscious  particijiaiioii  of  the  jierson  Itaptized,  and  his  i)wn  indi- 
vidual faith.  .  .  .  We  have  every  reason  for  holding  infant  baptism  to  be  no  xipos- 
tolic  institution,  and  that  it  was  something  foreign  at  that  first  stage  of  Christian 
development.  At  first,  baptism  necessarily  marked  a  distinct  era  in  life,  when  a 
person  passed  over  from  a  different  religious  stand-point,  to  Christianity ;  when  the 
regeneration,  sealed  by  baptism,  presented  itself  as  a  principle  of  moral  transforma- 
tion, in  opposition  to  the  earlier  development."*  In  meeting  the  pretense  that  infant 
baptism  sprang  fi'om  Apostolic  tradition,  he  answers:  'That  such  a  tradition  should 
first  be  recognized  in  the  third  century  is  evidence  rather  against,  than  for,  its  Apos- 
tolic origin,  lor  it  was  an  age  when'  a  strong  inclination  prevailed  to  derive  from 
the  Apostles  every  ordinance  which  was  considered  of  sjsecial  importance,  and  when, 
moieovci-,  so  many  walls  had  been  thrown  up  between  it  and  Apostolic  times,  hin- 
dering the  freedom  of  prospect.' ' 

But  although  Christians  knew  nothing  of  infant  ba])tism.  the  compassion  of 
Jesus  for  children  had  greatly  ameliorated  their  condition  amongst  the  heathen. 
Uhlhorn  says  : 

'  To  children,  also,  the  Gospel  first  gave  their  rights.  They,  too,  in  antiquity 
were  beyond  the  pale  of  laws.  A  father  could  dispose  of  his  children  at  will.  If 
he  did  not  wish  to  rear  them,  lie  could  abandon  or  kill  them.  The  law  of  the 
Twelve  Tables  expressly  awarded  to  him  this  right.  Plato  and  Aristotle  approved 
of  parents  abandoning  weak  and  sickly  children,\vhoni  they  were  unal)le  to  support, 
or  who  could  not  be  of  use  to  the  State.  Whoever  picked  up  a  child  that  had  been 
deserted  could  dispose  of  it,  and  treat  it  as  a  slave.  The  father's  power  over  his 
children  was  limitless  ;  life  and  death  were  at  his  disposal.  Christianity,  on  the 
contrary,  taught  parents  that  tlieir  children  were  a  gift  from  God,  a  pledge 
intrusted  to  them,  for  which  they  were  responsible  to  him.  .  .  .  The  exposition  of 


IXFA-yfOi'S    CIIAROKS   REPELLED.  163 

children  was  lookrd  upuii  by  Cliiistians  as  plainly  uiilawt'ul,  and  was  regarded  and 
treated  as  murder.' " 

The  same  learned  author  <jui)tes  from  Ctecilius,  a  Roman  jui-i.st,  who  lluurished 
about  A.  D.  161,  the  liorrid  shiuder  which  charged  them  with  eating  children  and 
drinking  their  blood.  '  An  infant  covered  over  with  meal,  that  it  may  deceive  the 
unwary,  is  placed  before  the  neophytes.  This  infant  is  slain  by  the  young  pupil, 
with  dark  and  secret  wounds,  he  being  urged  on  as  if  to  harmless  blows  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  meal.  Thirstily, — ()  horror! — -they  lick  up  its  blood;  eagerly  they 
divide  its  limbs ;  by  this  victim  tluy  are  ))ledged  togethci';  with  this  consciousness 
of  wickedness  they  are  covenanted  by  mutual  violence.' 

This  savage  accusation  of  the  Christians  became  universal  amongst  the  pagans, 
and  the  Christian  fathers  earnestly  repelled  it  in  their  Apologies.  Justin  Martyr 
sent  his  noble  defense  to  the  Senate,  A.  D.  140-150,  and  eloquently  protests  against 
this  infamous  falsehood.  '  If  we  w-ere  to  kill  one  another,'  said  he,  '  we  should  be 
the  causes,  as  far  as  in  us  lay,  that  no  more  persons  should  be  brought  into  the 
world,  and  taught  or  instructed  in  the  (christian  religion  and  of  putting  an  end  to 
human  kind.'  Tertullian  demands,  with  great  spirit,  that  this  terrible  charge  be 
made  good.  Biblias,  a  godly  woman,  was  tortured  by  the  authorities,  to  extort  from 
her  a  confession  that  Christians  ate  their  children,  but  exclaimed  at  the  door  of 
deatli :  '  How  can  we  eat  infants  ?  We,  to  whom  it  is  not  lawful  to  eat  the  blood 
of  beasts ! '  Had  infant  baptism  been  known  amongst  the  Christians,  they  would 
naturally  have  cited  the  fact  in  proof,  that  so  far  from  slaughtering  their  children, 
they  were  baptized  and  stood  on  a  level  with  themselves  in  their  churches,  and  so, 
that  they  could  not  feed  upon  their  fellow-memhers.  Instead  of  this,  they  take  the 
higher  ground,  that  their  Redeemer,  whom  they  \vere  T)ound  to  ohey,  loved  their 
children  most  tenderly,  ami  had  provided  for  their  salvation  without  reference  to 
any  conditions  on  their  part. 

Gloved  by  this  high  conception  of  Christ's  compassion,  the  gentle  Irenajus 
brings  out  their  view  in  bold  contrast  with  the  brutality  of  the  pagans  about  them, 
when  he  says  of  Christ : 

■  iJeing  thirty  years  old  when  lie  came  to  be  ba])tized,  and  then  possessing  the 
full  age  of  a  Master,  he  came  to  Jerusalem  so  that  he  might  be  properly  acknowl- 
edged by  all  as  a  Master.  For  he  did  not  seem  otic  thing  while  he  was  another,  as 
those  affirm  who  describe  him  as  being  man  only  in  appearance ;  but  what  he  was, 
that  he  also  ap]ieared  to  be.  Being  a  Master,  therefore,  lie  possessed  the  age  of  a 
Master,  )int  il,sj,!.s!,iij  or  evading  (iiiii  r,,„ii:tl,i„  nf  Itnindiiitij,  not  setting  aside  as  to 
himself  that  law  which  he  had  appointed  I'oi-  ihe  human  race;  but  sanctifying  every 
age,  by  that  period  corresponding  to  it  which  belonged  to  himself.  For  he  came  to 
mcf  (ill  through  means  of  himself — all  I  say  who,  through  him,  are  born  again  to 
God — infants,  and  children,  and  boys,  and  youths,  and  old  men.     He,  therefoi'o,  passed 

through  every  a^c.  br( ling  an  infant  for  infants,  thus  sanctifying  infants  ;  a  child 

for  children,  tlni-  ^-anciilv  ini;  ihi»c  who  are  of  this  age,  being  at  the  same  time  made 
to  them  an  exaiii|iu'  o|  piety,  righteousness  and  submission;  a  youth  for  youths, 
becoming  an  examj)le  to  youths,  and  thus  sanctifying  them  for  the  Lord.     So  like- 


This  pli'. 

;i,  that   -Icsiis  as   a 

tlic  stMg-es  ol 

■   Hie   himself,  \vn> 

Il-finiMls  side 

hy  side  with  .histi 

pa-aiis,  liy  sli 

owing,  as  A^eiiema 

all  the  ages  ,1 

.f  mail,  iiiteiiiled  t.> 

164  TEliTVIJJAN'S  PROTEST. 

wise  he  wa.s  an  old  iiiaii  for  old  men,  that  he  might  be  a  perfect  Master  for  all,  not 
merely  as  respects  the  setting  forth  of  the  truth,  but  also  as  regards  age,  sanctifying 
at  the  same  time  the  aged  also,  and  becoming  an  example  to  tlieni  likewise.'' 

Master,"  by  authority,  and  by  passing  through  all 
iglit  nut  the  sal\ation  of  "the  human  race,'  i-anks 
I  and  Tertullian,  in  rebutting  the  slanders  of  the 
-ays  (in  this  pa.-sage  :  '  That  Christ,  passing  through 
signify  by  his  (iwn  example,  that  In'  came  to  save 

Pedobaptism  cannot  be  certainly  proved  to  have  been  practiced  before  the  time  of 
Tertullian.' '"  In  the  writings  of  Tertullian  we  have  the  first  recorded  thought  on 
the  subject  of  infant  baptism,  and  that,  in  the  firm  of  resistance  to  a  proposed 
innovation,  lie  stnnd  in  a  trying  pusitidii.  Tliose  wIki  were  resisting  tlie  encroach- 
ments of  ritualism  upon  the  original  spirit  of  baptism,  had  taken  in  substance  the 
ground  held  by  the  'Friends'  of  to-day,  namely:  that  only  the  Spirit  and  not 
water  was  needed.  Quintilla  preached  this  doctrine  at  Carthage,  and  with  her  stood 
several  small  liodies,  according  to  Backhouse  and  Tylor,  the  Aseodrutae,  the  Seleu- 
cians,  ami  lb  rmians.  Others  began  to  insist  that  no  person  who  had  reached  in- 
telligen<'e  ediild  be  saved  without  baptism,  die  at  what  age  he  might.  These 
demanded  that  minors  be  allowed  baptism,  on  ennilition  that  they  -iixl-'  it,  and 
produce  sjionsorx,  who  will  be  responsible  for  their  conduct  while  they  remain 
minors. '1  Tertullian  resisteil  both  these  doctrines;  and  the  last  named,  on  the  two- 
fold consideration,  that  it  would  be  a  rasli  measure,  because  an  innovation  upon  an 
established  Christian  ordinance  ;  and  because  it  would  be  contrary  to  Roman  law  in 
the  province  of  Carthage.  On  the  scriptural  ground  of  objection,  he  cites  the  cases 
of  the  eunuch  and  Paul,  who  were  believers,  and  knew  themselves  to  be  vessels  of 
mercy,  and  so  knew  what  they  asked  for  before  they  were  baptized.  He  con- 
tends, therefore,  that  it  is:  'Most  expedient  to  defer  baptism,  and  to  regulate  the 
a<lniiiiistration  of  it  according  to  the  condition,  the  disposition  and  the  age  of  the 
person  to  be  baptized,  and  especially  in  the  case  of  little  ones,'  whom  he  calls 
'  parvulos.'' 

He  also  objects  to  sponsors,  demanding :  '  What  necessity  is  there  to  expose 
sponsors  to  danger ;'  since  they  caimot  guarantee  that  the  little  one  i.s,  or  will  be, 
spiritually  minded.  '  Let  them  come,'  says  he,  '  while  they  are  growing  up,  let 
them  come  and  h'ar?i,  and  let  them  be  instructed  when  they  come,  and  when  they 
understand  Christianity,  let  them  confess  themselves  Christians.  Wliy  should  that 
innocent  age  hasten  to  the  remission  of  sins  ?'  This  leads  him,  as  an  astute  lawyer, 
to  the  legal  question  of  suretyship.  He  says  :  '  People  act  more  cautiously  in  secu- 
lar affairs ;  they  do  not  commit  the  care  of  divine  things  to  such  as  are  not  intrusted 
with  temporal  things.'  The  empire  knew  of  no  such  suretyship  in  the  religion  of 
the  gods,  the  faith  of  the  realm,  although  it  did  in  secular  affairs  ;  and  what  right 


i?o.l/.l.V  LAW   ON  MLXOIIS.  163 

had  Christians  to  add  to  tiifir  hurdL'iis  hy  nicddliiii,'  with  a  (jiicstioii  tliat  iniiilit 
bring  them  into  direct  cunHict  witli  an  cstahlished  legal  relation  i  The  Uuniau  law 
made  tlie  fatlier  the  guardian  of  the  child  ;  l)nt  when  the  parent  was  dead,  it 
permitted  the  cliild  two  guardians  during  his  minority.  A  tutor  cared  for  his 
person  and  education,  which  included  his  i-eligion,  and  a  curator  managed  his 
estate,  liut  the  Chri.stian  Churches,  being  prohibited  in  the  empire,  could  not  be 
known  in  law  as  corporate  bodies ;  and  so,  the  baptism  into  them  of  minors  {infan- 
tuli)y  under  sponsorsliip,  would  create  an  illegal  guardian  ;  which  act  would,  of 
course,  bring  new  and  needless  trouble  upon  the  Cluirclies.  He  says:  '  Death  may 
incapacitate  them  for  fulfilling  their  engagements.'  lint  if  not,  with  two  sets  of 
guardians,  one  over  the  morals  and  the  other  over  the  person  of  the  legal  minor,  the 
sponsor  would  be  in  perpetual  danger,  hence  he  asks:  'What  necessity  is  there  to 
expose  sponsors  to  danger ''. ' 

Afterward,  these  minors  became  members  of  the  Church  at  Carthage,  for 
Victor  states,  that  when  Eugenius  was  i)astor  of  that  Church,  A.  D.  -ISO,  its  infant 
readers,  whom  w-e  should  call  choir-boys,  '  rejoiced  in  the  Lord,  and  suffered  persecu- 
tion with  the  rest  of  their  lircthren.'  That  Tertullian  uses  the  word  parmdus,  'a 
little  one,'  to  mean  a  minor  at  law,  is  iii(li>pntable.  if,  then,  the  immersion  of  babes 
was  the  custom  of  his  time,  why  did  this  able  father  raise  all  this  objection  and  di.s- 
cussiou  ?  'Such  as  understand  the  importance  of  baptism,'  he  ui-ge.s,  'are  more 
afraid  of  presumption  than  procrastination  ;  and  faith  alone  secures  salvation.'  A 
minoi-  wlio  :i.-kcd  foi-  bai)tism  must  ask  for  it  on  his  own  responsibility,  and 
so  the  Churcli  would  be  as  disei'eet  in  this  matter  as  the  State  was  in  secular  things. 
The  value  of  these  facts,  as  evidence,  is :  1.  That  about  the  end  of  the  second 
century  we  find  the  first  recorded  instance  of  a  proposition  to  admit  legal  infants, 
not  babes,  into  the  Christian  Churches  by  baptism.  2.  That  such  infants  were  to 
'ask  for  baptism.'  3.  That  the  proposal  was  sternly  resisted  as  an  innovation  on 
established  Gospel  custom,  and  on  legal  grounds.  4.  That  there  is  no  assumption 
hci'e,  of  a  right  to  the  ordinance,  even  by  one  who  was  able  to  '  ask '  for  it  and  also 
produce  sponsors  for  his  conduct ;  but  that  the  request  was  pressed  as  such  and 
opposed.  5.  That  such  evidence  is  fatal  to  the  presumption  that  babes  were  bap- 
tized in  the  Christian  Churches  at  that  time. 

It  is  clear  enough  that  Tertullian  never  abandoned  this  position,  because  after- 
ward, he  united  with  those  falsely  charged  with  being  averse  to  baptism  in  water.  The 
Christians  of  this  century  had  not  yet  come  to  the  horrible  dogma,  that  unbaptized 
babes  are  damned  after  death.  They  were  anxious  to  bring  all  mankind  to  Christ 
as  soon  as  possible,  but  were  not  yet  ready  to  force  their  Master  upon  irresponsible 
ones,  who  knew  not  who  he  was,  nor  what  he  taught.  They  arc  truly  repi-esented  by 
Schleiermacher,  who  says :  '  The  Roman  Apostolical  practice  thoroughly  agrees  in 
demanding  beforehand  a  beginning  of  faith  and  repentance,  as  all  traces  of  infant 
baptism  that  men  have  wished  to  find  in  the  New  Testament,  must  first  be  put  into 


166  THE   SUPPER    CORPUPTED. 

it;  it  is,  ill  view  of  tlic  luck  nf  (Icfinitc  iiif(ii-iii:itii,n,  difliciilt  to  exjilaiii  liow  tin's 
ilfpnrturc  froni  tlic  ori-iiial  iiistitiiti.m,  r,,ul.l  liavr  ..ri-iiiutcd  an<l  f.-t;ii,lislaMl  itself 
so  widely."'-  Tlii>  is  in  rx.-ict  ai-conj  with  .lustiii  Martyr's  acconiit  of  baptism  in  liis 
Srcoiiil  A|ioloi;y,  ]>■  '•'•''  :  '  Wi'  wvw  lioi'ii  \vifli<Jiit  our  will,  Imt  we  are  not  to  remain 
cliildrm  of  necessity  and  ignorance,  but  in  iia|itisin  are  to  have  clioicc,  kno\vlcdi!;e, 
etc.  .  .  .  This  we  learned  from  the  Apostles.'  The  biographer  of  Justin  well  said, 
'()f  infant  baptism  lie  knows  nothing.' 

As  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  writers  of  this  century  use  ambiguous  language, 
invent  new  terms,  and  set  forth  new  ideas  concerning  it,  not  found  in  the  New 
Testament.  They  still  call  the  elements  bread  and  wine  after  consecration  as  well 
as  before;  and  signs  of  Christ,  '  re]iresenting  his  body  and  blood,'  his  'image,'  and 
'  figure.'  Yet,  they  s[ieak  of  the  Supper  as  an  '  otfei'ing,'  a  'sacrifice,'  of  tlie  Table 
as  an  '  altar,'  and  of  the  administrator  as  a  '  priest.'  They  also  nse  many  other 
florid  words,  which  have  led  to  corrupt  uses  in  sanctioning  the  figments  of  real 
presence,  consubstantiation,  and  transubstantiation.  As  yet,  they  had  not  fallen 
into  the  doctrine  that  the  elements  were  Chi-ist's  literal  flesh  and  blood  ;  but  they  did 
hold  that  these  were  mystically  in  the  bread  and  wine.  Great  efforts  have  been  made 
to  explain  away  their  words,  which  opened  a  streamlet  of  error  that  has  deluged 
nearly  all  Christendom,  with  the  notion  that  the  Supper  is  something  more  than 
what  the  New  Testament  makes  it,  a  simple  memoriah  Concerning  this  ordinance, 
they  introduced  a  vain  system  of  allegory,  between  which  scheme  and  transubstantia- 
tion there  was  no  logical  stopping  place,  and,  in  consecpience  of  which,  various  super- 
stitions were  introduced.  Even  Tertullian  feared,  lest  a  crumb  of  the  bread  or  a  drop 
of  the  wine  shoulil  fall  to  the  ground.  The  custom  arose  of  sending  a  morsel  of  the 
consecrated  bread  to  the  absent,  lest  they  lose  the  blessings  which  it  might  impart. 
It  was  also  used  as  a  protecting  charm,  and  taken  to  sea  in  ships  for  their  protection, 
as  if  it  were  no  longer  common  bread  ;  it  must  be  eaten  fasting,  which,  Neander 
thinks,  gave  rise  finally  to  the  taking  of  one  element  in  the  Supper.  Justin  Martyr 
speaks  of  the  wine  being  mixed  with  water,  partly  because  the  Passover  wine  was  so 
mixed,  partly  to  symbolize  the  water  and  the  blood  which  flowed  from  the  side  of 
Christ  on  the  cross,  and  partly  in  token  of  their  union  with  him.  As  at  the  Pass- 
over, any  one  might  preside  at  the  table,  although  the  presbyter  generally  presided. 
And  Justin  says,  that  it  was  not  lawful  for  any  one  to  partake :  '  But  such  as  believe 
the  things  that  arc  taught  by  us  to  be  true,  and  that  have  bathed  in  the  bath  for  the 
remission  of  sins.' " 

A  great  crisis  in  the  history  of  soul  liberty  was  brought  on  in  this  century. 
As  the  purity  of  Christian  life  was  more  and  more  felt,  paganism  became  more 
violent,  fierce  and  fanatical.  Gospel  contrast  with  the  gross  and  sensual  soon  made 
it  evident,  that  the  new  religion  must  force  its  own  way  or  die.  The  new  issue 
which  it  had  raised  in  the  world  was  primary,  relating  to  the  rights  of  conscience  in 
matters  of  faith. 


IMPERIAL   SEVEUTTY.  167 

Most  of  tlie  Cliristiiiiis  were  poor,  and  niaiiy  were  slaves  wlio  eoultl  not  com- 
mand their  time,  so  they  denied  themselves  of  sleep,  and  met  at  cacli  other's  houses 
in  the  nii^jit.  In  using  the  pure  but  iigurative  language  of  their  faith,  they  spoke 
of  'passing  from  death  to  life,'  of  being  'one  in  Christ,'  of  Christ  being  'formed  in 
them  the  hope  of  glory,'  and  of  '  eating  his  flesh  and  drinking  his  blood '  by  faith; 
forms  of  speech  which  were  seized  upon  and  distorted  in  the  most  diabolical  manner, 
exposing  them  to  popular  hate.  They  were  pure,  meek,  loyal  men;  but  all  relig- 
ions were  tolerated  except  that  of  love,  a  religion  best  fitted  for  torture,  wild  beasts 
and  flame.  Nor  could  it  be  otherwise,  when  Eome  herself  was  a  goddess,  with  the 
Emperor  for  high-priest.  Sometimes  the  most  odious  of  the  emperors  in  morals 
persecuted  the  Christians  the  least,  as  they  cared  little  for  the  gods  or  religion.  Mos- 
heim  pronounces  Heliogabalus,  'The  most  infamous  of  all  princes,  and,  perhaps,  the 
most  odious  of  all  mortals,'  yet,  he  says,  '  he  showed  no  marks  of  bitterness  or  aver- 
sion to  the  disciples  of  Christ.'  Nero  and  Domitian  were  moved  by  caprice  and 
cruelty  largely,  but  as  a  rule,  those  most  severe  in  their  morals  and  devout  in  their 
sjjirit,  were  the  sternest  persecutors,  because  they  were  purely  conscientious.  Dean 
Milman  ranks  Marcus  Aurelius  as  the  rival  of  '  Christians,  in  his  contem))t  of  the 
follies  of  life;'  Gibbon  calls  him  a  model  Emperor,  and  Guizot  couples  him  with 
Louis  IX.  of  France,  for  sincerity  and  violence.  The  opposite  of  the  selfish,  sensual 
and  reckless  emperors,  ho  was  ultra-conscientious,  even  to  blood-thirst.  Called  the 
'  Philosopher,'  he  made  blood  flow  freely  throughout  his  bitter  reign ;  but  when 
Commodns,  his  son,  took  the  purple,  he  staunched  every  Christian  artery  which  his 
father  had  opened.  To  this  purer  class  of  emperors  Christ  was  unknown  and  must, 
in  the  nature  of  things,  overturn  the  old  politico-religious  government,  if  he  should 
prevail,  and  they  believed  that  they  were  best  discharging  their  duty  to  the  State  by 
protecting  the  pagan  faith. 

Yet,  the  Christians  did  not  intend  to  overthrow  the  empire,  nor  did  they  com- 
plain of  their  political  condition.  Some  of  the  great  jurists  of  the  age  held  noble 
sentiments  on  the  primal  rights  of  man.  Under  the  Antonines,  the  greatest  of  them 
all,  Ulpian,  said  :  '  According  to  natural  law,  all  men  are  born  free  ;  in  civil  law,  it 
is  true,  slaves  are  treated  as  having  no  rights ;  not  so,  however,  by  natural  law,  for 
by  this  all  men  are  equal.'  All  that  the  Christians  demanded  was,  the  right  to  wor- 
ship God  under  the  laws  of  natui'e.  When  the  Proconsul  reasoned  with  Achatius, 
that  he  who  lives  under  the  Roman  laws  should  love  the  princes.  Fie  answered,  'By 
whom  is  the  Emperor  more  loved  than  by  Christians?'  '  Good,'  rejoined  the  gov- 
ernor, 'prove  your  obedience  by  sacrificing  to  his  honor.'  'Nay,' said  the  martyr, 
'  I  pray  for  my  Emperor.  But  a  sacrifice,  neither  he  should  require  nor  me  pay. 
Who  can  offer  divine  honor  to  a  man  ? '  For  this  he  died,  being  unwilling  to  serve 
the  gods  by  command  of  the  State,  the  monnrcli  ranking  as  its  chief  deity.  Tiic 
Ciiristians  never  revolted  ;  they  obeyed  all  otlicr  laws,  they  paid  for  the  suppoi-t  of 
government,  and   ])ro\e(l  their  political  allegiance  at  evei-y  point  :  while  the  laws  on 


1  68  CnnJ^TIAN  nRROTSM. 

religion  were  enforced  against  tlicni  hy  s]ieci:il  iiiij)onal  acts  and  under  military 
power.  The  younger  Pliny  shows,  tluit  the  KdHKin  authorities  suspected  their  love- 
feasts  of  being  secret  unions  for  imlitical  iiii>cliic'r,  ami  they  were  denounced  as  such 
in  the  edicts.  When  he  was  l'r.,roii,Mii  <.f  iJitliynia,  under  Trajan,  A.  I).  l(i<;,  Ki", 
he  tells  Oivsar,  that  he  put  the  .pivstioii  t.icach  .Misjiected  j^.rson,  'Are  yoii  a  Chris- 
tian T  Jf  thev  would  cast  a,  Ijit  <if  incense  (Hi  an  altar  they  were  discharged;  if  not, 
he  executed  rheni.  This,  Trajan  api>io\ cil,  under  the  laws  against  'illegal  supersti- 
tion,' and  issued  his  edict  against  the  guilds  and  clulis,  which  included  the  ('liris- 
tians,  under  the  head  of  secret  societies ;  but  after  a  bloody  persecntion,  an  impiiry 
was  made  into  the  real  conduct  of  Christians,  and  a  i)road  distinction  was  discovered 
between  their  civil  and  religious  coiKhn-t.  I'liny  reports  that,  though  they  wor- 
shiped Christ,  'they  bound  tlieniselves  Ky  an  oath  against  crime,'  and  he  saw  a  clear 
line  between  tlieii-  jmlitieal  ivvcrence  foi-  the  Emperor  and  their  refusal  to  adore 
him  as  god.  This  ended  the  persecution,  till  it  was  renewed  under  Hadrian,  A.  1). 
117-13S. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  follow  tlie  course  of  the  several  jiersecutious,  nor  to 
detail  the  terrible  barbarities  wliich  were  inlli<-ted  niM.n  the  Christians  in  the  many 
provinces  of  the  enii.ire  ;  let  it  sutiice  t,,  say,  that  n,,  such  blo.Mlshed  had  ever  been 
known.  The  h.mies  of  Christians  in  the  east  and  west  were  iiluiidered  ;  they  were 
driven  from  the  baths  and  streets  to  the  lists,  were  di-agged  from  dens  and  crypts; 
slavt's  were  bii'ced  to  charge  their  niastei's  with  cannibalism,  incest  and  every  kind 
(d'  ci'ime:  and  chililren  were  torturei]  to  extort  a  ci-iminating  word  against  their 
Christian  pai-ents.  Wherever  a  handlnl  of  them  met  for  worship,  brother  atti'r 
brotlier  was  taken  from  his  home  to  death,  and  tlie  few  wdio  escaped  looked  at 
the  vacant  jilaces  which  were  left.  Then  they  drew  a  little  nearer  to  each  other,  not 
knowini;-  who  would  ascend  in  the  fiery  chariot  before  the  little  Church  should  meet 
again.  They  were  burned  with  hot  irons,  tossed  in  nets  by  wild  bulls,  thrown  to 
ravenous  beasts  in  the  arena,  and  their  bones  denied  Iiurial.  Delicate  and  weak 
women  passed  through  tortures  unheard  of,  without  com[>laint.  An  iron  chair  was 
devised,  made  red  hot,  and  the  martyrs  fastened  in  it  for  the  delight  of  the  amphi- 
theater. Tlu'  public  a]i])ctite  was  sharpened  to  all  sorts  of  horrors,  and  yet  these 
children  of  (iod  met  their  fate  with  a  holy  heroism  that  was  not  only  enthusiastic 
but  ecstatic.  The  inspiring  case  of  Justin,  and  many  others,  must  be  passed,  that  a 
few  words  may  be  indulged  concerning  the  remakable  case  of  Blandina,  who  was 
martyred  at  Lyons,  A.  D.  177. 

Slic  was  a  poor  slave-girl,  fifteen  years  of  age,  who  was  put  to  every  torture,  tliat 
her  Christian  mistress  might  be  implicated.  Slie  was  kept  in  a  loathsome  dungeon, 
and  brought  into  the  amphitheater  every  day  to  see  the  agonies  of  her  companions  as 
they  were  roasted  in  the  iron  chair,  or  torn  to  pieces  by  lions.  Her  spirit  was  clotlnd 
with  superhuman  endurance,  for  although  racked  from  morning  till  night,  so  that 
her  tormentors  were  obliged  to  relieve  each  other  for  I'ost,  her  constancy  vancpiished 


their  p;itionce,  lier  only  uiiswur  l)cing:  'I  :iin  a  Cliristian,  no  wickedness  is  done 
by  us.'  Then  tliey  took  her  into  the  circus  and  suspended  her  on  a  cross,  witliin  rcaeli 
of  the  wild  beasts,  to  frighten  her  fellow-coufessors.  The  multitude  howled  for 
her  life  and  a  lion  was  let  loose  upon  the  poor  child,  but  not  a  quiver  jiassed  over 


her  frame.  She  looked  into  its  month  and  .<niiled  like  a  queen,  and  the  monster  did 
not  touch  her.  ( )nly  m  century  before  this,  the  first  slave-girl  was  converted  to 
Christ,  at  I'liiliiipi,  and  now  her  ennobled  sister  cast  holy  defiance  at  the  empire,  and 
serenely  looked  luirope  in  the  face.  Iler  calm  soul  told  this  great  Power,  that  at  last 
the  weak  were  endowed  with  the  omnipotence  of  the  Gospel.  Her  intrepid  spirit 
showeil,  fur  the  first  time,  how  Jesus  could  lift  a  worm  info  the  empire  of  a  human 


170  HEU  MAarvrwoM. 

conscience;  and  couM  i'<'linkc  ci-uclty  in  (lie  iniitc  cldqncnce ',f  love.  The  brightest 
page  in  tiie  liistory  of  Ki.iiie  \v;is  wi'irtcn  that,  day,  in  the  huaiiis  of  tliat  child's 
hope.  Taken  (hnvn  iVdin  tlie  cross  she  was  i-ciii(i\cd  to  her  dungeon,  but  finally 
brought  back  into  the  aieiia  for  execution,  lln  slender  frame  was  a  rare  victim 
for  the  savage  populace,  and  tliey  gloated  on  her.  Hut  slie  flinched  not,  more  than 
the  angel  in  ( iethsenKine  before  the  swor<ls  and  sta\es  of  the  Passover  mol).  She 
stepped  a.s  lightly  as  if  she  were  going  to  a.  ban(pu't.  She  was  first  scourged,  then 
scorclied  in  the  hot  eliair.  and  at  last  east  before  a  furious  bull,  which  tossed  her 
madly.  Even  then  a  shai'p  blade  was  needful  to  take  tlie  lingering  throb  of  life; 
and  wlien  her  Ixidy  was  hurnt  to  ashes  it  was  cast  into  the  lihone.  From  that  day, 
tliis  harmless  ehild-slavu  has  been  with  her  redeeming  Master  in  Paradise. 

It  is  clear  that  this  new  d(jcti-i]ie  of  soul-libertj  now  possessed  the  whole  body 
of  Christians.  Before  Christ,  the  oidy  right  of  the  governed  was  to  obey  authority 
backed  by  force;  now  his  disciples  not  only  comprehended  the  new  right,  but 
resolved  to  die  for  its  maintenance,  if  needful.  Tlie  religious  institutions  of 
the  Jews  were  left  to  them  undisturbed  by  the  Konians  ;  yet,  they  resented  Roman 
intolerance  on  the  question  of  national  independence.  Few  of  the  Christians  being 
of  Jewish  origin,  their  birth,  as  pagan  citizens,  had  invested  them  with  the  civil 
rights  of  their  fellows,  their  contests,  therefore,  wei-e  narrowed  down  to  religious 
issues.  Justin  Martyr,  who  was  educated  a  pagan  philosoi:)her,  said,  in  his  first 
Apology  to  the  rulei's :  'We  worship  God  alone,  but,  with  this  exception,  we  joy- 
fully obey  you  ;  we  acknowledge  you  as  our  princes  and  governors,  and  we  ask  of 
you  that  to  the  sovereign  power  with  which  you  are  invested,  may  lie  added  the 
wisdom  to  make  a  right  use  of  it.'"  Here,  was  no  unreason  of  fanaticism,  nor  claim 
of  religious  obstinacy,  as  the  emperors  supposed,  but  simply  the  recognition  of  a 
natural  and  inalienable  right  in  humanity.  Nor  did  Justin  make  this  demand  on 
the  first  Antonine  without  effect.  Marcus  admitted  that  Pius,  his  predecessor,  had 
decreed  that  Christians :  '  Should  not  be  subject  to  any  harm,  unless  they  were 
found  to  have  committed  acts  injurious  to  the  welfare  of  the  Roman  Empire.'  But 
for  himself  he  held  this  as  the  law  governing  religion,  namely  :  '  The  eiul  of  reason- 
able beings  is  to  conform  to  whatever  is  imposed  by  the  reason  and  law  of  the  most 
ancient  and  honorable  city  and  government.'  '^  Here  he  seemed  to  defer  to  '  reason ' 
as  well  as  law,  but  Athenagoras,  in  his  Apology,  openly  charged  him  with  partiality 
and  inconsistency  in  applying  law.  He  urges  u])on  the  Emperor's  attention  these 
considerations : 

'  The  subjects  of  your  vast  empire,  most  noble  sovereign,  differ  in  cus- 
toms and  laws.  No  imperial  decree,  no  menace  held  foi'th  by  you,  prevents  them 
from  freely  following  the  usages  of  their  ancestors,  even  though  those  usages 
be  )-idiculous.  The  Egyptians  may  adore  cats,  crocodiles,  serpents  and  dogs.  1  on 
and  the  laws  pronounce  the  man  impious  who  acknowledges  no  god,  and  yon  admit 
that  every  man  ought  to  worshi])  the  god  of  his  choice,  in  order  that  he  may  be 
deterivd  from  evil  by  the  fear  of  the  divinity.     Why,  then,  make  exception  in  the 


THE   CniilSTIANS  DEMAND  LIBERTY.  MX 

sole  case  of  the  Cliristiuns?     Why  are  tliey  exchided  from  that   universal  ])cace, 
wliich  the  world  enjoys  under  your  rule  ?  "^ 

Tiie  Roman  laws  allowed  all  conquered  nations  to  retain  tiieir  uwm  relii;ii)n.  l)ut 
as  the  Christians  bad  never  been  a  nation,  they  felt  themselves,  at  lea^t,  entitled  to 
the  sacred  rights  yielded  to  cajitives.  If  a  pagan  had  the  abstract  right  to  dispose 
of  his  own  soul  in  harmony  with  his  own  convictions,  though  not  a  citizen,  how 
much  more  those  who  were  free  born  ?  They,  therefore,  held  persecution  immoral, — 
treason  against  free  souls.  They  refused  to  be  stripped  of  their  humanit}',  because 
to  rob  themselves  of  peace  with  God  and  with  their  honest  convictions,  was  treason 
against  God, — to  which  they  would  not  yield  for  a  moment.  Under  this  solemn  per- 
suasion, the  Christian  Apologies  warned  the  emperors,  again  and  again,  that  God  would 
punish  them  for  their  daring  oppressions,  which  despised  the  life  that  God  had  given 
man,  and  rit!u<l  liim  of  his  grandest  attribute.     Justin  boldly  says  to  the  Emperor  : 

'  Von,  who  are  every  M'liere  proclaimed  the  pious, — the  guardian  of  justice, — 
the  friend  of  truth, — your  acts  shall  show  whether  you  merit  these  titles.  My  design 
is  neither  to  flatter  you  by  this  letter,  nor  to  obtain  any  favor.  .  .  .  Your  duty,  as 
dictated  by  reason,  is  to  investigate  our  cause,  and  to  act  as  good  judges.  You  will 
then  be  inexcusable  before  God,  if  you  act  not  justly  when  you  have  once  known 
the  truth.  .  .  .  Aftei-  all,  princes  who  prefer  an  idle  opinion  to  the  truth,  use  a 
power  only  like  that  of  robbers  in  lonely  places.  ...  If  this  doctrine  appears  to  you 
true,  and  founded  on  reason,  pay  heed  to  it.  If  contrariwise,  treat  it  as  a  thing  of 
no  value ;  but  do  not  treat  as  enemies,  nor  condemn  to  death,  men  who  have  done 
you  no  wrong ;  for  we  declare  to  you  that  you  will  not  escape  the  judgment  of 
God  if  you  persist  in  injustice.' 

lie  even  goes  the  length  of  expressing  the  belief,  that  the  moral  triumphs  of 
the  Gospel  may  render  the  State  itself  unnecessary,  and  rates  impei-ial  intolerance  as 
more  worthy  of  the  hangman  than  of  virtuous  princes.  In  a  word,  he  demands 
i-eligious  liberty  in  the  name  of  eternal  justice,  urging  the  Emperor  to  lay  the 
matter  before  the  people,  saying  :  '  Is  there  need  to  appeal  to  any  other  judge  than 
conscience  ? '  And  TertuUian  was  just  as  bold.  '  Religion,'  he  affirms,  '  forbids  to 
constrain  any  to  be  religious  ;  she  would  have  consent  and  not  constraint.  Man  has 
the  natural  right  to  worship  what  he  thinks  best.  .  .  .  Let  one  worship  God, 
another  Jupiter  ;  let  one  raise  his  suppliant  hands  to  heaven,  another  to  the  altar  of 
Fides.  See  to  it  whether  this  does  not  deserve  the  name  of  irreligion,  to  wish  to 
take  away  the  freedom  of  religion,  and  to  forbid  a  choice  of  gods,  so  that  I  may 
not  worship  whom  I  will,  but  be  compelled  to  worship  whom  I  do  not  will.  No 
one,  not  even  a  human  being,  will  desire  to  be  worshiped  by  one  against  his  will.' " 
In  citing  Christ's  words  on  duty  to  CiBsar,  he  asks  :  '  What,  then,  is  due  to  Ci\isar  ? 
.  .  .  CiEsar's  image  is  on  the  money,  therefore,  the  money  may  be  fairly  claimed  by 
him  ;  God's  image  is  upon  man,  and  he  has  an  equal  claim  upon  his  own.  Give, 
therefore,  your  money  to  Caesar,  and  yourselves  to  God.  If  all  is  Caesar's,  what  will 
remain  for  God  ? '  •'  Thus,  the  post- Apostolic  Baptists  stuTcd  the  second  century 
with  the  strife  for  soul-liberty. 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE    THIRD    CENTURY. 

IN  tliis  period,  tlic  EmpLTor.s  were  iiioi-u  leniuiit  toward  the  f'liristiaiis,  from 
various  motives,  sometimes  i)ecaiise  they  paid  a  heavy  tax  for  peace.  Tertnliiaii 
denounced  this  practice  as  a  bribe.  Alexander  Severus,  222-235,  was  tolerant,  i)er- 
hajis  thronf;-h  the  influence  of  Julia,  his  mother,  a  friend  of  Origen.  He  put  busts 
of  Chiist  :iih1  iVlii-aham  in  his  private  chapel,  with  the  words  engraved  on  the  wall: 
'As  ye  woiilil  tliat  mi'u  sliould  do  to  you,  do  ye  also  to  them.'  He  was  the  lirst 
Emperor  who  ciitiM-rainiMl  < 'hri.-rian  pastors  at  court,  and  the  first  places  of  Chris- 
tian worship  u.T,>  built  in  liis  rri-n;  yet,  down  to  this  time  no  Christian  bodies  had 
been  legalized,  exrept  as  l)urial  societies.  lie  would  iiavc  eiirolkMl  Cliri^t  :iiii.iiigst 
the  gods  and  built  him  a  temple,  but  the  so,,tlisiyers  prophesied,  that  all  men  would 
becJme  Christians,  and  the  other  temples  would  he  close.!  if  he  <li<l  this,  biider 
his  favor  to  the  Christians,  many  pliable  philosophers  united  with  them,  some 
pastors  took  civil  ofHce.  The  law.s  against  Christians  were  unrepealed,  and  Ulpian 
collected  them  into  a  Digest,  ready  for  use,  in  his  book  on  the  duties  of  a  Procon- 
sul. As  Christianity  relapsed  into  security,  it  began  to  mix  with  paganism  and 
weakened.  Maximus,  the  Thracian,  resented  the  leniency  of  his  predecessor  and 
burned  the  church  buildings ;  but  Philip,  238-244,  favored  Christianity  so  much, 
that  he  was  denounced  as  a  Christian.  Decins,  however,  249-251,  determined  to 
restore  tlie  old  faith,  and  began  a  general  pei-secution  of  the  sternest  charactei-. 

He  aimed  at  the  full,  legal  suppression  of  Christianity,  and  the  govermnent 
put  forth  its  wliole  strength  accordingly.  The  terror  of  this  persecution  had  scarcely 
been  e(pialcd  before.  Liml)orch  fully  indorses  the  alarming  picture  drawn  iiy  Dr. 
Chandler,  in  his  'History  of  Persecutions,'  when  he  says  of  those  who  wouM  not 
blaspheme  Christ  and  offer  incense  to  the  gods,  that :  'They  were  publicly  whipped, 
drawn  by  the  heels  through  the  streets  of  cities,  racked  till  every  bone  of  tlieir  body 
was  disjointed,  had  their  teeth  beat  out;  their  noses,  hands  and  ears  cut  off;  sharp- 
pointed  spears  run  under  their  nails,  were  tortured  with  melted  lead  thrown  on  their 
naked  bodies,  had  their  eyes  dug  out,  their  limbs  cut  off,  were  condemned  to  the 
mines,  gi-ound  between  stones,  stoned  to  death,  burnt  alive,  thrown  headlong  from 
the  high  buildings,  beheaded,  smothered  in  burning  lime-kilns,  run  through  the  body 
with  sharp  spears;  destroyed  with  hunger,  thirst  and  cold;  thrown  to  the  wild 
beasts,  broiled  on  gridirons  with  slow  lires,  cast  l.y  licai>s  into  the  sea,  crucified, 
scraped  to  deatii  with  sharp  shells,  torn   to  pieces  by  tlie  boughs   of  trees,  and,  in  a 


DEFECTTOX  AND   PERSECUTION.  I  73 

woi-d,  (lustniytMl  liy  all    iIk-  \arioii.s   iiiL'tiiods  that  the   most  dialmlical   subtlety   and 
malice  coidd  devise.' 

Pride,  ease  and  anihition  jjad  entered  the  Churches,  disci|)line  was  rehipsed, 
and  terror  seized  tlieni  when  the  sword  awoke,  and  many  apostatized.  These  were, 
called  traditorfi,  meaning  those  who  revealed  hidden  copies  of  Scripture  to  be  col- 
lected and  burnt.  Dccius  threw  the  whole  strength  of  the  Empire  into  the  perse- 
cution, which  was  terrible  beyond  description,  and  such  immense  numbers  'lapsed,' 
that  tiery  controversies  rent  the  Churches  when  they  returned,  on  the  question  of 
their  restoration.  Cyprian  bewailed  this  state  of  things  as  a  punishment  '  for  our 
sins,'  saying:  'Our  principal  study  is  to  get  money  and  estates;  we  follow  after 
pride;  we  are  at  leisure  with  nothing  but  emulation  and  quarreling,  and  have  neg- 
lected the  simplicity  of  faith.  AVe  have  renounced  this  world  in  w'ords  only,  and 
not  in  deed.  Every  one  studies  to  please  himself  and  to  displea.se  others.'  Eusebius 
draws  a  darker  picture  still,  and  writes : 

'Through  too  niucli  liberty,  they  grew  negligent  and  slothful,  envying  and 
reproaching  one  aniitliei- ;  waging,  as  it  were,  civil  war  among  themselves,  bishops 
quarreling  with  bishops,  and  the  people  divided  into  factions.  Ilypocrisy  and  deceit 
were  grown  to  the  highest  pitch  of  wickedness.  They  were  become  so  insensible 
as  not  so  much  as  to  think  of  appeasing  the  Divine  anger;  but  like  Atheists  they 
thought  the  world  destitute  of  any  providential  government  and  care,  and  thus 
added  one  crime  to  another.  The  bisliops  themselves  had  thrown  off  all  concern 
about  religion;  were  perpetually  contending  with  one  another;  and  did  nothing 
but  quarrel  with  and  threaten  and  envy  and  hate  one  another;  they  were  full  of 
ambition,  and  tyrannically  used  their  power.'  ^ 

Decius,  as  a  reforming  statesman,  intended  to  turn  this  state  of  things  to  his 
interests,  declaring,  that  he  would  rather  liave  a  second  Emperor  at  his  side  than  a 
priest  at  Rome,  a  remark  which  shows  the  trend  of  Christian  feeling  at  that  time. 

But  extremes  meet  here,  as  elsewliere.  "While  so  many  abjured  Christ,  thou- 
sands presented  themselves  to  the  civil  power,  ahnost  with  fanaticism,  demanding 
the  martyr's  crown.  The  persecution  continued  under  Gallus  and  Valerian,  A.  D. 
251-260,  until  Gallienus  proclaimed  the  first  edicts  of  toleration  in  the  Empire, 
i-eealled  the  exiles,  and  made  Christianity  an  acknowledged  religion  in  261.  This 
peace  continued  under  Claudius;  but  his  successor,  Aurelian,  hated  the  Christians 
and  issued  another  edict  against  them.  He  was  assassinated,  however,  before  it  was 
executed  ;  Tacitus,  his  successor,  revoked  it,  and  the  Churches  had  rest,  until  the  last 
general  persecution  under  Diocletian,  A.  D.  303.  Then  Christianity  revived,  illus- 
trating the  words  of  Tertullian,  uttered  long  before :  '  Our  nmnber  increases  the 
more  you  destroy  us.  The  blood  of  the  Christians  is  their  seed.'  Amongst  the 
many  illustrative  cases  which  exhibit  the  fortitude  of  the  martyrs  is  that  of  Lau- 
rentius,  a  deacon,  of  whom  the  magistrate  demanded  the  money  of  the  Chureli,  tor 
the  poor.  This  iron-nerved  old  Baptist  said,  most  cheerfully,  that  the  Church  had 
valuable  treasures,  asking  the  court  to  send  horses  and  wagons  for  them,  and  give 


174  TKllTULl.lAN. 

liiiii  tlirco  days  to  produce  them.  His  rciiucst  was  granted,  and  when  tlie  day 
iin-iwd,  lie  Iirouglit  loads  of  widows  ami  tlic  poor,  saying :  ' These  are  the  treasures 
(if  tliu  Clnn-ch.'  Fortius,  they  roasted  hiiii  alive  on  a  gridiron;  l)ut  so  resohitely 
did  W  hear  his  sutierinns,  that  he  told  the  executioner:  'This  side  of  my  body  is 
roasted  enough,  now  turn  it  and  roast  the  other;  and  then,  if  thou  wilt,  devour  it.' 
Persecution  ceased  in  the  West,  A.  i).  :!<i7. 

A  brief  sketch  of  TicktulliaiN  may  aid  in  throwing  light  u])on  the  Montanists, 
who  held  some  peculiarities  in  conunon  with  moileni  IJaptists.  He  was  the  greatest 
of  the  Latin  fathers,  except  Augustine,  being  pre-eminently  the  father  of  his  day 
and  class,  A.  D.  lfi0-2-l:0.  He  was  born  at  (.'arthagc,  North  Afi'ica,  where  his  father 
was  a  Ronum  Proconsul,  and  carefully  educated  his  son  to  be  a  lawyer.  Little  is 
known  of  TertuUian's  conversion,  which  is  generally  supposed  to  have  dated  about 
ItHi.  lie  possessed  a  powerful  mind,  was  an  original  but  violent  thinker,  earnest  in 
his  coin  ictions,  intense  in  his  enthusiasm,  and  destitute  of  fear;  his  tire  and  inde- 
jiendeiiee  uuide  him  worthy  of  his  Punic  blood  and  Roman  training.  As  forceful 
with  the  pen  as  Tacitus,  he  was  too  brief,  warm  and  vigorous  to  be  his  equal,  either 
in  lucidity  or  elegance  ;  but  lie  was  the  most,  eloi^uent  advocate  of  the  early  Churches. 
He  was  strong  and  acute,  witli  a  jiowerfnl  imagination,  a  quick  and  vivacious  mind; 
his  style  was  learned  but  not  I'lietorical,  iioi-  was  it  always  harnioulous;  yet,  his  severe, 
angidar  fruitfulness  presented  the  truth  in  a,  new  dress,  and  made  him  fascinating, 
because  he  was  austere  in  his  piety  and  spotless  in  his  purity.  Eai'ly  in  his  Chris- 
tian career,  he  Ijeeame  deeply  moved  at  the  indilTerenee  which  had  fallen  on  the 
Churches;  and  the  fear  that  they  were  relni)sing  into  paganism,  stirred  his  sanctified 
genius  to  a  keen  and  dexterous  activity.  When  he  became  pastor  of  the  Church  in 
his  native  city,  he  threw  all  his  might  into  the  battle  with  paganism,  Judaism,  and 
heretical  Christianity.  As  he  exceeded  all  his  contemporaries  in  intelligence,  vigor 
and  sturdy  character,  his  opponents  soon  looked  upon  him  as  stern  and  censorious. 
Believing  that  the  Churches  had  drifted  from  their  primitive  state,  his  puritanical 
zeal  dealt  tremendous  blows  in  every  direction.  Ilis  opponents  feared  liim,  for  he 
exposed  all  the  baseness  of  heathenism,  and  pi-otested  against  all  looseness  in  Chris- 
tianity. In  his  Apology  to  the  rulers,  his  stirring  letter  to  Scapula,  the  Prefect  of 
Africa,  and  his  more  popular  appeal  to  the  people,  he  heaped  scorn  and  contempt  on 
the  ancient  gods  in  a  style  peculiar  to  himself;  and  few  did  more  to  oviTthrow  the 
godless  system  of  Polytheism. 

Abovat  A.  D.  200,  he  became  a  Moiitanist,  amongst  which  sect  he  ranked  as 
the  leader,  and  at  Carthage  first  launched  his  famous  woi-k  on  Baptism  against 
Quintilla,  who  held  that  faith  saves  without  baptism.  He  insisted  that  Christ  'im- 
posed the  law  of  immersion,'  and  that  Paul  submitted  to  it,  'as  the  only  thing '  then 
wanting  in  him  ;  and  as  a  dispute  had  arisen  in  his  day  about  the  need  of  going  to 
the  Jordan  for  baptism,  he  gave  this  decision  :  'There  is  no  difference  whether  one 
is  washed  in  the  sea  or  in  a  pool,  in  a  river  or  in  a  fountain,  in  a  lake  or  in  a  canal ; 


MONTAXIsyr.  1 75 

iioi'  is  there  any  (liU'ereiice  between  tliu.se  whom  Jolm  di]i|)e(l  in  tiie  .J(ir(l;iM,  iind 
those  wlioni  Peter  dipped  in  the  Tiber.' 

The  MoNTANiSTS,  with  wlioni  he  ideiititied  iumself,  sitrang  from  Montanus,  a 
native  of  I'hrvf^ia.  lie  was  orthodox  in  Ids  views,  except  on  the  doctrine  of  the  'Holy 
Catholic  Church,'  as  it  began  to  be  held  at  that  time.  Some,  however,  attribute  to 
liiin  a  tinge  of  the  doctrine  of  Sabellius,  which  affected  his  later  followers.  He 
taught  a  gradual  unfolding  of  revelation,  and  looked  for  further  communications  of 
the  Spirit  than  those  given  in  the  New  Testament ;  yet.  Cardinal  Newman  thinks 
that:  ' The  very  foundation  of  Montanism  is  development,  not  in  doctrine,  but  in 
discipline  and  conduct.'  Certainly,  he  introduced  no  new  docti'ine,  but  held  to  the 
continued  inspiration  of  the  Spirit  until  the  coming  of  Christ,  which  he  thought  near 
at  hand.  He  labored  hard  to  rekindle  the  love  of  many  who  had  waxed  cold,  and 
to  restore  the  spirituality  of  the  Churches ;  but  was  so  extremely  I'igid  in  the  nuitter  of 
fasting  and  other  acts  of  self-denial,  that  he  caught  the  ascetic  side  of  religion  in  its 
demands  for  a  pure  life.  In  his  aim  to  restore  Christians  to  their  normal  Gospel 
condition,  he  associated  their  decline  with  the  lack  of  special  revelations  given  to 
individuals,  which  should  supplement  the  New  Testament,  and  thought  himself 
commissioned  of  God  to  bring  them  back  to  this  high  standard  of  perfection.  This 
dangerous  doctrine  led  him  into  ecstasies,  which  he  mistook  for  new  revelations,  ami 
which  have  been  unjustly  ascribed  to  deception.  Hence,  the  Montanists  called  tlum- 
selves  'spirituals,'  to  mark  themselves  from  lax  Christians,  whom  they  denominated 
'  carnal ; '  not  only  because  they  demanded  a  pure  life,  but  also  because  they  sought 
a  thoroughly  spiritual  religion,  unmixed  with  the  perversions  of  philosophy.  Mon- 
tamis  taught  that  men  should  not  flee  from  persecution,  and  insisted  on  the  rebap- 
tism  of  the  'lapsed;'  not  because  they  had  been  improperly  bajitized  in  the  first 
place,  but  because  they  had  denied  Christ,  and  on  re-professing  him,  ought  to  be 
baptized  afresh.     For  this  cause  only,  were  they  called  '  Anabaptists.' 

The  one  prime-idea  held  by  the  Montanists  in  common  with  Baptists,  and  in  dis- 
tinction to  the  Churches  of  the  third  century  was,  that  mend)ership  in  the  Churches 
should  be  confined  to  purely  regenerate  persons;  and  that  a  spiritual  life  and  dis- 
cipline should  be  maintained  without  any  affiliation  with  the  authority  of  the  State. 
Exterior  Church  organization  and  the  efficacy  of  ordinances  did  not  meet  their  ideal 
of  Gospel  Church  existence,  without  the  indwelling  Spirit  of  Christ,  not  in  the 
bishops  alone,  but  in  all  Christians.  For  this  reason,  Montanus  was  charged  with 
assuming  to  be  the  Holy  Spirit  himself  ;  which  was  simply  a  slander.  His  mistake 
lay  in  pushing  the  doctrine  of  the  indwelling  Spirit  so  far,  as  to  claim  that  men  and 
women  are  as  directly  iinder  the  special  inspiration  of  the  Spirit  as  were  the  Apos- 
tles themselves.  For  this  reason,  also,  he  claimed  exact  equality  amongst  them  in 
all  respects,  and  women  as  well  as  men  were  pastors  in  the  Montanist  Churches. 
Woman  was  held  in  light  esteem  both  in  Church  and  State  in  his  time,  and  so,  this 
doctrine  was  specially  odious.      History  has  not  yet  relieved   the   Montanists  of  the 


r   ITRTTY. 

scnclnirs  .,f 

Clirist;  w 

liilc,   in    fact, 

,  lalM.ivd    to 

ivstnre  th; 

It  (;iirist-like- 

irU.I.      Km, 

Kin   i.leas   „ 

f  aiz-icraiiilize- 

riv.tly  variiM 

1  from  tliu 

iiK.del  wliich 

iritiiality  s.m 

,11  k-d  tlu'iu 

tn  exalt    nm- 

the  i;ruvL>>t 

iiiii"irtaiict' 

,  and  to  LTfC't 

scci'atioli    tu 

(io,l,  tla-y 

hueaiiie   tlioi'- 

176  HONEST   EF Fours   A 

distortion  and  ol,lo,jiiy  wliir],  l,,n-  Lrld  tlicni  a 
tlK-y  lioiK^llv,  hut  in  >onu.'  ivs|H.,-t.  rrroiu',,usly 
no's  t,.  the  CI, uivhr.  wliich  had  m,  lai-cly  dcp, 
nicnt  liail  corrupted  their  ideal,  and  now  they  i 
Clirist  had  left. 

Like  many  reformers,  their  aim  at  lii-li  sp 
tine  observances  in  little  things,  into  matters  (d' 
new  standards  of  conduct.  Seekiiif^  i.;rcat  con 
onghly  legal.  They  excluded  themselves  from  society,  were  harsh  in  their  treat- 
ment of  weak  and  erriiii;-  Christians;  instead  of  cherishing  the  forgiving  spirit  of 
Christ  toward  the  'lapsed,'  they  were  hitter  against  them,  with  that  hitterness  which 
is  often  the  chief  sin  of  high  sanctity.  Sin  after  liaptism  was  regarded  liy  them  as 
almost  unpardoiialile,  second  marria-vs  were  wicked  in  the  extreme,  matter  it.self  was 
an  unmixed  evil ;  and  the  world,  being  as  bail  as  it  well  could  be,  was  ripe  for  destruc- 
tion. In  con.seqrience,  they  were  decided  I're-Milleiiarians.  They  believed  in  the 
literal  reign  of  Christ  upon  the  earth,  ami  longed  for  his  coming,  that  he  might  hold 

iw  of  sin  and  sinners,  and  then  In's  saints 
They  regarded  every  new  jiersecutoi-  on 

the  AiM.calypse;  and  made  so  much  of  that 

Monlanist  forgery.  -     They  hoped  by  preaching 

ithout    biiindinL;'   a   new  sect,  and   for  a  time, 


his  people  sep. 

irate 

by  th( 

•  tin 

al   . 

■th 

wonlil  reign  w 

ith  hi 

m  hei 

■e  ii 

1    hi 

■^  g: 

l,,l 

the  imperial  tl 

iroiie 

as  th, 

■  Ai 

iti.-l 

book,  that  the 

Alogi 

aiis  t! 

long 

■ht 

it  a 

M 

these  things  t( 

'  I""''' 

fy  the. 

CI, 

lire 

lies. 

w 

tilings  tended 

in  tha 

it  ilire 

'Ctio 

11. 

Ma 

113 

in  hopeful  mil 

ids  there  w; 

,spi 

■om 

isc  , 

,f 

Their  <loe 

triiies 

t,.,,k  , 

deei 

lati. 

1  wi 

dc 

ill  |iart,  to  the 

Apo.toli, 

•i.leal.and 

;  a  jinrely  sijiri 

tiial  mem 

ber.-hip. 

'Vica  anil  (Taul, 

and  even  1 

he  Church 

)iit  hesitated. 

The  set  ( 

if  the  tide 

at  Komc  was  more  than  inclined  to  adopt  thci 
toward  worldly  conformity  and  aggrandizement  was  too  strong,  however,  for  this  re- 
action, and  the  reform  largely  failed  ;  yet  that  Church  was  slow  to  condemn  this  hon- 
est attempt  of  the  reformers.  About  A.  D.  192,  her  pastor  branded  thein,  but  the 
Council  of  Nicaia  did  not  put  them  under  the  ban.  The  local  Council  of  Laodicea 
did,  however;  and  the  General  Council  of  Constantinople,  A.  D.  381,  required  con- 
verts from  Montanisin  to  be  immersed  an, 'W,  a  n<l  treatcl  in  all  respects  as  converts 
from  paganism,  before  their  re-admissiou  into  the  Catholic  f'hurch. 

They  had  no  controversy  with  the  Catli,,lics  on  the  subject  of  trine  im- 
mersion, fi.ir  it  was  not  in  dispute,  but  was  ]n-acticeil  by  both  parties.  As  to  the 
iminersi,, 11  of  unconscious  babes,  we  have  nothing  which  distinctly  sets  forth  their 
views,  because  it  was  not  yet  jiraeticed  by  any  part}'.  It  was  just  beginning  to 
apjiear  in  this  centurv,  as  a  necessary  measure  of  salvation  from  original  sin  by  sacra- 
mental grace.  'As  a  matter  of  history,  it  must  be  admitted  by  candid  students, 
that  a  false  conception  of  the  Church  and  the  sacraments  was  the  direct  cause  of  a 
change  in  the  Apostolic  order,  and  of  the  admission  of  infants  to  baptism  and  the 
Supper,  designed  only  for  adults.     The  same  cause  induced  both  changes,  and  for 


centuries  infant  coinnuinion  co-existed  witii  inf;int  baptism.'''  Eutii  the  ujipositiun 
of  Tertullian,  and  the  open  denial  of  tlic  Montanists  that  baptism  is  the  channel  of 
grace,  renders  it  unlikely  that  they  adopted  this  practice.  They  insisted  so  radically 
on  the  efficacy  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  regeneration,  that  to  have  immersed  uncon- 
scious babes  would  have  nuliilied  their  basic  doctrine  of  tiic  direct  agency  of  the 
Spirit,  and  have  thwarted  their  attempts  at  reform,  in  the  most  jjractical  manner. 
As  to  the  independency  of  their  Churches,  the  facts,  that  tiicy  maintained  a  separate 
Church  life,  and  that  women  tilled  the  pastorate  in  some  of  their  congregations, 
under  the  direction,  as  they  thought,  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  indicate  that  they  believed 
this  direction  was  given  through  the  local  body  when  choosing  pastors ;  and  also,  that 
their 'superintendents'  were  but  the  'presidents'  of  Justin  Martyr,  and  the  'elders' 
of  the  New  Testament. 

With  the  other  perversions  of  the  faith,  there  came  the  Gnostic  heresy,  sub- 
stituting knowledge  for  faith.  The  term  Gnostic  (inan  of  knowledge)  fii'st  denoted 
the  initiated  into  a  secret  science  unknown  to  the  vulgar.  It  revolved  around  the 
origin  of  all  things,  and  Tertullian  denounced  it  vehemently.  Moutanism  was  look- 
ing for  the  end  of  all  things,  and  he  cried :  '  Away  with  all  attempts  to  produce  a 
motley  Christianity,  compounded  of  Stoicism,  Platonism,  and  dialectics.'  Gnosticism 
produced  two  extreme  classes  of  men,  fantastical  visionaries,  noted  for  formal  ascet- 
icism, and  those  who  fell  into  indulgence  and  licentiousness.  Moutanism  meant  to 
protest  against  both,  specially  resisting  pagan  worldliness.  Many  Christians  traded 
with  the  temples  as  workmen  in  constructing  them,  carving  their  statues,  selling 
them  frankincense  and  sacrifices.  '  Nay,'  says  Tertullian,  '  idol  makers  are  chosen 
into  the  ecclesiastical  order.'  Others  served  as  officers  or  private  soldiers  under  the 
heathen  standard,  all  of  which  the  Montanists  resisted,  so  that  Harnaek  calls  them 
'  The  old  lielievers,  the  elder  legitimate  party,  that  demanded  the  preservation  of  the 
original  Christianity,  and  the  return  to  Apostolical  simplicity  and  purity.' 

About  A.  D.  281,  the  Novatians  arose.  They  differed  with  the  Montanists 
concerning  the  Spirit's  inspiration,  while  they  held  much  in  common.  They  were 
charged  by  the  Catholics  rather  with  schism  than  heresy,  as  rigid  discipline  separated 
them,  not  doctrine.  The  case  of  Novatian  is  the  tirst  recorded  instance  of  departure 
from  immersion  in  baptism,  and  the  tirst  instance  of  clinic  baptism ;  that  is,  baptism 
of  those  who  were  believed  to  be  dying.  When  a  cateclumien,  he  was  supposed  to 
lie  at  the  point  of  death,  and  asked  baptism  in  order  to  save  his  soul,  but  could  not 
be  three  times  immersed,  as  was  the  practice.  Yet,  something  must  be  done,  and 
that  in  a  hurry ;  so,  while  stretched  on  his  bed,  water  was  poured  all  around  his 
person,  in  an  outline  inclosing  his  whole  body ;  then,  it  was  poured  all  over  him  till  he 
was  drenched,  making  perfusion  as  near  an  immersion  as  possible.  If  he  died,  this 
was  to  stand  for  baptism,  saving  him  by  a  narrow  escape;  but  if  he  lived,  his  bap- 
tism was  to  be  considered  defective.  Cornelius,  the  Bishop  of  Rome  at  that  time, 
was  an  oljstinate  immersionist,   and  wrote  to   Fabius,  the  Bishop  of  Antioch,  con- 


178  CIJNTC   nAPTlSM. 

cerniiig  Novatiun,  tlnis  :  '  Tu'lieved  by  exorcists,  ho  fell  into  an  obstinate  disease,  and 
being  supposed  nlmut  to  dio,  lie  having  been  poured  around,  on  the  bed  where  he 
lay,  received  [sa.\ing  gracej ;  if,  indeed,  it  be  proper  to  say  [it].'  Eusebius  does  not 
express  tlie  object  of  the  verb,  but  Cruse  translates  the  rest  of  the  passage  thus : 
'  If,  indeed,  it  be  proper  to  say  that  one  like  him  did  receive  baptism.'  *  Vales  states, 
that  clinics  who  recovei'ed,  wn-e  ir(jnired  by  the  rule  to  go  to  the  bishop,  'to  sup- 
ply what  was  wanting  in  that  iiaptism.'  But  failing  to  do  this,  Novatiaii  insisted  on 
entering  the  ministry,  which  persistence  shook  the  nerves  uf  Cornelius  beyond 
endurance ;  yet,  as  Novatian  was  a  remarkably  talented  man,  he  was  made  a  pres- 
byter without  trine  iinnuT.sJDii. 

Cave  excuses  this  in  the  kindest  manner,  calling  Novatian's  '  A  less  solemn 
and  perfect  kind  of  lia])tisin,  partly  because  it  was  done  not  by  immersion.  .  .  .  Per- 
sons are  supposed  at  such  a  time  to  desire  it  chiefly  out  of  a  fear  of  death,  and  many 
times  when  not  thoroughly  masters  of  their  understandings.  For  which  reasons, 
persons  so  baptized  (if  they  recovered)  are  by  the  fathers  of  the  Neo-CsBsarean  Council 
rendered  oi-dinarily  incapable  of  being  admitted  to  the  degree  of  presbyters  in  the 
Clnuch.  .  .  .  They  reckoned  that  no  man  could  be  saved  without  being  baptized, 
and  cared  not  much  in  cases  of  necessity,  so  they  had  it,  how  they  came  by  it.'^  His 
reference  is  to  Canon  xii,  which  decrees,  that  no  person  Iiapti/.cd  in  time  id'  sickness 
should  l)e  ordained  a  presbyter,  'because  his  faith  was  not  voluntary."  Cornelius 
would  not  let  them  pass  muster,  even  if  they  'were  masters  (if  their  understand- 
ings;' but  Chrysostoni  was  a  mort'  notional  imiuer.^ioiiist  still,  and  gave  his  reasons 
at  length  for  doubting  the  salvation  of  such  men  at  all  I  In  general,  the  fathers 
sneered  at  these  sick-bed  baptisms,  and  named  such  professors,  'Clinics,'  and  not 
Christians,  a  levity  which  Cyprian  solemnly  rebuked,  as  implying  their  conversion  in 
a  fright.  He  says  that  it  is  a  'nickname  which  some  have  thought  tit  to  tix  upon 
those  who  have  thus '  been  perfused  upon  their  beds.  ^ 

The  NovATiANs  demanded  pure  Churches  which  enforced  strict  discipline,  and  so 
were  called  Puritans.  They  refused  to  receive  the  '  lapsed '  back  into  the  Churches, 
and  because  they  held  the  Catholics  corrupt  in  receiving  them,  they  re-immersed 
all  who  came  to  them  from  the  Catholics.  For  this  reason  alone  they  were  called 
'  Anabaptists,'  although  they  denied  tliat  this  was  rebaptism,  holding  the  first  im- 
mersion null  and  void,  because  it  had  been  received  from  corrupt  Churches.  Alartyi-s 
were  held  in  such  high  honor  at  this  time,  that  this  dignity  was  sought  with  a  furor. 
Merit  was  ascribed  to  them,  in  virtue  of  wliieli  they  went  so  far  as  to  give  to  other 
Christians,  papers,  in  token  of  pardoned  sin,  a  practice  which  it  was  necessary  to 
prohibit,  because  it  became  so  dangerous.  The  Novatians  soon  became  a  very  pow- 
erful body,  spread  through  the  Empire,  as  Kurtz  shows ;  and  their  Churches  flourished 
for  centuries,  exerting  a  purif^ying  and  healthful  influence.  Adam  Clarke  states  that 
one  grave  charge  against  them  was :  '  That  they  did  not  pay  due  reverence  to  the 
martyrs,  nor  allow  that  there  was  any  virtue  in  their  relics ; "  which  he  pronounces 


CENTRALIZA  TION.  1  79 

a  decisive  mark  oi'  tlicir  'good  sense  and  genninc  piety,'  in  i<t_Hiiing  witli  tlieir 
lives,  which  '  wei-e  in  general  simple  and  holy.'  Lardner  tiiinks  :  '  It  is  impossiiiie 
to  calculate  the  benefits  of  their  services  to  mankiyid." 

We  have  no  reliable  data  on  which  to  state  their  views  on  the  baptism  of 
babes,  beypnd  the  fact,  that  as  infant  baptism  had  not  become  a  general  custom 
when  they  arose,  tliei-e  was  no  need  to  form  a  sect  in  0]3 position  thereto.  Then, 
these  several  facts  indicate  that  they  had  no  sympathy  with  the  few  who  began  to 
favor  this  innovation,  namely:  That  Novatian,  their  fonnder,  was  an  adult  at  the 
time  of  his  illness  and  so-called  baptism ;  that  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  pardon  of 
sin  after  bajitism  made  men  defer  it  as  long  as  possible  in  this  age ;  and  further, 
that  we  have  no  record  of  one  martyr,  confessor,  writer  or  member,  in  any 
Church  being  liaptized  as  a  babe,  for  the  first  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  Chris- 
tianity. On  tlie  contrary,  it  is  recorded  that  the  two  Clements,  Justin,  Athanagoras, 
Theophilus,  Tertullian,  Cyprian  and  a  nameless  host  were  baptized  after  reaching 
full  manhood,  and  on  their  faith  in  Chiist.  "When  iN'ovatian  wa.s  a  presl)yter  at 
Kome,  infant  baptism  had  not  found  its  way  there.  More  than  a  century  after  his 
day,  Boniface,  the  Bishop  of  that  Church,  is  found  addressing  Augustine  on  the 
question,  asking  his  counsel,  and  expressing  grave  doubts  on  the  subject,  inasmuch 
as  a  child  could  not  believe  in  Christ,  and  no  one  could  warrant  that  he  would  l)clieve 
thereafter. '     Socrates  says,  that  Novatian  was  martyred  A.  D.  253-2tin. 

This  century  was  marked  by  the  introduction  of  a  centralized  Church  govern- 
ment, largely  to  the  destruction  of  Congregationalism ;  and  by  a  crystallization  of 
the  ideas  and  pretensions  of  Episcopacy.  As  to  the  first  of  these,  Neander  clearly 
shows,  how  a  crude  notion  arose  concerning  the  inward  unity  of  a  universal  but 
unseen  Church,  and  the  outward  unity  of  a  Church  dependent  on  outward  forms. 
Out  of  this  speculative  idea  came  the  purpose  to  form  one  great  organic  body,  which 
should  take  the  place  of  the  Church-family  idea,  as  Christ  founded  it  on  the  social 
nature  of  man.  The  first  step  was  to  depress  the  individuality  of  the  Church  in 
this  or  that  home  locality,  supplanting  it  with  the  Church  of  the  district ;  then,  of 
course,  would  follow  that  of  the  nation  and  of  the  world.  Cyprian  carried  this 
thought  to  its  sound,  logical  conclusion,  in  his  remarkable  book  on  the  '  Unity  of  the 
Church '  {De  Unitate  Ecdesia),  written  about  the  middle  of  this  period,  amid  the 
confusion  with  which  this  innovation  had  to  contend.  The  term  '  Catholic  Church  ' 
is  first  found  in  the  Epistle  of  the  Church  at  Smyrna,  in  which  Polycarp  prays  for 
the  godly  throughout  the  world  under  that  name,  and  Tertullian  uses  it  for  the  same 
purpose.  But  the  organic  Catholic  Church  itself  arose  out  of  the  ambitions  scheme 
to  sap  the  foundations  of  Congregational  liberty,  and  to  crush  heretics.  We  read 
such  folly  as  this  from  the  pen  of  Cyprian :  '  That  man  cannot  have  God  for  his 
Father,  who  has  not  the  Church  for  his  mother.  .  .  .  Where  there  is  no  Church, 
sins  cannot  be  put  away.'  He  is  also  the  father  of  that  far-fetched  and  thread-bare 
'coat'  argument,  in  which  so  many  complacently  wrap  themselves,  till  they  split  it 


ISO  JlKin  I'llEUOilAriVES    CLAIMICD. 

bctwuuii  tlic  shoulders.  He  says  of  our  Lord's  '  seamless  vest,'  '  This  coat 
a  unity  which  caine  down  from  the  top,  that  is,  from  heaven,  and  which  was  not  to 
be  rent.  lie  vvlio  parts  and  divides  the  Church  cannot  have  Christ's  garment.'  As 
if  Christ's  Church  is  Christ's  coat  in  any  sense,  and  as  if  his  woolen  raiment,  woven 
on  some  family  loom  in  Palestine,  and  raffled  for  by  soldiers  at  the  foot  of  the  cross, 
could  be  forced  to  do  duty  as  the  symbol  of  his  ransomed  body,  the  Church.  There 
is  not  the  slightest  hint  in  the  Biltle  that  the  bodily  dress  of  Christ  was  the  embod- 
iuiLMit  of  any  thing  but  its  own  threads,  much  less  that  it  was  made  by  him  a  holy 
synd)()l  (if  his  redeemed  people.  Vet,  those  who  are  shaking  in  their  shoes  all  the 
time  al)out  some  figment  which  they  call  the  '  sin  of  schism,'  but  which  they  are 
careful  never  to  define,  are  perpetually  quoting  Cyprian's  nonsense,  as  if  it  were 
unanswerable  Bible  truth. 

Again,  Cyprian  says :  'There  is  no  salvation  to  any  except  in  the  Church;' 
which  to  him  was  true,  by  the  dimensi(His  of  the  Church  as  he  measured  it,  which 
measurement,  happily,  differs  several  culiit.>  from  the  enlarged  fullness  in  which 
Jesus  comprehends  all  who  love  and  obey  him,  •  in  sincerity  and  truth.'  Cy]inan 
also  held  that  there  was  no  true  baptism  outside  of  the  Catholic  ranks,  and  so,  he 
rebajitized  all  heretics  and  schismatics  who  came  to  him,  while  Stephen  contended 
that  if  the  due  forms  had  been  observed  in  baptizing  them,  they  should  be  re-ad- 
mitted simply  by  the  laying  on  of  hands. 

As  to  the  prerogatives  of  Episcopacy,  the  hicrarrhy  was  not  established  at 
once.  Like  all  other  perversions  of  great  principles  :ind  institutions,  the  decadence 
was  gradual,  almost  imperceptible,  until  the  change  became  thorough  and  radical. 
When  the  '  priest'  had  taken  the  place  of  the  teacher,  and  the  'Church'  the  place 
of  the  diffused  congregations,  then  the  '  Church '  alone  could  confer  salvation  by  its 
priesthood,  ordinances  and  discipline ;  for  the  whole  power  of  the  '  Church '  was 
merged  into  the  clergy.  New  forms  produced  new  laws  and  new  ofHces.  Division 
in  the  Churches  had  opened  the  way  for  one  pagan  practice  after  another  in  govern- 
ment, as  well  as  doctrine,  until  the  spirit  of  old  Roman  imperialism  gradually  formed 
a  priestly  hierarchy.  What  Westcott  calls  '  the  local  and  dogmatic  ideas  of  Cath- 
olicity' remained  in  germ,  and  were  latent  till  new  circumstances  broke  the  force  of 
public  opinion.  One  emergency  followed  another  in  breaking  up  the  system  of 
separate  Church  action,  and  compelling  the  Churches  to  conform  to  one  regime. 
Tlien  the  ecclesiastical  form  of  the  sin  of  schism  was  cautiously  created  as  a  bugbear, 
its  seeds  being  planted  in  the  restriction  of  free  thought.  Imperialism  became  the 
bulwark  of  Episcopacy,  which,  at  first,  operated  gently ;  for  after  disti-ict  prelacy  was 
established,  each  district  being  independent  for  a  time  of  all  others,  managed  its  own 
aii'airs  by  its  provincial  synod.  The  public  mind  had  been  educated  to  this  form  of 
government  in  civil  affairs.  This  policy  had  failed  in  the  Greek  republic,  and  had 
been  lost  in  her  wider  dominion ;  but  when  Rome  conquered  all  States,  its  ideal 
of  government  was  centered    in    one  irresponsible   will,  and  sought  its  golden  age 


THE   CHURCHES  IMPERIALIZED.  181 

thfre.  In  like  manner,  these  simple  Christian  communities  p;issed  step  by  step  into 
the  hands  of  their  ambitious  brethren,  who  sougiit  to  imperialize  the  Churches. 
The  bent  of  the  Koman  Church  was  to  adopt  the  policy  of  the  Koman  State,  and 
to  swallow  up  all  these  artless  families  into  itself.  The  necessary  result  was,  that 
the  primitive  sense  of  personal  union  with  Christ  was  sunk  into  incorporation  with 
the  general  Church,  to  be  coimected  with  which  was  salvation.  After  this,  every 
thing  savored  of  episcopal  prerogative. 

Nothing  of  this  was  known  in  the  Apostolic  Churches,  for  there  no  particular 
man  was  distinguished  as  a  priest,  much  less  as  a  high-priest  of  priests.  Bishop 
Lightfoot  says,  in  his  '  Christian  Ministry  : '  '  The  sacerdotal  title  is  never  once  con- 
ferred upon  them.  The  only  priests  under  the  Gospel,  designated  as  such  in  the  New 
Testament,  are  the  saints,  the  members  of  the  Christian  brotherhood.  As  individuals, 
all  Christians  are  alike.  .  .  .  The  highest  gift  of  the  Spirit  conveyed  no  sacerdotal 
right  which  was  not  enjoyed  by  the  humblest  member  of  the  Christian  commuuitv.' 
Yet,  the  men  of  the  third  century  reasoned,  that  as  paganism  had  found  strength  in 
a  centralized  government,  Christianity  could  not  cope  with  it  without  using  the  same 
forces.  Hence,  in  substance,  if  not  in  form,  the  rule  of  the  Galilean  Peasant  was 
thrown  aside,  and  the  image  of  the  Emperor  put  in  his  place  by  an  Episcopacy,  first 
to  charm  and  then  to  govern.  After  that,  a  technical  sense  was  attached  to  the  term 
'  bishop '  which  never  fell  from  Apostolic  lips,  the  corruption  of  the  term  springing 
from  the  corruption  of  the  office.  The  first  grade  of  departure  is  found  in  the  mutual 
consultation  of  the  elders,  as  equals,  concerning  the  welfare  of  a  few  Churches  in 
their  vicinity.  Then,  one  of  them  began  to  exercise  lordship  over  the  other,  till,  in 
the  opening  of  this  age,  the  city  elders  assumed  rank  and  authoiity  over  their  suburban 
brethren,  wiio  were  but  common  country  folk.  Because  Rome  was  the  mighty  cap- 
ital and  the  Church  there  strong,  this  Church  early  betrayed  thnt  feeling.  Besides,  the 
smaller  Churches  were  often  quite  dependent  upon  those  out  of  which  they  came, 
cherishing  great  love  for  them,  and  so  were  led  by  their  influence.  Roman  society 
daily  familiarized  men  with  all  grades  and  successions  of  power,  and  it  required  con- 
stant resistance  to  keep  the  Churches  in  their  Christ-like  simplicity  of  government. 

The  credulity  of  Cyprian,  as  to  the  almost  miraculous  effects  of  the  ordinances, 
and  the  divine  authority'  of  Episcopacy,  strengthened  these  tendencies  in  Africa, 
where  he  acted  in  a  childish  manner.  In  a  letter  to  Pupianus  he  says :  '  The  bishop 
is  in  the  Church,  and  the  Church  in  the  bishop ;  and  if  any  one  be  not  with  the  bishop, 
he  is  not  in  the  Church.'  Neander  thus  expresses  himself  most  freely  :  '  A  candid 
consideration  cannot  fail  to  see  in  Cyprian,  a  man  animated  with  true  love  to  the 
Redeemer  and  to  his  Church.  It  is  undeniable  that  he  was  honestly  devoted  as  a  faith- 
ful shepherd  to  his  tiock,  and  that  it  was  his  desire  to  use  his  episcopal  authority  for 
the  maintenance  of  order  and  discipline.  But  it  is  also  certain  that  ...  he  was  not 
watchful  enough  against  self-will  and  pride.  The  very  point  he  contended  for,  the 
supremacy  of  the  episcopate,  proved  the  rock  whereon  at  times  ho  made  shi])wreck.' 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE    THIRD    CENTU  RY.—Coatinueil 

THE  i'cmr  men  who  tii^'ured  most  largely  in  this  century  were  Tertnlhan,  wlio 
hibored  for  tlie  purity  of  the  Cluirclies ;  Origeu,  wlin  Meiideil  pliiiosophy 
witli  revehition  ;  C!_yj)rian,  who  struggled  for  episcoi^al  authority;  ami  llippoljtus, 
who  as  stoutly  resisted  clerical  wickedness.     We  may  speak  more  fully  of  the  last. 

HiPPOLYTUs,  A.  D.  198-239,  was  Bishop,  probably  of  the  Church  at  Portus,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Tiber,  and  spent  the  most  of  his  life  in  and  about  Kome.  lie  was 
one  of  the  greatest  men  of  his  age,  'a  name,' says  Cardinal  Newman,  'which  a 
breath  of  ecclesiastical  censure  has  never  even  dimmed.  ...  A  man  without  any 
slur  npon  his  character  or  conduct,  and  who  stands,  in  point  of  orthodoxy,  range  of 
subject  and  ability,  in  the  very  front  rank  of  theologians,  in  the  ante-Nicene  times.' ' 
Chrysostom  culls  him  :  '  A  most  holy  doctor,  and  a  man  of  sweetness  and  charity.' 
For  twenty  years  lie  was  active  in  the  affairs  of  the  Church  at  Eome,  Ijut  was 
in  no  way  under  its  authority,  being  elected  bishop  by  his  own  flock,  without 
episcopal  consecration.  He  openly  and  boldly  opposed  the  bishops  of  the  capital  in 
all  their  pretensions,  exposing  their  gross  iniquities.  lie  refused  all  communion 
with  the  Church  at  Eome,  calling  it  a  '  school,'  not  a  church,  and  laid  bare  the  im- 
moralities and  crimes  of  its  pastors,  in  what  had  been  a  scurrilous  manner,  had  it  not 
been  true.  A.  D.  199-218,  Zephyriuus  was  its  pastor,  whom  he  denounces  as  igno- 
rant, corrupt  and  bribed  to  connive  at  the  error  of  Noetus,  namely,  that  Christ  was 
the  Father,  and  so  that  the  Father  was  crucified,  denying  the  proper  personality  of 
the  Son.     When  Hippolytus  exposed  his  error,  he  confessed  his  sin. 

Callixtus  was  pastor  at  Rome  from  219  to  223.  He  was  originally  a  slave, 
nurtured  in  cunning,  falsehood  and  vice.  Having  stolen  money,  he  was  sentenced 
first  to  the  treadmill,  and  then  to  the  mines  in  Sardinia,  on  the  following  proceed- 
ings :  His  master,  a  devout  Christian  of  Ctesar's  household,  trusted  him  with  large 
amounts  of  money  for  banking  purposes.  This  business  Callixtus  followed  in  the 
Piscina,  a  public  fish-market,  one  of  the  quarters  of  Eome,  celebrated  for  its  large 
financial  transactions.  His  master's  influence  was  so  great  that  many  Christians, 
widows  and  others,  intrusted  their  deposits  with  the  slave  as  with  the  master  him- 
self. But  he  soon  nuide  away  with  these,  and  fied  for  the  sea.  Being  pursued  and 
captured  in  the  harbor  of  Portus,  after  an  attempt  at  suicide  by  drowning,  he  was 
brought  back  to  Eome  and  sent  to  the  treadmill.  He  claimed  that  various  persons 
held  money  to  his  credit ;  many  kind-hearted  Christians  pleaded  with  his  master  to 


.4    WICKED  BISHOP.  183 

release  him,  ami  lie  yielded  to  their  entreaties.  The  knave,  knowing  that  he  euuld 
not  escape,  invited  death  by  disturbing  n  Jewish  synagogue  while  at  worship ;  but 
instead  of  killing  hiui  outright,  they  dragged  him  before  the  Prefect  of  the  city. 
The  Jews  charged  him  with  disturbing  their  worship,  contrary  to  Roman  law. 
Then  his  master  appeared  and  charged  him  with  theft  and  an  attempt  to  provoke 
death,  denying  that  he  was  a  Christian.  This  led  to  his  banishment  to  the  pesti- 
lential mines,  in  Sardinia.  By  fraudulent  means  he  obtained  his  release  and  returned 
to  Eome.  Then  Zephyrinus  procured  him  the  appointment  over  the  cemetery  in  the 
Via  Appia.  While  filling  this  place  he  flattered  his  patron,  b}'  duplicity  and  artifice 
secured  his  influence  for  promotion  after  his  own  death,  and  at  the  death  of  Zephyr- 
inus he  actually  became  the  Bishop  of  Rome  !  Even  without  the  Sardicean  decree, 
this  act  would  justify  Dollinger  in  saying  of  the  papacy  that  it  was  '  a  forgery  in  its 
very  outset,  and  based  upon  an  audacious  falsification  of  history.'  '^ 

Once  seated  ui  the  episcopal  chair,  he  began  the  prosecution  of  every  evil  work. 
Hippolytus  states  that,  '  He  was  the  first  to  invent  the  device  of  conniving  at  sen- 
sual indulgences,  saying,  "  That  all  had  their  sins  forgiven  by  himself.  .  .  .  This 
man  promulgated  as  a  dogma  that  if  a  bishop  should  conmiit  any  sin,  even  if  it  were 
a  sin  unto  death,  he  ought  not  to  be  deposed." '  He  also  admitted  immoral  persons 
to  the  Supper,  quoting  from  the  Parable  of  the  Tares :  '  Let  both  grow  together 
till  the  harvest ; '  justifying  himself  from  the  fact  that  clean  and  unclean  beasts  were 
quietly  housed  together  in  Noah's  ark.  Of  course,  under  his  fostering  care  the  most 
atrocious  crime  and  iniquity  grew  rapidly,  and  profligacy  ran  riot  in  the  Church  at 
Rome.  But  when  he  came  to  sanction  the  union  of  any  Chi'istian  maiden  of  good 
family  with  a  pagan  husband  of  rank,  even  without  the  form  of  marriage,  Hippolytus, 
astounded  at  such  licentiousness,  exclaims,  in  disgust :  '  Behold  into  how  great  in- 
iquity that  lawless  wretch  has  proceeded !  .  .  .  And  yet,  after  all  these  enormities, 
these  men  are  lost  to  all  sense  of  shame,  and  presume  to  call  themselves  a  Catholic 
Church  I  .  .  .  These  things  the  most  admirable  Callixtus  contrived,  not  making 
any  di.^tinction,  as  to  with  whom  it  is  tit  to  communicate,  but  offering  communion 
indiscriminately  to  all.'  He  also  adds  that  '  During  the  pontificate  of  this  Callixtus, 
for  the  first  time,  second  baptism  was  presumptuously  attempted  by  them.'  With 
all  this  profligacy  Callixtus  was  very  zealous  to  promote  true  orthodoxy.  And  in 
proof  of  this,  he  exconununicated  the  Sabellians  as  heterodox.  But  Hippolytus 
says:  'He  acted  thus  from  apprehension  of  me,  and  imagined  that  he  could  in  this 
manner  obliterate  the  charge  against  him  among  the  Churches,  as  if  he  did  not 
entertain  strange  opinions.  He  was  then  an  impostor  and  knave,  and  in  process  of 
time  hurried  many  away  with  him.'  For  elsewhere  he  charges  that  Callixtus  was  a 
'  fellow-champion  of  these  wicked  tenets '  with  Zephyrinus,  and  that  the  two  made 
many  converts;  he  tells  us,  too,  that  he  had  sternly  confuted  and  opposed  them,  but 
that,  after  a  time,  they  would  'wallow  again  in  the  same  mire.'  In  this  way  he 
molded  his  predecessor,  an  •  illiterate,'  'uninformed  and  corru))t   man,' and  seduced 


184  niS   WICKEDNESS  liESTSTED. 

hiiu  I)j  illicit  demands  to  du  whatever  he  wished,  then  used  him  to  create  disturl)- 
anee  in  the  Churches;  but  was  careful  to  kcej)  the  good-will  of  all  factions  liimself, 
duping  them  into  the  belief  that  he  held  the  same  doctrines  tliat  tliey  did. 

Hippolytus  says :  'And  wc,  becdiiiin--  aware  of  his  sentiments,  did  not  give 
phice  to  him,  and  witlistood  him  for  the  truth's  sake.'  The  plural  'we'  shows 
that  he  held  himself  to  be  an  equal  of  Callixtus  in  the  Churches,  and  was  independ- 
ent of  his  government,  considering  himself  more  a  successor  of  the  Apostles  than 
the  Koman  liishop,  who  not  only  made  a  schism  amongst  the  Churches  about 
Home,  lint  establislied  a  heretical  school  of  his  own.  Hippolytus  despised  the 
episcojial  assumptions  at  Eome,  not  only  denying  the  supremacy  of  that  bishop,  but 
exposing  his  heresy  and  scandalous  life,  and  i-esisting  him  at  every  step.  lie  looked 
u])on  priestly  assumption  as  an  innovation  and  a  source  of  scandalous  immorality, 
and  plainly  shows  that  an  elder  in  the  Church  of  God  was  not  an  autocrat,  or  a  sacri- 
ficial mediator  in  the  eyes  of  this  great  and  good  man,  who  had  been  '  elected '  a 
bishop  by  his  own  congregation.  The  history  of  the  tiiird  century  never  could  have 
been  read  or  written,  if  his  Philosophoiimcna  had  not  been  discovered  in  the  eon- 
vent  of  Mount  Athos  in  1842.  But  by  its  light  we  come  to  understand  how  this 
courageous  and  uncompromising  fi'iend  of  moral  purity  and  fervent  piety  came  to 
possess  the  undying  honor  which  he  has  won;  ami  which  made  '  liis  name  and 
person,'  as  Cardinal  Newman  says,  'so  warmly  clierisliLMl  by  p.ipcs  of  tlie  fourth, 
fifth  and  sixth  centuries.'  It  is  snjjposed  that  he  suifered  martyrdom  by  drowning 
in  the  Tiber,  A.  D.  235-230. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  things  about  this  century  is,  that  it  originated  the 
great  baptismal  controversy,  which,  in  one  form  or  another,  has  been  kept  alive 
in  the  great  Christian  bodies  ever  since,  and  is  as  rife  to  day  as  ever.  At  that  time 
it  related  to  those  who  had  '  lapsed '  from  the  faith,  and  there  wei-e  three  parties  to 
this  controversy.  One,  would  not  restore  them  on  any  condition  ;  a  second,  would 
take  them  back  without  much  restriction  ;  and  a  third,  led  by  Cyprian,  would  re- 
admit them  after  due  repentance.  Then,  about  the  middle  of  the  century,  the  im- 
mersion of  babes  began  to  creep  into  the  Churches,  under  the  new  sacerdotal  order 
of  things.  Toward  the  close  of  the  second  century,  Celsus  had  charged  the  Chris- 
tians with  initiating  the  '  mere  child  '  into  their  Churches,  while  the  pagans  initiated 
only 'intelligent'  persons.  The  qualifying  word  'mere,'  indicates  that  he  wished 
to  throw  the  reflection  upon  them,  that  children  who  were  little  more  than  babes 
were  taken  into  their  fellowship.  This  insinuation  Origen  repelled,  in  his  Contra 
Celsum,  as  a  false  accusation  and  a  calumny.  His  words  are :  '  In  reply  to  these 
accusations,  we  say,  .  .  .  We  exhort  sinners  to  come  to  the  instruction  that  teaches 
them  not  to  sin,  and  the  unintelligent  to  come  to  that  which  produces  in  them  under- 
standing, and  the  little  children  to  rise  in  elevation  of  thought  to  the  man.  .  .  . 
When  those  of  the  exhorted  that  make  progress  show  that  they  have  been  cleansed 
by  the  Word,  and,  as  much  as  possible,  have  lived  a  better  life,  then  we  invite  them 


ORIOEN.  1 85 

to  be  initiated  amongst  us.'  However  young,  tlieu,  the  'mere  child'  migiit  be, 
Origen  says  that  they  did  not  admit  him  until  he  had  been  '  exhorted,'  '  cleansed  by 
the  Word,'  had  begun  to  live  '  a  better  life,'  and  then  he  was  initiated  only  on  invita- 
tion— 'wc  invite  them.'  All  these  conditions  might  be  found  in  '  little  cliiklren,'  as 
in  tlie  case  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  who  believed  that  he  was  converted  at  four  years 
of  age ;  but  they  could  not  refer  to  unconscious  babes. 

Origen  seems  but  to  have  related  his  own  experience  here,  as  there  is  no  evidence 
that  his  holy  father,  Leonides,  had  him  immersed  when  a  babe,  more  than  that  Monica, 
the  consecrated  mother  of  Augustine,  had  her  babe  immersed.  But  like  an  honest 
and  God-fearing  Baptist,  Origen's  father  thoroughly  educated  his  son  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  leading  him  to  commit  many  passages  to  memory.  The  child's  mind 
was  deep,  quiet  and  inquisitive.  He  often  asked  questions  about  the  inner  meaning 
of  texts,  and  God  greatly  honored  his  training.  His  father  loved  him  most  ten- 
derly, and  constantly  consecrated  him  to  God  in  prayer,  that  the  little  one  might 
be  led  to  Jesus,  a  willing  sacrifice.  Prayer  was  answered  ;  his  boy  early  gave  him- 
self to  Christ;  and  when  the  lad  was  asleep,  his  father  would  uncover  liis  bos(jm  and 
devoutly  kiss  it  as  the  temple  of  the  Holy  S])irit.  In  the  persecution  under  Sev- 
erns,  when  this  beautiful  youth  was  but  seventeen,  his  father  was  thrown  into  prison 
for  being  a  Christian,  was  stripped  of  his  property  and  left  penniless.  Then  his 
son  honored  his  hallowed  love.  The  father's  head  fell  under  the  ax  for  Christ, 
and  Origen  resolved  tha.t  he  would  die  with  his  father.  But  one  martyr's  crown  for 
that  home  was  enough  for  that  day,  and  the  father  stooped  to  receive  it  alone.  His 
godly  motlier  found  entreaty  and  remonsti-ance  vain  to  keep  her  son  back  from  the 
joint-sacrifice,  and  thwarted  his  purpose  by  hiding  his  clothes.  Then,  cleaving  to 
her  and  her  six  other  children,  in  abject  poverty,  be  sent  this  letter  to  his  father  at 
the  point  of  martyrdom :  '  See  thou  dost  not  change  thy  mind  for  our  sake ! ' 
and  the  head  of  Leonides  fell  at  the  block  with  these  grand  words  of  his  child  ring- 
ing in  his  ears  and  thrilling  his  heart.  Origen  was  well  able  to  repel  the  falsehood 
of  Celsus,  by  showing  that  only  children  who  believed  in  Jesus  and  loved  him  with 
all  their  soul  were  baptized.  And,  it  is  more  than  probable,  that  he  drew  liis  inspira- 
tion from  the  memory  of  his  early  childhood,  when  his  father  'exhorted'  him, 
brought  him  to  the  '  "Word  to  be  cleansed,'  and  '  invited  him  to  be  initiated  amongst 
us.'  Thus,  when  Leonides  was  with  his  Saviour,  his  son  was  answering  his  own  de- 
scription of  a  godly  child  rising  '  in  elevation  of  thought  to  the  man,'  in  Christ  Jesus. 

This  order  of  things  accords  exactly  with  the  statement  of  Baron  Bunsen,  the 
translator  of  the  manuscript  of  Hippolytus,  found  in  1S42.  He  says:  '  Pedo 
baptism,  in  the  modern  sense,  meaning  thereby  the  baptism  of  new-born  infants, 
with  the  vicarious  promises  of  parents,  or  other  sponsors,  was  utterly  unknown  to 
the  early  Church,  not  onl}'  down  to  the  end  of  the  second  century,  but,  indeed,  to 
the  middle  of  the  third.'  This,  he  derives  from  Hippolytus  himself,  in  these  words  : 
'We,  in  our  days,  never  defended  the   baptism  of  children,  which   in    my  da\  Iiad 


186  CTPHIAN  AND   FID  VS. 

not  befi;un  to  bu  jmicticed  in  some  regions,  unless  it  were  as  an  exception  and 
innovation.  The  ba])tism  of  infants  we  d"  not  ]<n(j\v.'  He  was  born  in  the  last 
lialf  of  tlie  second  centiirv,  and  died  in  aliout  A.  I ».  L'4o ;  this  gives  the  period 
nie:int  by  '  niy  day.'  The  '  some  ivyions'  wliere  int'nnt  baptism  liad  not  begun  to  be 
practiced  e\ce])t  as  an  'innovation,'  nnist  have  included  Rome  and  adjacent  parts  of 
Italy ;  for  tliere  lie  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life,  and  it  must  be  of  that  locality 
that  he  speaks,  saying  :  '  vx'  never  defended  the  baptism  of  children,'  '  the  baptism  of 
infants  toe  do  not  know.'  His  words  imply,  however,  that  in  '  some  '  other  '  regions ' 
it  had  begun  to  be  practiced.  Its  twin  doctrine,  that  all  who  died  unbaptized  must 
be  eternally  lost,  had,  however,  begun  to  take  root  quite  generally,  and  from  that 
time  became  more  and  more  prevalent;  until  Gregoi-y  of  Nazianzus,  Ambrose  and 
Augustine,  came  to  contend  stoutly  that  all  infants  who  died  unbaptized  were  eter- 
nally lost.  This  horrible  libel  on  the  Lamb  of  (xod  was  chosen,  by  these  builders, 
as  the  chief  stone  in  the  corner  for  infant  baptism. 

We  must  now  look  at  the  other  "regions'  where  the  baptism  of  babes  began 
to  be  pi-acticed,  and  muntioii  some  things  in  association  with  the  incoming  '  innova- 
tion.' [n  Africa,  helpless  infants  were  inhumanly  sacrificed  to  the  hideous  gods,  at 
this  time.  Fidus,  a  generous- hearted  country  pastor,  who  labored  in  this  dark  prov- 
ince, wrote  to  Cyprian,  at  Carthage,  to  know  whether  new-born  babes  might  be  bap- 
tized. If  they  could,  of  course,  this  would  save  them,  whether  they  died  or  not. 
and  would  be  an  act  of  divine  grace  of  sjjecial  efiicacy,  where  the  cruel  heathen 
stole  them  to  offer  in  sacrifice.  Cyprian's  heart  was  as  tender  as  that  of  his 
country  brother,  and  he  wanted  all  the  children's  souls  saved,  of  course.  But  the 
proposition  staggered  him,  and  he  dared  not  venture  to  trust  his  own  judgment 
in  so  new  and  serious  a  case.  It  happened  that  a  council  of  sixty-six  pastors  was  in 
session  at  Carthage  at  the  time,  A.  D.  252,  called  to  consider  various  Church  mat- 
ters, but  especially  the  subject  of  rebaptiziug  those  who  had  received  heretical  bap- 
tism. In  his  perplexity  he  submitted  the  question  of  Fidus  to  these  brethren ;  a 
thing  which  he  need  not  have  done,  had  it  been  customary  to  baptize  babes  from 
the  Apostles  down.  Tertullian  had  been  pastor  of  the  Church  of  which  Cyprian 
was  now  pastor,  twenty  years  before  this,  and  had  baptized  legal  minors  into  its  fel- 
lowship, but  not  babes.  Cyprian's  course  and  the  decision  of  the  council  show  that 
it  was  a  new  question  to  them  all,  for  it  decided  tliat  they  might  be  baptized  when 
eight  days  old,  but  was  careful  not  to  insi.st  that  they  must  be ;  further  showing 
that  this  was  a  different  sort  of  children's  bajjtism  from  that  wliicli  the  Church 
had  previously  practiced  under  the  pastorate  of  Tertullian. 

It  is  to  the  transactions  of  this  provincial  synod  in  North  Africa  that  Grotius 
refers,  when  he  says  of  infant  baptism  :  '  You  will  not  find  in  any  of  the  councils 
a  more  ancient  mention  of  this  custom  than  in  the  Council  of  Carthage.'  So, 
Bunsen,  also  (iii,  p.  204),  says :  '  In  consequence  of  this  alteration  and  complete 
subversion  of  its  main  featui'es,  brought  about  principally  by  the   Africans  of  the 


PA  GAN  L  USTRA  TION.  1 8  7 

tliird  century,  and  completed  by  Augustine,  these  natural  elements  have  been,  in  the 
course  of  nearly  tiftceu  centuries,  most  tragically  decomposed,  and  nothing  is  now  re- 
maining elsewhere  but  ruins.  In  the  East,  people  adhere  to  immersion,  although  this 
symbol  of  man  voluntarily  and  consciously  making  a  vow  of  the  sacrifice  of  self,  lost 
all  meaning  in  the  immersion  of  a  new-born  babe.'  The  'natural  elements,'  the 
abandonment  of  which  lie  is  deploring  in  this  passage,  he  calls:  'Instruction,  exam- 
ination, the  vow  and  initiation,'  as  the  four  great  Christian  elements  in  beginning 
the  life  of  a  disciple.  Neander  gives  the  .same  account  of  the  matter:  'The  error 
became  more  firmly  established,  that  without  external  baptism  no  one  could  be  deliv- 
ered from  inherent  guilt,  could  be  saved  from  the  everlasting  punishment  that  threat- 
ened him,  or  raised  to  eternal  life ;  and  as  the  notion  of  a  magical  influence,  or 
charm,  connected  with  the  sacraments,  continually  gained  ground,  the  theory  was 
finally  evolved  in  the  unconditional  necessity  of  infant  baptism.  About  the  middle 
of  the  third  century  this  theory  was  already  generally  admitted  in  the  North  Afri- 
can Church.  The  only  question  that  remained  was  whether  the  child  ought  to  be 
baptized  immediately  after  its  birth,  or  not  till  eight  days  after,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  rite  of  circumcision.'  (Ch.  Hist.,  I,  p.  313.) 

This  was  not  a  learned  body,  for  that  part  of  the  Christian  Church  was  the 
least  critical  in  its  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures  ;  but  it  was  much  too  wise  to  inti-o- 
duce  this  innovation  on  the  silence  of  the  New  Testament.  Therefore,  as  that  said 
nothing  on  the  question,  they  shrewdly  passed  over  it  to  the  Old,  and  introduced 
the  new  rite  under  the  shield  of  circumcision.  The  pagans  also  had  something  in 
sympathy  with  this,  though  hardly  borrowed  from  the  same  source.  Planti  and 
other  ancient  writers  state  that  in  Greece  babes  were  purified  by  lustral  waters  and 
sacrifices  long  before  infant  baptism  was  established.  This  occurred  on  the  fifth 
day  after  birth,  and  on  the  seventh  they  were  named.  Amongst  the  Eoraans,  for 
female  babes,  the  eighth  day  was  chosen  for  the  same  ceremony,  and  the  ninth  for 
males.  "When  this  had  been  done  at  their  own  homes,  the  babe  was  taken  to  the 
temple  and  initiated  into  paganism  in  the  presence  of  the  gods.'  Thus  infant  bap- 
tism made  the  door  into  the  Church  of  Christ  as  wide  as  that  of  the  Jewish  and 
pagan  faiths  together.  The  African  council  could  not  comfortably  inti'oduce  cir- 
cumcision into  Christianity,  nor  could  they  lustrate  children  by  water  and  animal 
sacrifices ;  but  they  could  conciliate  the  prejudices  of  Jews  by  making  circumcision 
a  precedent,  and  those  of  the  heathen  by  lustrating  babes  by  water  without  animal 
offerings.  Their  chief  trouble  was  to  keep  those  unreasonable  Christians  quiet  who 
could  find  no  authority  from  Christ  for  this  superstitious  innovation.  For  these 
they  invented  the  doctrine  of  Apostolic  tradition,  which  they  lugged  in  through  the 
'  holy  kiss.'  Even  tender-hearted  Fidus  squirmed  a  trifle  there.  He  could  not  give 
the  usual  brotherly  kiss  to  the  new-born  infant,  as  it  was  unclean  for  some  time  after 
its  birth.  Cyprian,  who,  despite  all  his  high-church  air  and  strut,  had  as  sisterly  and 
soft  a  heart  in  his  bosom  as  ever  beat,  easily  settled  that  question  for  him  by  saying: 


188  BAPTTfiMAL   ftUPERSTrrrONS. 

'  Every  tliiiii;-  tlmt  lies  in  oiir  power  must  Ke  done  tliat  no  sou!  may  be  lost.  .  .  . 
As  to  wliiit  voii  say,  that  tlie  c-liiM  in  its  lii-.-t  days  of  it>  l.irtli  is  not  dean  to  the 
touch,  and  that  each  of  us  wouhl  shrink  iVoiii  ki>siii--  >ui'h  an  object,  even  t! lis,  in 
our  opinion,  on-ht  to  present  no  obstacles  to  the  bestowment  uf  heavenly  grace  ;  for 
it  is  written,  "  To  tlie  pure  all  things  are  pure,"  and  none  of  us  ought  to  revolt  at 
that  which  (ioil  lias  condescended  to  create.  Although  the  child  is  but  just  born, 
yet  it  is  no  such  object  that  any  one  ought  to   demur  at  kissing  it,  to  impart  the  di- 

Some  tliink  this  letter  of  Cyprian's  spurious,  and  possibly  his  reputation  would 

not  sulTer  if  it  wei-e.     Fidus  disappears  from   thi n fury,  and  all  direct  records  of 

iid'aiit  ba]itism  with  him,  for  the  innovation  made  poor  headway,  and  babes  were  not 
genei-allv  bapti/.eil  until  the  fifth  century.  And  when  it  was  adopted,  public  opin- 
ion, formed  on  the  practice  of  baptizing  believers  only,  compelled  it  to  take  faith 
with  it  from  some  quarter ;  and  so  it  ])orrowed  that  from  the  sponsor,  making  him 
believe  for  the  babe  by  proxy,  a  direct  tribute  to  the  common  sense  of  those  who 
resisted  the  invention.  Spons.n-s  liad  long  existed  in  law  for  civil  purposes,  in  pro- 
tecting youth  during  their  legal  minority.  I>ut  now  they  were  jjnt  to  sacred  uses, 
believing  for  the  child  when  lie  could  not  believe  for  himself,  and  standing  ready  to 
help  him  to  believe  afterward.  Taking  this  scheme  tiiroughout,  for  making  Chris- 
tians of  dear  little  folks  who  knew  nothing  about  it,  it  was  quite  an  able  achieve- 
ment. P>ut  wliat  it  did  for  the  Churcli  in  after  centiii'ies,  must  be  told,  to  its  shame 
and  sorrow,  thanks,  not  to  the  lands  where  Jesus  and  his  Apostles  had  preached, 
but  to  Proconsular  Africa  ;  for  with  this  canie  in  a  legion  of  other  superstitions,  not 
the  least  of  which  was  the  power  on  the  part  of  the  priesthood  to  consecrate  holy 
oil,  the  'mystic  ointment'  for  the  exorcism  of  the  devil  from  the  water,  and  from 
the  candidate  who  was  immersed  therein.  This  brought  regenerating  efKcacy  to 
both,  and  the  laying  on  of  the  priest's  hands  brought  the  Holy  Spirit  after  baptism. 
Once  wrenched  from  its  native  bearings,  the  simple  and  unpretentious  New  Testa- 
ment baptism  was  first  made  a  saving  institution,  and  then  the  stalking-horse  for  the 
whole  pack  of  vain  novelties.  For  example,  the  angels  were  supposed  to  exercise  a 
special  ministry  in  baptism,  and  so,  to  represent  them,  a  '  Baptismal  Angel '  was  ap- 
pointed to  preside  at  every  bajitism.*  He  was  known  as  Angelus  Baptisini  Arbiter, 
was  regarded  as  the  harbinger  of  the  Spirit — what  the  Baptist  was  to  Christ — his 
office  being  to  prepare  the  soul  of  the  candidate  for  the  spirit  of  baptism."  The 
idea  was  bori'owed  from  the  angel  who  troubled  the  waters  of  Bethesda.  With  this 
came  in  exorcism,  by  breathing  in  the  face  of  the  candidate,  for  the  expelling  of  the 
evil  spirit  and  the  inbreathing  of  the  good.  Tertullian  tells  us  that  the  consecrated 
oil,  which  w-as  poured  upon  the  water  in  the  form  of  the  cross,  before  it  became  the 
baptismal  grave,  drove  the  devil  out  of  that  element.  At  this  time  the  Gnostic 
idea,  that  the  material  world  was  largely  under  the  dominion  of  evil  spirits,  had 
mixed  itself  with  the  Christian  faith.  Demons  I'uled  the  flight  of  birds,  presided 
over  the  winds  and  waves,  and  it  was   necessary  to  drive  them  out  of  the  waters  by 


TRAysELEMESTA  TION.  1  89 

soiiio  sort  of  cluirin  or  ;umik't.  l)efore  the  s^aitits  witc  iiiiiiifi-.-cd  in  tlicm.  Tliev 
liauiited  these  waters  as  sprites  and  nymphs.  Imt  tlicy  tied  wlifii  tlic  .sacivd  oil  was 
poured  thereon  in  the  sliape  of  a  cross.  ^\'^■  .~liall  iiuct  this  :ii;aiii  when  we  cdine  to 
look  at  the  pictures  of  the  Catacombs. 

Tlie  simple  and  unwelcome  fact  is,  that  the  pagans  threw  an  air  of  jjreat  luystcrv 
and  sacred  grandeur  around  their  rites,  which  tilled  the  wondeiing  spectators  with 
awe,  and  the  Christians  were  weak  enougli  to  catch  the  infection,  until  they  became 
tilled  with  tlie  fatal  delusion  that  the  holy  oil  acted  as  a  cabalistic  talisman  on  the  waters, 
for  it  wrought  a  change  in  the  element  as  such.  In  his  sermon  on  the  '  Passione ' 
(p.  62),  Pope  Leo  (440-461)  gives  this  doctrine  in  full  bloom,  for  he  tells  us :  '  That 
baptism  makes  a  change  not  only  in  the  water,  but  in  t\w.  man  that  rccei\cs  it; 
thereby  he  receives  Christ  and  Christ  receives  him;  he  is  not  the  same  after  baptism 
as  before,  but  the  budy  of  him  that  is  regenerated  is  made  tlie  llesh  of  him  that  is 
crucified.'  And  why  nor.  when  Gregory  of  Nyssa  contends  that  the  oil  thrown  on 
the  water  not  only  changes  its  nature,  but  actually  transmutes  it  into  a  divine  and  in- 
effable power,  which  Cyril  of  Alexandria  calls  '  transelementation.'  But  Cyprian 
follows  with  this  stronger  statement  still:  ' The  water  must  be  sanctified  l)y  the 
priest,  that  he  may  have  powei-  by  baptism  to  wash  away  the  sins  of  men."''  l!ap- 
tism  was  made  a  sacerdotal  act,  and  unction  was  necessary  before  it  could  be  per- 
formed at  all,  for  this  made  it  the  organ  of  the  Holy  Spirit !  The  whole  Council  of 
Carthage  followed  Cyprian's  declaration  :  '  The  water  is  sanctified  by  the  prayer  of 
the  priest  to  wash  away  sin.'  This  superstition  spread  with  amazing  rapidity,  until 
men  discovered  the  most  marvelous  lights  and  other  visions  on  the  baptismal  watei-, 
as  if,  indeed,  it  had  become  the  crystal  sea  of  the  New  Jerusalem  itself. 

It  is  not  easy  to  determine  when  trine  immersion  was  introduced,  but  at  this  time 
it  appears  to  have  been  the  universal  custom.  Baptism  itself  had  become  a  '  mystery,' 
a  name  worthy  of  the  semi-heathen  institution  which  men  had  made  it ;  and  after 
baptism  the  candidate  wore  a  white  linen  robe  for  eight  days,  as  an  emblem  of  the 
pure  life  which  he  was  to  live  thereafter.  Down  to  this  time  it  had  been  the  right 
of  laymen  to  baptize,  as  Tertullian  says:  'Even  laymen  have  the  right,  for  what  is 
ecpially  received  can  be  equally  given.'  But  now  confirmation  became  necessary  to 
perfect  the  act,  and  imder  the  notion  of  the  exclusive  spirituality  of  the  bishops, 
legislation  confined  it  to  the  priesthood,  so  called. 

Not  only  were  the  waters  of  baptism  invested  with  this  mystic  air,  but  also  the 
elements  of  the  Supper.  About  this  time  the  first  thought  appears  that  any  change 
took  place  in  the  bread  and  mne  by  their  consecration.  They  were  common  things 
and  of  little  value  before  the  priestly  benediction  worked  the  wonder  of  changing 
them  into  the  very  nature  of  God.  This  pretense  stood  ou  an  exact  level  with  pa- 
ganism, in  sacrifical  importance.  The  heathen  believed  that  the  very  substance  of 
their  deities  was  insinuated  into  the  sacrificial  victim,  and  became  one  with  tlie 
person  who  ate  thereof.'     Their  idea    was  that  this   assimilated  them  to  the  gods; 


1 90  IMPOSITIONS. 

liuiiee,  the  siicritieu  \v;i.s  a  great  'mystery.'  Paganized  Cliristianity  adojited  tlie  same 
tlioiiglit,  and  so  tliey  modified  tlie  original  ordinances  of  Christ,  until  it  was  hard  to 
find  a  vestige  of  liis  simple  teacliings  in  eitlier  of  them.  Tiiis  new  system  of 
Elciisiniiiiiisiii  wrapiKMl  up  tht'  })lain  truth  in  wild  vagai'ics,  whieli  have  perverted 
most  of  ChristeiHlniu  t<i  this  day.  Many  see  the  hhit,  hut  cannot  efface  it  because 
of  its  auti(|uity.  It  insults  man's  senses,  hut  his  reverence  for  the  hoary  cares  not 
to  \vi])e  it  iiut;  and  yet,  true  anticjiiity  goes  hack  beyond  the  youth  of  the  third 
eenlui-y  to  the  age  of  Jesus  and  his  Apostles,  at  whose  feet  Cyprian  and  the  fathers 
should  l'al],  on  a  level  with  all  other  poor  and  uninspired  sinners,  instead  of  being 
allowed  to  send  Christianity  down  the  centuries  on  masquerade. 

Hipjwlytus  tells  us  of  one  Marcus,  who  played  all  sorts  of  tricks  both  with  Bap- 
tism and  the  Supper,  under  this  religious  jugglery.  He  pretended  to  give  the 
peojile  a  mixture  of  purple,  or  Ijlood-red  color,  which  bestowed  ineffable  grace  from 
God  ;  and  taught  th.at  men  who  received  this  cup  were  beyond  the  reach  of  danger 
if  they  sinned,  becaust'  it  had  made  them  ]ii'rfect.  To  these  he  administered  a 
second  baptism,  called  redemjition,  attended  by  the  laying  on  of  hands  and  the  whis- 
pering of  some  knavish  gibberish  into  their  ears,  a  process  which  admitted  them  into 
the  higher  mysteries.*  These  fanatics  ranked  with  Elxai,  who  taught  his  followers 
to  set  a  high  value  on  water  as  a  divinity,  and  to  swear  by  it,  as  well  as  by  salt,  and 
the  wind.''  lie  laid  great  stress  on  baptism,  to  which  he  attributes,  exopere  operato. 
the  forgiveness  of  sins ;  and  it  must  be  frequently  repeated,  as  marked  sins  are  com- 
mitted. He  not  only  exhorts  such  sinners  to  be  baptized  afresh,  '  together  with 
your  garments;'  but  Hippolytus  gives  us  one  of  his  rubrics,  in  which  he  entreats  a 
person  bitten  by  a  mad  dog  to  cure  hydrophobia  by  this  specific.  He  must  '  Eun 
with  all  his  garments  on  into  a  river  or  running  l)rook,  where  is  a  deep  place,  to  call 
u]ion  God  and  make  vows  as  in  baptism,  and  washing  there,  he  will  be  delivered.' 

However,  to  the  honor  of  these  third  century  Christians,  they  held  fast  to  the 
logical  consistency  which  would  not  allow  Baptism  to  be  severed  from  the  Supper. 
Hence,  when  the  babe  liad  been  immersed  they  administered  to  him  the  elements 
of  bread  and  wine  to  render  his  salvation  doubly  sure.  Bingham  speaks  of  the 
known  practice  and  custom  in  the  ancient  Church,  of  giving  the  eucharist  to  infants, 
which,  he  says,  continued  in  the  Chui-ch  for  several  ages.  It  is  frequently  men- 
tioned by  Cyprian,  Austin,  Innocentins,  and  Gennadius,  writers,  from  the  third  to 
the  fifth  century.  Maldonat  confesses  it  was  in  the  Church  for  six  hundred  years. 
And  some  of  the  authorities  just  now  alleged,  prove  it  to  have  continued  two  or 
three  ages  more,  and  to  have  been  the  common  practice  beyond  the  time  of  Charles 
the  Great.  Again  he  says :  '  It  is  evident,  that  the  communion  itself  was  given  to 
infants,  and  that  immediately  from  the  time  of  their  baptism.' '"  Herzog  fullj^  cor- 
roborates these  facts.  In  his  account  of  '  dispensing  the  elements  to  actual  babes,' 
he  says :  '  The  first  trace  of  this  custom  is  found  in  C3'prian  (third  century),  who, 
in  his  treatise  On  flie  Lapsed,  represents  infants  as  saying  on  the  day   of  judgment, 


TXFAXT   rO}rMVXTON.  191 

"'We  luive  not  forsaken  the  Lonl's  l)rc:iil  ami  cup."  {De  /ajj.sis,  c.  ix.)  And  in  tlie 
same  book  lie  tells  a  striking  story,  Imw  an  infant  refused  the  cup,  and,  when  the 
deacon  forced  some  of  the  wine  down  lur  throat,  she  was  seized  with  voniitino^. 
The  explanation  was,  that  the  child,  unkudwn  to  her  ]iarcnts,  had  [trcvidusly.  while 
under  the  care  of  her  nurse,  eaten  bread  soaked  in  wine,  whieh  had  been  pouR'd  out 
at  an  idolatrous  cerenionj'.     {De  lapsis,  c.  xxv.) 

Bingham  further  testifies  that:  'The  Greek  Church  to-day,  and  also  the  Kos- 
torians,  Jacobites.  Armenians  and  Maronites,  persist  in  the  practice,  using,  generally, 
only  tlie  wine,  and  giving  it  either  by  the  spoon  or  by  the  linger.'  "  This  practice 
was  born,  and  very  properly,  in  the  same  K'ortli  Africa  which  created  the  trine 
immersion  of  babes.  Dean  Stanley,  also,  says :  '  The  Oriental  Churches,  in  con- 
formity with  ancient  usage,  still  administer  the  eucharist  to  infants.  In  the  Coptic 
Church  it  may  even  happen  that  an  infant  is  the  only  recipient.'  And  he  gives 
this  reason  for  the  practice :  '  which,  as  far  as  antiquity  is  concerned,  might  insist 
on  imconditional  retention,"  namely  :  '  A  literal  application  to  the  eucharist  of  the 
text  representing  the  bread  of  life,  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  St.  John,  naturally  fol- 
lowed on  a  literal  application  to  baptism  of  the  text  respecting  the  second  birth  in 
the  third  chapter;  and  the  actual  participation  in  the  elements  of  both  sacraments 
came  to  be  I'egarded  as  equally  necessary  for  the  salvation  of  every  human  being.'  '^ 

The  literal  interpretation  of  the  third  chapter  calls  for  the  literal  interpretation 
of  the  sixth  to-day,  for  the  one  is  no  more  necessary  to  the  salvation  of  the  babe  than 
the  other.  If  baptism  is  to  be  forced  upon  him  in  order  to  save  him,  so  also  should 
the  Supper  be ;  but  if  it  is  a  mockery  of  the  design  of  the  ordinances  to  give 
him  the  one,  it  is  a  greater  mockery  to  withhold  the  other,  and  to  deny  him  the  rights 
of  membership  in  the  Church,  after  initiating  him  into  its  fellowship.  If  there  is 
divine  authority  for  one  there  is  for  the  other,  and  both  should  be  observed.  But 
if  there  is  not  divine  authority  for  either,  botli  should  be  laid  aside. 

A  stout  contest  began  in  the  third  century  between  tradition  and  the  supreme 
authority  of  Scripture.  Some  bowed  to  the  absolute  mandates  of  the  Bible,  allow- 
ing no  compromise ;  while  others  reduced  it  to  a  book  of  divination,  by  introducing 
bibliomancy,  or  the  'sacred  lots.'  They  casually  opened  the  book,  and  by  the  first 
passage  that  came  to  hand  predicted  the  future.  Tertullian  refused  to  disjMite  with 
the  heretics  out  of  the  Scriptures,  because  they  rejected  their  authority  in  part. 
Yet,  when  they  sustain  his  position,  he  quotes  them ;  but  when  they  do  not  serve 
him,  he  appeals  to  custom  and  tradition,  as  in  his  Corona  (p.  337) :  '  If  thou  requirest 
a  law  in  the  Scripture  for  it,  thou  shalt  find  none.  Tradition  must  be  pleaded  as 
originating  it,  custom  as  confirming  it,  and  faith  in  observing  it.'  On  the  contrary, 
Hippolytus  condemns  all  errors  opposed  to  the  Scriptures,  and  binds  every  article 
of  his  faith  to  their  teaching.  Speaking  of  Carpocrates  and  other  heretics,  he 
says,  that  they  brand  their  disciples  '  in  the  posterior  parts  of  the  lobe  of  the  right 
ear,'  a  practice  at  which  he  was  rather  apt  hinibclf,  figuratively. 


1 92  CONrENTIOys. 

Eai'ly  ill  tlio  coutiiry  Oriii,-cii  liad  ]iniciirr(l  a  faitlifiil  ('(lition  of  the  Soptuagiiit, 
Lucieii  a  second,  and  llesychiiis  a  thiid.  ('(ipirs  of  all  tliu  Scriptures  so  abounded 
tliat,  A.  D.  29-1,  raniphiius  had  luiuided  wliat  may  be  called  the  first  Bible  Cir- 
culating Library,  and  made  numerous  copies  with  his  own  hands  to  give  away.  In 
their  writings  at  this  time,  the  fathers  quote  tiie  Scriptures  copiously ;  Origen,  alone, 
making  5,765  quotations  from  the  New  Testament.  Libraries  were  founded  at  Alexan- 
dria, Ciesarea  and  other  places,  and  the  Sacred  Books  were  put  in  the  church  edifices, 
for  all  wild  could  to  read  in  their  own  tniii;-uu  ;  !)esides  which  there  were  readers 
and  interpreters  in  all  the  coni;regations.  '  ■  The  Churclies  jjiMVfd  themselves  less 
and  less  worthy  of  this  heritage.  They  quarreled  with  each  other  like  tei'magants, 
spent  their  energies  in  pious  hair-splitting,  and  wei-e  reckless  in  the  extreme. 
Things  were  fast  setting  into  a  hierarchy,  and  the  Churches  were  soon  brought 
under  tinall  to  aspiring  officers.  But,  for  a  long  time,  powerful  voices  were  raised 
to  arouse  the  people  against  this.  Even  at  Rome  there  was  a  struggle  for  Church 
independency  ;  as  Ilippolytus  says,  that  wlien  Noetus,  the  pastor  there,  was  tried  for 
blasphemous  utterances,  it  was  '  hefore  the  ( 'hnrch  ; '  but  where  the  spirit  of  indepeti- 
dence  went,  its  form  soon  followed,  and  blind  submission  or  'schism'  was  the  only 
alternative.  Origen  wrote  a  letter  to  riiilip  and  Severa,  urging  the  freedom  of 
religious  opinion  ;  the  dominant  '  Catholic '  ]xirty  began  to  tyrannize  over  others, 
in  the  interests  of  uniforndty.  The  empire  of  Zenobia,  (Jueen  of  Palmyra,  which 
tolerated  all  religions,  arose  in  2<i7 ;  but  Paul,  the  pastor  (_)f  Aiitioeh,  who  held  civil 
office  under  this  remarkable  woman,  ]>ut  torth  doctrines  which  other  i)astors  con- 
demned, and  when  Zenobia  succundjcd  before  the  hosts  <if  Aurelian,  those  pastors 
made  a,  iVirmal  appeal  to  the  conqueror  to  expel  Paul  from  his  pastorate.  This  is 
the  first  case  on  record,  where  Christians  threw  aside  the  dignity  of  their  manhood 
to  seek  the  aid  of  the  civil  power  in  settling  their  squabbles,  in  enforcing  Christian 
doctrine.  The  emperor,  with  more  regard  to  decency  in  the  case,  left  it  to  the 
decision  of  an  assembly  of  pastors  at  Eome.  Victor  was  the  first  bishop  of  Rome 
who  carried  all  measures  with  a  high  hand,  in  behalf  of  the  claims  of  that  Church. 
He  was  a  busy,  hot-headed  mischief-maker,  who  stirred  up  discord  on  every  trivial 
nuitter  to  carry  a  point ;  and  before  long  a  strong  government  was  developed  in  the 
politics  of  Christianity.  The  Clementine  and  Ignatian  forgeries  followed,  to  sustain 
prelatical  authority,  in  which  some  scoundrel  puts  the  following  into  the  mouth  of 
Ignatius :  '  We  ought  to  look  unto  the  bishop  as  unto  the  Lord  himself.  .  .  .  Let 
all  reverence  the  deacons  as  the  command  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  bishop  as  Jesus 
Christ,  being  the  Son  of  the  Father;  and  the  presbyters  as  the  sanhedrin  of  God, 
and  college  of  the  Apostles.  "Without  these  it  is  not  called  a  Church.'  '^  •  What 
the  bishop  approves  of,  that  is  also  well-pleasing  to  God,  that  whatever  is  done  may 
be  infallible  and  sure.'  'The  Spirit  proclaimed,  saying  thus :  Do  nothing  without 
the  Ijishop.'  '  He  who  honors  the  bishop  is  honored  by  God,  he  who  does  any  thing 
without  the  privity  of  the  bishop,  worships  the  devil."  '^     Cave  attributes  the  Recog- 


driftim;  from  rnvrir.  193 

nitioiis  t(j  Bardusouus,  hut  Justin  dot's  not  think  th;it  '  hu  cduhl  liave  been  tlie  author 
of  so  niauy  shameless  lies/  '" 

Thus,  by  the  close  of  the  third  century  we  have  the  absurdity  of  baptism 
regenerating  the  soul,  and  the  Supper  feeding  it,  an  episcopacy  with  which  is  lodged 
eternal  life,  a  '  Catholic  Church,'  outside  of  which  all  are  heretics,  and  no  salvation 
out  of  the  Church.  For  this,  Cyprian,  a  converted  pagan,  rhetorician  and  bishop 
of  Carthage,  is  more  to  blame  than  any  other  man.  Pupianus,  like  a  simpleton,  took 
it  into  his  head  to  '  inquire  carefully  into  our  character,'  says  Cyprian.  But  in  his 
reply  to  that  callow  brother,  the  gentle  bishop  reads  him  this  sweet  lecture :  '  What 
presumption  !  What  arrogance  !  What  pride  it  is,  to  call  the  prelates  and  priests 
to  account !  The  bees  have  their  cpieeu ;  the  armies  have  their  generals  ;  and  they 
preserve  their  loyalty ;  the  robbei-s  obey  their  captains  with  humble  obsequiousness ! 
How  much  more  upright,  and  how  much  better  are  the  uni'easonable  and  dumb 
animals,  and  the  bloody  robbers,  and  swords  and  weapons,  than  you  are.  There  the 
ruler  is  acknowledged  and  feared,  whom  not  a  divine  mandate  has  set  up,  but  whom 
the  reprobate  rout  have  appointed  of  themselves.'  He  then  warns  him  that  as  one 
who  calls  his  brother  '  Fool '  is  in  danger  of  hell  fire,  he  is  in  greater  peril  who  inveighs 
against  '  priests."  " 

Well  may  Isaac  Taylor  say  in  his  Primitive  Christianity :  '  The  first  three 
(ceuinries)  of  the  Christian  history,  comprise  a  sample  of  every  form  and  variety  of 
intellectual  or  moral  observation  of  which  human  nature  is  at  all  susceptible,  under 
the  inflnenee  of  religious  excitement.  No  great  ingenuity,  therefore,  can  be  needed 
in  watching  any  modern  form  of  error  or  extravagance,  with  its  like,  to  be  produced 
from  the  museum  of  antique  specimens.'  And  he  deprecates  the  abject  slavery  of 
so  prostrating  'our  understandings  before  the  pliantom,  venerable  antiquity,  as  to 
be  inflamed  with  the  desire  of  inducing  the  Christian  world  to  imitate  what  really 
asks  for  apology  and  extenuation.'  '* 
14 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE     FOURTH     CENTURY. 

NEAR  Gciiova  the  Rhone  flows  in  swift  lint  calm  majesty  at  the  foot  of  those 
Al])s,  which  are  more  majestie  than  itself.  There  its  waters  are  a  dark 
hlne  and  beautifully  crystal,  as  they  How  from  a  cool  azure  lake  far  up  in  the  region 
of  alternate  snow  and  sunshine.  Tlie  river  Avre  comes  rushing  down  from  those 
horrid  valleys  where  the  glaciers  grow  and  grind,  striking  the  Rhone  at  almost  right 
angles.  It  is  a  little,  furious,  brawling,  muddy  stream  worthy  of  its  fountain  ;  it 
scowls  like  the  brow  of  a  dark  villain  rushing  from  his  den,  and  launches  its  dirty 
current  into  the  sheet  of  light.  The  Rhone,  as  the  daughter  of  purity,  shrinks 
from  its  defilement  and  glides  on  in  disdain,  refusing  all  amalgamation.  Long  they 
move  on  side  by  side  in  the  same  channel,  parted  by  a  deep-drawn  line  between 
them,  iiut  without  one  spot  on  the  mountain  maiden.  Thus  repelled,  the  Avre 
sinks  to  (juiet,  softened  into  decency  by  the  sun-lit  side  of  the  Rhone,  which  melts, 
first  into  pity  then  into  compassion.  And  why  ?  At  every  rock  the  impudent  in- 
truder breaks  into  foam  and  then  lulls  into  murmurs,  as  if  it  were  pleading  for 
tolerance,  till  quietly  the  larger  stream  consents  to  absorb  the  less,  eddy  by 
eddy,  and  so  at  last  it  is  overcome  by  importunity  and  embraces  what  it  fii-st 
spurned.  From  that  hour  the  glory  of  the  Rhone  is  gone,  a  few  leagues  below  the 
two  are  one,  and  in  their  turbid  dishonor  they  rush  down  together  as  one  polluted 
stream.  This  is  but  a  faint  image  of  the  River  of  Life,  mingled  with  the  tide  of 
pagan  philosophy,  which  have  come  down  to  us  confluent  from  the  opening  of  the 
fourth  century. 

It  would  require  a  volume  to  trace  the  corruption  of  Christianity  with  Pla- 
tonism,  for  we  have  this  heresy  in  germ  in  the  Apostolic  Churches  long  before  the 
Gnostics  injected  it  into  the  truth  at  Alexandria,  as  the  exalters  and  defenders  of 
knowledge  against  faith.  Paul  found  it  creeping  in  at  Crete,  Colosse  and  Ephesus. 
The  ideas  of  Pythagorus  had  prepared  its  way  in  Crete,  Ephesus  was  the  center  of 
all  pretentious  philosophy,  and  Colosse  was  full  of  Phrygian  pantheism  entwined 
with  the  mysteries  of  Pan,  Cybele  and  Bacchus.  All  these  were  dexterously  in- 
terwoven into  Christianity  by  Simon  Magus,  the  real  father  of  Christianized 
Gnosticism  ;  others  fostered  it,  and  Manes  led  it  to  full  manhood  by  the  end  of  the 
third  century.  Paul  saw  its  drift  and  warned  Timothy  against  the  opposition  of 
'  knowledge  falsely  so  called.'  At  flrst  it  was  simple,  without  system  or  great 
power,  never  arraying  itself  openly  against  the  truth  ;  hence,  its  danger  lay  not  in 


CUmSTIAN  DOCTRISE   COHRl'l'TED.  198 

the  violence  of  its  attacks,  but  in  its  secret  aggressions.  Ilippoljtus  calls  it  a 
'  h;)'dra,'  which  had  been  pushing  its  way  in  the  dark  for  many  years ;  but  no  error 
matched  it  in  efficiency.  In  his  time  it  had  corrupted  between  thirty  and  forty 
sects  and  subsects,  who  differed  amongst  themselves,  all  holding  principles  contrary 
to  the  simple  faith  of  Christ  and  putting  it  under  the  control  of  Oriental  paganism. 
The  Gnosis  of  Alexandria  is  not  easily  defined ;  for  it  was  a  compound  of  mon- 
otheism, materialism,  pantheism  and  spiritualism,  taken  from  the  heart  of  Platonism 
and  the  reasoning  of  Aristotle,  with  an  admixture  of  native  Egyptian  thought.  It 
professed  to  be  the  essence  of  intelligence,  and  so  won  the  learned  by  its 
liberal  speculations,  the  rationalist  by  its  mastery  of  all  logic,  the  superstitious 
by  its  many  mysteries  and  the  ignorant  by  its  pretense,  that  it  explaii}ed 
every  thing.  The  Greek  philosophy  was  too  narrow  for  its  tastes,  and  the 
teachings  of  Jesus  too  practical  for  its  uses,  so  it  made  sad  havoc  of  Homer's 
pure  literature  and  Christ's  plain  revelations.  It  refused  to  take  any  thing  in  the 
])roper  and  natural  meaning  of  its  words,  and  its  allegory  distorted  every  thing  by 
the  attempt  to  transfigure  its  simplicity.  Hi])polytus  says  that  the  whole  system 
reminded  him  of  Thales,  who,  'Looking  toward  heaven,  alleging  that  he  was 
carefully  examining  supernal  objects,  fell  into  a  well ;  and  a  certain  maid,  Thratta, 
remarked  of  him  derisively  that  while  intent  on  beholding  things  in  heaven,  he 
did  not  know  what  was  at  his  feet.' 

At  the  opening  of  the  fourth  century  none  of  the  Churches  were  entirely  fi'ce 
from  this  corrupt  leaven.  It  affected  their  doctrine  and  practice,  had  created  an 
aristocracy  in  their  ministry,  pushed  aside  the  letter  of  Scripture  in  sublimating  its 
interpretation  in  relation  to  the  person  of  God,  of  Christ,  good  and  evil,  incarna- 
tion and  atonement;  and  had  left  but  little  in  the  Gospel  unchanged,  either  in  theory 
or  experience.  Almost  all  the  African  fathers  had  gone  after  it,  and  it  had  pro- 
duced swarms  of  monastic  orders  in  Greece,  Gaul  and  Italy.  Worse  than  this,  it 
had  destroyed  the  common  bond  of  brotherhood  between  the  rich  and  pour ;  and 
because  of  its  pomp,  ceremony,  symbol,  mystery  and  liturgical  worship,  it  had 
fouTid  that  favor  with  the  nobles  which  exalted  Christ's  religion  into  an  awful 
sacredness,  and  well  nigh  made  the  Church  a  secret  society,  which  now  cared  little 
toup-liftthe  slave,  the  poor  and  the  downtrodden.  This  explains  why  Cliristianity 
took  the  shape  that  it  did  in  its  final  struggle  with  paganism.  Having  corrupted 
itself  and  become  weak,  the  steps  were  easy  to  popular  influence,  and  the  unity  of 
the  temporal  with  the  spiritual  power.  For  forty  years  the  law  of  Gallienus  had 
recognized  the  Christians  as  a  legal  community.  They  had  become  numerous  and 
influential.  In  the  great  cities  they  had  large  and  costly  temples  furnished  with 
vessels  of  gold  and  silver ;  their  faith  was  much  the  rising  fashion  ;  the  army,  the 
civil  service,  the  court,  were  filled  with  Christians,  and  the  old  Christ-likeness  had 
nearly  gone.  A  century  had  passed  since  the  Antonincs ;  the  Empire  was  fast 
breaking  up  of  its  own  heterogeneous  elements ;  and  one  more  attempt  was  made 


196  niBLK  nUllNING. 

to  recast  it  on  the  old  faitli  and  a  more  absolute  model,  if  possible,  by  two  Emper- 
ors after  the  Oriental  fashion.  Now  we  have  the  last  bitter  persecution,  for  the 
modified  Christian  faith  was  supplanting  heathenism  faster  than  had  the  simple 
Gospel.  This  persecution  burst  forth  Feb.  23,  303,  at  Nicomedia,  where  the  Im- 
perial Palace  was  then  located.  Because  the  Sci'iptures  were  regarded  as  the  source 
of  all  Christian  aggression,  the  aim  of  the  persecutors  was  to  destroy  every  copy, 
and  the  ciy  passed  up  and  down  the  empire  :  '  Burn  their  Testaments ! '  This  Bible 
burning  was  firmly  resisted,  and  at  Carthage,  Mensni-ius  the  l)ishop  removed  all 
copies  from  the  sanctuary,  putting  worthless  MSS.  in  their  jilace.  Afterward  he 
was  accused  of  betraying  the  Bible,  a  charge  never  sustained.  Many  gave  up  the 
sacred  book  willingly  to  be  burnt  in  the  market-places,  and  were  expelled  from  the 
Churches,  while  others  preferred  death  to  this  treachery.  An  African  magistrate 
demanded  that  Felix  should  give  up  his  Bible  for  burning,  when  he  answered  that 
he  would  rather  be  burnt  himself.  He  was  loaded  with  chains,  sent  to  Italy  and 
beheaded.  lu  Sicily  Euplius  was  seized  with  the  Gospels  in  his  hand  and  put 
on  the  rack.  When  asked,  '  Why  do  you  keep  the  Scriptures  forbidden  by  the 
Emperor?'  he  answered:  'Because  I  am  a  Christian.  Life  eternal  is  in  them  ;  he 
that  gives  them  up  loses  life  eternal.'  The  Gospels  were  hung  about  his  neck 
when  led  to  execution  and  he  was  beheaded.  At  ^Elia,  in  Palestine,  Valens,  an 
aged  deacon,  proved  his  love  for  the  Scriptures  by  committing  large  portions  of 
them  to  memory,  and  repeating  them  with  accuracy.  John,  a  blind  EgyjDtian,  did 
the  same  with  such  perfection  that  he  could  repeat  the  whole  of  the  books  of 
Moses,  the  Prophets  and  the  Apostles. '  Hot  irons  were  thrust  into  the  sockets  of 
his  eyes. 

This  persecution  lasted  ten  years,  and  was  severer  than  all  that  had  gone  be- 
fore. But  it  acted  like  fire  on  incense,  in  drawing  out  the  finest  and  richest  essences 
in  Christian  character.  One  day,  when  it  was  beginning  to  abate,  the  Emperor's 
bed-chamber  was  found  in  flames.  Diocletian  was  stricken  with  terror,  and  sus- 
pecting his  Christian  servants,  he  put  them  to  torture  and  stood  by  to  extort  their 
confessions.  Two  weeks  later  a  second  fire  occurred  in  the  same  room.  He  was 
more  enraged  than  ever,  and  made  closer  inquisition  for  blood  in  the  palace.  Sev- 
eral servants  were  put  to  death,  and  the  Empress  and  his  daughter,  who  were 
Christians,  were  compelled  to  sacrifice  to  the  gods.  No  language  can  describe  the 
brutality  of  this  persecution  under  Diocletian,  Galerius  and  Maximian,  whom  Lac- 
tantius  calls  '  three  ravenous  wild  beasts.'  It  is  estimated  that  17,000  suffered  death 
in  one  month,  that  144,000  were  martyred  iu  Egypt  alone ;  and  of  the  baiiished, 
and  those  condemned  to  the  public  works,  no  less  than  700,000  died.  In  some 
provinces  scarcely  a  Christian  was  left.  So  great  was  the  triumph  against  Chris- 
tianity that  it  was  commemorated  by  striking  off  a  gold  coin.  On  one  side  was  the 
head  of  Diocletian,  crowned  with  laurel,  and  on  the  reverse,  Jupiter,  brandishing  a 
thunder-bolt,  and  trampling  upon   the  genius  of  Christianity — a  human  figure  with 


CONS  TANTINE.  1  9  7 

foot  of  serpents.  Tliis  Diiiice  of  Death  was  revived,  liowcvcr,  under  one  Emperor 
after  another,  until  Constantine  conquered  Rome,  A.  D.  31'i.  At  that  time  he 
reigned  over  the  Western  Empire  only,  but  in  323,  after  the  battle  of  Chalcedon, 
he  became  sole  Emperor  of  tlie  Roman  world.  Tie  jJuMislied  an  edict  concerning 
Christians  in  312,  at  Rome,  but  this  doeiinient  is  lost.  In  313  another,  issued  at 
Milan,  gave  toleration  to  all  religions,  and  restored  the  confiscated  property  of 
( 'hristians ;  he  also  gave  large  sums  of  money  to  rebuild  their  places  of  worship. 
But  in  324  he  inflicted  a  blow  upon  the  Christian  system  from  which  it  has  not  yet 
recovered,  by  making  it  the  religion  of  the  State.  Between  315  and  323  he  had 
sent  forth  five  edicts  admitting  Christians  to  offices  of  state,  civil  and  military;  had 
taken  measures  to  emancipate  Christian  slaves ;  had  exempted  the  clergy  from  mu- 
nicipal burdens,  and  had  made  Sunday  a  legal  day  of  rest  from  public  work.  But 
in  325  he  attempted  to  settle  the  disputes  in  the  Church  by  presiding  at  the  first 
(ieneral  Council  which  ever  was  held,  that  of  Niciisa,  in  which  Arianism  was  con- 
demned, the  unity  of  the  Catholic  party  proclaimed,  and  the  last  step  taken  to 
establish  the  union  between  Church  and  State. 

This  great  historical  chai-acter  has  been  the  suliject  of  malignant  depreciation 

or    extravagant    laudation, 
f '  '"'  Z-  according  to  the   point   of 

view    from  which   he    has 
^^jj  -  .^  V        been  seen.     Like   all  other 


.^-'^-M'V^  -^ 


t-  great  men,  he  took  type  from 

^  \  the  character  of  his  times, 

'^f^'  A       '  ~  ^  and  the  truth  will  make  him 

^   y't-T         '    S   J  ^i^  ~^_^  ^        ^  human,    without    magnify- 

^^—'-  ''■^-'%3^^  ^   '^^  ^t  ing  his  virtues  or  blacken- 

^^      """  '  ing   his    weaknesses.      He 

niXSTAXTINE  THE   GliKAT.  ,  j,  /-ll      •    j.' 

was  born  of  a  Christian 
mother,  who  must  have  been  troubled  with  Baptist  notions,  for  she  never  had  him 
christened.  His  disposition  was  naturally  mild  and  tolerant ;  and  his  father,  who  was 
not  a  Christian,  being  moved  by  clemency  toward  Christians,  had  probably  influ- 
enced him  in  the  same  direction,  as  well  as  the  counsel  and  example  of  his  mother. 
In  his  early  manhood  he  worshiped  at  the  shrine  of  the  gods,  but  after  the  removal 
of  the  government  to  Constantinople  he  forbade  pagan  worship  in  that  city,  and 
leveled  its  temples  throughout  the  Empire.  Having  renounced  that  religion  him- 
self, he  persecuted  the  unconverted  pagan  for  his  constancy  therein.  He  is  said  to 
have  seen  the  cross  in  the  sky,  but  possibl}'  his  Christianity  had  l)orne  a  higher 
character  had  he  discovered  love  for  the  true  cross  of  Christ  in  his  soul;  crosses  in 
tiic  timiament  are  of  rather  light  moral  worth.  Unfortunately,  it  was  years  after 
this  traditional  vision  that  his  nominal  Christianity  allowed  him  to  kill  his  son, 
lii.-^  >c<_'ond  wife  and  others  of  his  faniilv.      Full   of  ambition   and  iKissionate   resent- 


198  TTIK   LEGEND    OF   THE   rnoss. 

iiieiit,  it  would  reipiire  coiisidenihly  more  to-dav  tliiui  ;i  sl<y  miracle,  a  sword  in  the 
liand,  and  a  coiiqueriiii^  army  at  the  Malviaii  iirid:.'!'  tu  -i\c  liini  membership)  'in 
j;'ood  standing'  in  tlu!  Baptist  Clinrch  recently  t'stahli.-licd  at  Home.  It  is  said 
that  the  ci'oss  in  tlie  heavens  was  attended  with  flic  inscrijitidU :  'By  this 
sii;n  conquer ! '  What,  and  whom?  Ilis  own  sin  ^  His  own  soul  ?  It  seems  not. 
ihit  ratlicr  Maxcntius  and  Bome  and  a  throne.  At  the  licginning  Jesus  had  made 
himselt  king  in  Zion,  to  disallow  all  inipei'ialism  thcrt> ;  and  did  he  now  rise  from 
his  throne  to  hang  his  ci'oss  of  ])eace  an  ensign  of  lilood  in  the  firmament,  and  to 
indicate  that  he  turned  over  his  universal  lordshiji  to  an  unregenerated  heathen  ? 
This  cross  story  needs  thorough  revision. 

Connnon  sense  and  the  after  life  of  Constantine  rather  say,  that  he  kemied  this 
cross  in  the  clouds  witli  the  eye  of  a  politician  and  statesman.  The  'eagle"  soared 
high  tliat  day,  Init  he  saw  the  beam  of  the  cross  soaring  above  the  head  of  the 
Boman  bird.  Clear-headed  and  far-sighted,  he  read  the  meaning  of  that  noiseless 
agency,  which  had  quietly  struggled  for  tlu-ee  hundred  years  to  open  a  new  history 
in  the  world.  Other  eyes  besides  his  were  turned  in  the  saine  direction.  The  men 
clothed  in  purple  had  blindly  sacrificed  nameless  thousands  of  their  purest,  wisest 
and  most  patriotic  subjects  to  dumb  idols.  The  gods  had  kept  the  Empire  in  a 
perpetual  broil,  and  had  often  murdered  his  predecessors,  before  the  crown  had 
made  a  dint  upon  their  brows.  Constantine  was  not  so  blind  to  the  real  cross  that 
he  needed  a  miraculous  phantom  in  the  skies  to  intei'pret  for  him  the  signs  of  the 
times.  He  was  cool,  ambitions,  practical ;  and  knew  what  the  principles  of  patient 
integrity  must  do  in  anew  government,  which,  through  the  cross,  had  well  nigh  over- 
thrown all  the  powers  of  the  old  government.  The  new  idea  of  Calvary  had 
awakened  a  new  enthusiasm  in  man,  had  ci'eated  a  new  order  of  patriotism,  and  he 
saw  that  the  Via  Dolorosa  had  become  the  Roman  highway  to  unity,  elevation, 
solidity.  Long  after  this  he  came  to  embrace  Jesus  in  person  ;  for  as  age  came  and 
life  was  about  to  close,  he  sought  and  received  baptism  at  the  hands  of  Eusebius, 
the  Bishop  of  Nicomedia,  in  the  baptistery  of  the  church  known  as  Martyrium 
Christi.  He  expressed  the  hope  '  To  have  been  made  partaker  of  the  salutary  grace 
in  the  river  Jordan ; '  but  his  violent  illness  cat  off  that  hope,  and  left  him  unable 
to  take  the  long  journey  to  the  sacred  river.  He  died  on  the  23d  of  May,  A.  D.  337, 
in  great  peace,  at  the  age  of  sixty-four,  about  one  month  after  his  immersion.  He 
had  delayed  this  act  of  obedience  to  Christ  under  the  absurd  notion  of  his  times, 
that  baptism  would  cleanse  away  the  sins  of  a  life-time  at  once.  Before  his  immer- 
sion he  laid  aside  his  purple  robes  and  never  donned  them  again ;  but  from  that 
day  wore  the  white  garment  of  newly  immersed  believers,  until  he  exchanged  it  for 
the  shroud  in  death. ^ 

Spain,  in  the  Western  Empire,  felt  little  of  the  Diocletian  persecution  which 
convulsed  the  eastern  division,  and  how  did  the  Spanish  Christians  use  their  exemp- 
tion  from  suffering?     Chiefly  in   the   attempt   to    consolidate  the  new  system   of 


THE  SYNOD    OF  ELVIRA.  199 

corporate  unity,  in  place  of  tlie  isolation  of  Apostolic  Cluirch  indepciiclency.  With 
this  end  in  view,  we  find  nineteen  bishops,  twenty-six  presbyters  and  many  deacons, 
holding  the  C'ouncil  of  Elvira  (Eleberis)  in  the  retired  district  of  Eiutica,  under 
the  lead  of  llosius,  tlie  great  Bishop  of  Cordova.  He  was  a  man  of  genius  and 
power,  born  to  rule.  At  Nicaea  he  took  the  second  seat,  Constantine  filling  the 
first,  but  at  Elvira,  A.  D.  305-306,  he  was  the  guiding  spirit.  His  prime  idea  was 
to  put  Cliristianity  on  a  surer  footing,  by  first  consolidating  it  into  a  catholic  body, 
and  then  uniting  it  closer  to  the  national  life.  This  synod  was  professedly  called 
to  restoi'C  order  in  the  Churches  of  Spain,  by  deciding  what  to  do  with  those  who 
had  '  lapsed '  from  the  faith,  and  to  settle  other  questions  of  morality  and  discipline. 
Its  tone  and  temper  were  supposed  to  be  in  sympathy  with  Novatian  ;  but  llosius 
adroitly  turned  it,  not  to  reconcile  the  Churches  one  to  another,  but  to  unite  the 
(;hurch  with  the  State.  Afterward  he  was  very  influential  in  the  private  councils 
of  Constantine,  and  served  as  his  diplomatic  agent  on  many  occasions. 

Under  the  frame-work  of  tlie  new  policy,  this  Spanish  Convention  of  indepen- 
dent assemblies  was  to  issue  a  general  code  of  decrees  which  should  bind  them  by 
concert  of  action,  as  if  they  were  one  congregation.  In  this  way  an  organic  union 
could  reach  the  'heretics'  and  'rural'  pastors,  could  bring  them  under  subjection 
to  the  bishops  of  large  cities ;  and  so  at  one  stroke  they  could  keep  the  Church  pure 
and  strong.  This  was  Spanish  Catholicity  in  its  infancy.  Then,  if  one  nation 
might  have  a  Church,  why  not  each  nation,  and  if  each,  why  could  not  all  nations 
form  one  general  Church  ?  This  proposed  purification  of  the  Church  suited  the 
Novatians  exactly,  but  they  did  not  dream  that  they  were  weaving  meshes  for  their 
own  feet  in  this  Synod.  "With  all  the  simplicity  of  their  hearts  they  united  in  the 
XXIVth  decree,  which  demanded  that  a  man  who  had  been  baptized  in  one  province 
should  not  enter  the  ministry  in  another,  a  long  step  toward  a  diocesan  system. 
Heresy  was  put  also  on  the  same  basis  with  deadly  sin,  and  wrong  in  the  laity  was 
to  be  condoned  with  a  leniency  which  did  not  apply  to  pastors.  This  claimed  pre- 
eminent sanctity  for  the  clergy,  and  conciliated  the  people  to  the  innovation.  The 
special  privileges  to  the  people,  however,  were  attended  with  larger  distinctions  of 
rank  amongst  the  clergy,  and  the  bishop  began  to  assume  new  functions  over  his 
brethren.  Others  might  baptize,  but  in  every  case  the  convert  must  be  brought 
to  the  bishop  to  bo  confirmed.  The  XLIId  article  enjoined  two  years  of  probation 
before  a  catechumen  could  be  baptized.  Non-communion  at  the  Lord's  Table  be- 
came a  retributive  act,  making  exclusion  therefrom  penal,  and  men  were  excom- 
municated for  a  given  time,  from  one  to  ten  years.  Christ  intended  liis  ordinances 
as  a  trowel  to  build  up  the  Churches,  they  used  them  as  a  sword  to  cut  them  down 
in  arbitrary  retribution.  First  they  made  baptism  a  magical  rite  to  save  from  sin, 
then  they  withheld  it  as' a  penance  for  sins  committed,  as  in  the  case  of  Constantine, 
who  had  long  been  a  catechumen.  The  Supper  had  been  the  first  festival  of  joy  to 
the  convert  on  entei-ing  the  Church  ;  now  its  refusal  to  him  was  to  shut  the  gate  of 


200  THEOLOGTCAL   STRIFE. 

heaven  in  his  face  forever,  even  in  some  cases  when  lie  was  penitent.  This  Synod 
decreed  that  any  one  who,  after  faitli  in  the  baptism  of  salvation,  shall  fall  into 
idolatry,  or  falsely  accuse  a  bishop,  priest  or  deacon,  '  shall  not  receive  communion 
even  to  death.'  This  is  \vhat  is  meant  by  the  Church  'arming  itself  with  .sacra- 
ments!' And  so  the  Lord's  ordinance  of  thanksgiving  and  commemoration  of  the 
sacrifice  of  Jesus,  '  armed '  the  Church  to  punish  any  one  who  was  absent  from  the 
Church  for  three  Sundays  with  the  penalty  of  denial  to  the  Supper  itself. 

The  whole  trend  of  the  Synod  was  to  make  the  ministry  an  aristocracy,  by 
building  up  sacerdotalism  ;  and  to  this  end  it  was  considerate  of  the  dead,  while  it 
was  harsh  toward  the  living.  The  XXXIVth  article  provided  that,  '  Tapers  shall 
not  be  lighted  in  the  cemetery  during  the  day,  for  the  spirits  of  the  saints  must  not 
be  disquieted.'  Great  homage  was  paid  to  the  martyrs.  One  good  thing  was  done, 
however.  Baptism  had  been  attended  with  gifts  and  offerings  from  the  candidate,  a 
practice  which  had  grown  into  a  regular  tax  exacted  of  all  who  were  immersed. 
The  XLVIIIth  article  forbade  this  tax,  also  the  custom  of  washing  his  feet  after  the 
anointing  with  oil. 

During  the  reign  of  Constantine  the  Empire  was  rocked  by  theological  contest, 
his  Christian  subjects  being  divided  by  bitter  animosity  ;  the  Arian  division  raged 
in  the  East,  the  Donatist  in  the  West.  He  saw  that  this  must  be  healed,  for  polit- 
ical reasons,  if  for  no  other.  The  Donatist  agitation  arose  in  North  Africa,  A.  D. 
311,  in  what  are  now  known  as  the  Barbary  States;  but  it  centered  in  Carthage, 
Numidia  and  the  Mauritanias.  Its  field  covered  nearly  seven  degrees  of  north 
latitude,  immense  centers  of  commerce  and  influence,  soils  and  climates;  marking  a 
stri'tch  of  land  nearly  2,000  miles  long  by  about  300  wide,  reaching  from  Egypt  to 
the  Atlantic,  and  fringing  the  Atlas  mountains,  the  Mediterranean  and  the  desei't. 
The  Punic  wars  had  raged  there  under  Hannibal  and  Africanus,  and  the  contest- 
ants inherited  all  that  was  brave  and  fiery  in  Phoenicia,  Carthage  and  Utica.  Still 
warm  with  this  enterprising  blood,  such  a  people  were  not  likely  to  surrender  their 
Church  independency,  and  take  the  yoke  of  the  Councils  of  the  Catholic  Church 
without  a  struggle.  Constantine's  hands  wei'e  full.  Besides,  a  deep  sigh  had  long 
filled  the  Christian  atmosphere  for  a  retui-n  to  Gospel  simplicity,  and  the  late  per- 
secution opened  the  way  for  its  free  expression.  In  this  region  the  inner  independ- 
ency of  the  Churches  had  been  more  firmly  maintained  than  in  many  other  jjlaces, 
and  the  late  encroachments  upon  it  had  aroused  the  Churches  to  a  determined 
defense.  Merivale  says  of  the  Donatists:  'They  represented  the  broad  i^rinciple  of 
the  Montanists  and  the  Novatians,  that  the  true  Church  of  Christ  is  the  assembly  of 
really  pious  persons  only,  and  admits  of  no  merely  nominal  membership.'  They 
dreaded  any  form  of  un-Christian  mcmber.?hip  which  eats  out  the  .spiritual  fellow- 
ship of  a  Gospel  Church. 

This  is  more  strictly  true  of  their  later  history,  after  they  had  entirely  shaken  oif 
the   Catholic  notion  that  unity  is  of  more  consequence  than  purity,  and  so  that  a 


AN  APPEAL    TO    r.KSAR.  201 

spiritual  regeneration  was  the  prime  qnalilication  for  nieiiiherjliip  in  the  Churclies 
of  Christ.  They  had  come  to  charge  the  Catliolic  with  being  a  fallen  Churcii, 
because  it  had  become  lax  in  its  morals,  tolerating  open  and  notorious  sin,  and  re- 
garding visible  unity  as  a  higher  attribute  of  Church-life  than  personal  purity.  Yet 
notwithstanding  this,  Parmenian,  one  of  their  greatest  writers,  preached  baptismal 
regeneration  as  strongly  as  any  of  the  men  of  his  times. 

Jerome,  Augustine  and  others  class  the  Donatists  with  the  Novatians,  as  to 
general  aim  and  purpose,  and  Augustine  sneers  at  them  as  '  spotless  saints.'  Kurtz 
represents  them  as  holding  that  Church  and  State  should  stand  apart,  and  W;ilsh 
asserts  that  Constantino  had  condemned  them  in  his  decrees,  before  they  ai)peale(i 
to  liimfor  the  trial  of  their  case.'  But  still  the  fact  stands,  that  in  their  controversy 
with  the  Catholics  they  sought  his  decision.  There  has  been  much  dispute  al)out 
their  views  of  infant  baptism,  and  many  affirm  that  they  were  anti-pedobaptists, 
notably  amongst  these  Guy  de  Bres,  who  said  :  'That  they  demanded  that  baptized 
infants  ought  to  be  baptized  again  as  adults.  ■*  Although  this  controversy  was  not 
general  at  this  time,  yet  as  it  was  somewhat  rife  in  Africa,  it  is  quite  likely  that  they 
took  this  position,  as  they  took  their  rise  there;  and  Augustine's  letters  against 
them  imply  the  same.  They  certainly  rebaptized  those  who  came  to  them  from 
other  comnninions,  but  Dr.  Owen  thinks  only  because  the  impurity  of  other 
Churches  rendered  their  baptism  null ;  while  Long  says  that  they  refused  to  baptize 
infants.*  It  is  commonly  conceded  that  Augustine  wrote  a  separate  work  against 
them  on  infant  baptism,  which  has  not  come  down  to  us.  If  he  did,  the  fair  infer- 
ence would  be  that  they  rejected  that  doctrine. 

Still,  as  is  usual  with  all  true  reformers,  they  were  reluctant  to  break  u|)  old 
ties,  and  a  petty,  party  strife  must  needs  bring  on  a  collision  between  them  and 
their  opponents.  Mensurius,  Bishop  of  Carthage,  manfully  opposed  the  mania 
which  led  thousands  to  court  martyrdom  in  order  to  take  the  martyr's  crown ;  be- 
cause he  thought  it  savored  more  of  suicide  than  of  enforced  sacrifice  for  Christ. 
But  he  died  in  311,  and  Caecilianus,  who  was  of  the  same  opinion,  was  elected  to 
fill  his  place,  with  which  election  a  majority  were  dissatisfied.  Others  were  dis- 
pleased because  he  had  l>een  ordained  by  Felix,  who  was  charged  with  giving  up 
the  Bible  to  be  burnt,  and  a  division  took  place  in  the  Church.  The  retiring  party 
first  elected  Majorinus  their  bishop,  who  soon  died,  and  after  him  Donatus  of 
CasJE  Nigrje  (that  is,  of  the  Black  Huts).  This  party  increased  greatly,  and  was 
read  out  of  the  Catholic  body,  Constantino  taking  sides  against  them.  At  this 
point  they  fell  into  the  great  and  strange  blunder  of  appealing  to  the  Emperor  to 
redress  their  grievances.  Nothing  could  have  been  more  stupid  or  inconsistent. 
They  were  struggling  for  a  pure  Church  against  the  laxness  of  the  Catholic  party, 
the  head  of  which  party  was  himself  unbaptized  and  a  serai-heathen ;  asking  him 
to  make  the  Church  at  Carthage  and  elsewhere  pure  by  the  exercise  of  his  political 
power!     Tiie  proposition  itself  put  the  knife  to  the  throat  uf  their  own  principles, 


202  C^f^SAIt  ACCEPTH    THE  APPEAL. 

by  tendering  an  alliance  of  tiie  Chnrcli  witii  the  State,  in  disregard  of  its  Gospel 
constitution.  Nor  can  this  folly  be  extenuated ;  they  knew  enough  to  seek  a 
pure  Church  for  Christ,  and  should  have  sought  that  blessing  according  to  his 
knuwii  will.  Nominally  they  held  tn  the  cntiiv  scparutidu  uf  tlie  Church  from  the 
St;itc,  and  that  persecution  for  religious  npininii  was  an  diipression  of  a  free  con- 
science ;  yet,  when  they  fell  into  disputes  with  their  o]iponents  they  were  the  first  to 
a]>pi'al  to  the  civil  authority  to  settle  them. 

Here,  then,  with  all  the  goodness,  zeal  and  manliness  of  tlie  Donatists,  they  had 
the  fully  tci  inv(ik-(^  the  secular  power  to  settle  a  purely  religious  dispute  between 
Christians.  Yet  it  is  but  just  to  say  that,  so  far  as  is  known,  this  is  an  isolated  act 
in  their  history,  and  not  one  of  a  number  in  the  same  line.  Bitterly  they  repented 
of  their  folly.  Their  '  appeal  to  Caesar '  was  sent  in  a  sealed  package  of  papers, 
in  a  leather  bag,  inscribed  :  '  Statement  of  the  Catholic  Church,  presented  l>y  those 
in  communion  with  Majorinus,  in  proof  of  the  crimes  of  Csecilian.'  Tlieir  petition 
closed  with  the  words  : 

'  We  address  ourselves  to  yon,  most  excellent  Prince,  because  you  are  of  a 
righteous  parentage,  and  the  son  of  a  father  who  did  not  persecute  us,  as  did  his 
colleagues  the  other  Emperors.  Since,  therefore,  the  regions  of  Caul  have  not 
fallen  into  the  sin  of  surrendering  the  Scriptures,  and,  since  there  arc  disputes  be- 
tween us  and  other  prelates  of  Africa,  we  supplicate  your  Piety,  that  our  cause  may 
be  submitted  to  judges  chosen  from  Gaul.'  ^ 

Under  tlie  old  faith,  as  Pontifex  ]\Iaximus,  the  Emperor  was  the  judge  in  all 
]-eligious  affairs,  and  so  his  '  Piety  '  was  now  ready  to  oblige  them,  and  he  called  a 
Council  at  Rome,  October,  A.  D.  313,  of  over  thirty  bishops,  who  decided  against 
the  Donatists.  They  asked  him  for  a  second  hearing,  and  he  called  the  Council  of 
Aries,  314,  composed  of  more  than  two  hundred  bishops  from  Gaul,  Brittany,  Ger- 
many, Spain  and  Africa.  In  his  letter  to  this  body  he  says  that  they  should  not 
have  called  on  him  to  judge  in  such  difficulties,  and  charged  them  with  '  Acting 
like  the  heathen  in  calling  upon  him  to  settle  their  religious  disputes.'  When 
writing  of  the  same  Council  to  Celsus,  Vicar  of  Africa,  he  says  that  he  felt  strictly 
bound  to  fulfill  '  the  duties  of  a  prince,  and  extirpate  all  the  errors  which  the  rash- 
ness of  man  has  introduced,  and  to  establish  union  and  concord  amongst  the  faithful.' 
But  in  his  letter  to  the  Prefect  Ablavius  he  puts  his  duty  in  a  stronger  light,  thus : 
'  I  do  not  believe  that  it  is  permitted  us  to  tolerate  these  divisions  and  disputes, 
which  may  draw  down  the  wrath  of  God,  not  only  upon  the  Commonwealth,  but 
also  upon  myself,  whom  his  divine  will  has  charged  with  the  care  and  management 
of  all  things  upon  earth.' 

The  Council  of  Aries  decided  against  the  Dojiatists,  when  they  suddenly  awoke 
to  their  mistake  in  staining  one  of  the  cardinal  truths  in  Church  liberty ;  for  the 
Emperor  enforced  the  decision  M'ith  the  secular  arm.  Accounting  the  Donatists 
enemies  of  the  State,  he  deprived  thena  of  their  churches,  confiscated  their  property, 


Tim  rouxcTL  of  nictja.  203 

and  banished  their  hisliops  or  pastors,  of  whom  Moshciin  says  that  tliey  had  four 
hundred  in  North  Africa,  wliich  number  prechides  the  idea  that  tliey  were  either 
of  the  metropolitan  or  diocesan  order.  The  Donatists  defied  liis  autliority,  but  with 
ill  consistency,  and  he  sent  an  armed  force  to  Africa  to  subdue  them.  This  was 
the  first  Christian  blood  ever  shed  in  a  disgraceful  contest  amongst  themselves; 
yet  Constantino  piously  tells  Celsus  that  he  was  laboring  tliat  '  the  true  religion 
may  be  embraced  by  all  the  world.''  Afterward  he  undertook  to  settle  tiic  Arian 
controversy,  which  Jortin  describes,  as  '  the  occasion  of  innumerable  lies,  slanders, 
forgeries,  pretended  miracles,  banishments  and  murders,'  and  '  of  many  false  and 
partial  histories.'  In  order  to  end  this  contest,  Constantino  assembled  the  Council 
of  Nicfea,  a  city  of  Bithynia,  near  Constantinople,  May  20,  A.  D.  325.  The  num- 
ber of  bishops  present  is  put  down  at  from  250  to  320 ;  and  Dean  Stanley  says  that 
each  bishop  was  allowed  two  presbyters  and  three  slaves  as  his  retinue.  The 
Emperor,  who  was  fond  of  prodigality  and  display,  brought  them  together  and 
maintained  them  in  state  at  his  own  expense.  Great  interest  was  excited,  from  the 
fact  that  he  was  the  first  Roman  prince  who  had  publicly  consorted  with  the  Chris- 
tians, and  so  scholars,  philosophers  and  men  of  rank  flocked  in  from  all  directions. 
Christianity  had  but  just  emerged  from  the  blood  and  wreck  of  persecution,  and 
such  a  body  of  veteran  confessors  had  never  met  together  before.  They  came  from 
all  parts  of  Asia  Minor,  Syria,  Palestine,  Phoenicia  and  Arabia,  one  coming  from 
Persia,  and  one  even  from  Gothia.  They  presented  a  stirring  appearance  when 
assembled  in  the  imperial  palace,  most  of  them  bearing  some  mark  of  suffering  for 
Christ.  They  had  been  tortured,  maimed,  scarified,  and  some  of  them  were  blind. 
Hot  irons  had  plowed  furrows  upon  some  of  them,  some  had  an  arm  cut  off;  one 
of  the  Asian  bishops  had  lost  the  use  of  botli  his  hands  by  burning,  and  another  from 
Upper  Egypt  had  his  right  eye  dug  out.  As  Christian  warriors  they  needed  but  the 
entry  of  the  Captain  of  their  salvation,  with  the  wounds  of  the  spines,  the  spikes  and 
the  spear,  to  make  their  sacramental  congress  perfect.  Then  had  they  cast  themselves 
at  his  feet  to  kiss  the  sacred  prints,  each  in  holy  love  exclaiming  :  '  My  Lord  and 
my  God ! '  and  he  had  breathed  upon  them  his  holier  salaam  :  '  Peace  be  unto  you ! ' 
Alas  for  them,  with  all  their  fortitude,  the  simplicity  of  the  Upper  Room,  the 
'  piece  of  broiled  fish  and  the  honey-comb,'  had  given  place  to  royal  apparel,  princely 
fare  and  'king's  houses  ;'  but  there  was  no  Son  of  Man  returning  fresh  from  Edom. 
They  sat  waiting  in  solemn  silence;  but  a  new  Head  of  the  Church  came  in,  and 
they  rose  to  do  him  reverence.  He  was  of  majestic  height  and  bearing,  wrapped 
in  royal  purple,  with  a  golden  fillet  on  his  head  and  without  a  thorn-scar  on  his 
temples.  He  had  not  redeemed  the  Church  with  his  blood,  he  had  not  stained  his 
raiment  in  the  sacrificial  wine-press.  His  flushed  face  and  downcast  eyes  were  re- 
flected back  in  the  gems  of  his  vesture ;  the  sword  of  nations  and  the  shepherd's 
crook  lay  at  his  side;  but  where  was  the  Good  Shepherd  who  laid  down  his  life 
for  the  shee]>?     This  is  Caesar,  and  not  'another  King,  one  Jesus!     When  seated 


204  rONI^TANTTNE  AND    THE  ARIANS. 

in  tlio  golduii  cliaii-  jilaccd  fur  liiin  in  their  midst,  lie  gave  a  sign,  and  eacli  bisliop, 
according  to  his  rank,  sat  ddwn  in  his  presence.  How  are  the  mighty  fallen!  Their 
lawful  sovereign  and  good  friend  was  iiailed  as  tlieir  Head,  and  they  waited  for  his 
image  and  '  superscription '  to  attest  their  orthodoxy ;  for  the  first  time  the  old 
Baptist  Churches  of  the  world  are  found  crouching  at  a  monarch's  feet !  Farewell, 
soul-liberty,  hie  thee  to  the  wilderness  for  a  time !  This  liody  sat  until  the  25th  of  July, 
and  the  Emperor  presided  over  its  Councils  most  of  the  time,  aided  now  and  then 
by  Hosius.  Constantino  addressed  it  graciously,  listened  to  and  took  part  in  its  de- 
bates, led  it  to  its  decisions,  and  confirmed  its  decrees.  He  closed  tlie  sessions  with 
a  great  banquet  on  his  birthilay,  and  loaded  its  members  with  imperial  gifts.  He 
even  embraced  I'aphnutius,  kissing  the  empty  socket  from  which  his  eye  had  been 
torn,  and  exhorted  all  the  bishops  to  pi'uyers  for  himself,  his  family  and  the 
Empire ;  then  he  bade  them  farewell ! 

After  the  Council,  Constantine  became  bitter  toward  the  Arians,  although  he 
finally  became  an  Arian  himself.  He  banished  Arius  and  ordered  his  works  to  be 
bni'nt,  threatening  with  death  all  who  kept  them,  and  all  who  rejected  the  findings 
of  the  Council  (Mine  under  its  anathema,  the  civil  power  enforcing  uniformity 
where  it  could  not  be  commanded  by  reason.  The  Einjieror  issued  an  edict  against 
all  dissenters,  saying :  '  Know  ye,  Moravians,  Valentinians,  Mareionites,  Paulians 
and  Cataphrygians  (that  is,  various  Gnostic  and  Montanist  sects),  that  your  doctrine 
is  but  vain  and  false.  O  ye  enemies  of  truth,  authors  and  counselors  of  deatli,  ye 
siiread  abroad  lies,  oppress  the  innocent,  and  hide  from  the  faithful  the  light  of 
truth.'  Then  he  forbids  their  meetings  in  private  or  public,  orders  their  places  of 
worship  pulled  down,  and  their  property  confiscated  to  the  'Catholic  Church.' 
Eusebius,  of  Cnesarea,  was  delighted  with  this  edict,  and  berated  the  lieretics  as 
'  hypocrites,  caterpillars  and  locusts.'  The  Arians  and  others  suffered  friglitfully, 
and  the  pagans  stood  astonished ;  for  while  they  had  various  sects  amongst  them- 
selves, they  never  persecuted  each  other  to  enforce  uniformity.  After  A.  D.  330 
Rome  and  Constantinople  became  the  highest  sacerdotal  seats,  with  boundaries  an- 
swering to  those  of  the  Empire,  and  the  will  of  the  court  held  the  scales  of  orthodoxy 
and  heterodoxy  ;  all  who  differed  with  the  dictates  of  the  Emperor  and  his  party 
were  guilty  of  'heresy  and  schism.' 

The  condition  of  things  at  that  moment  is  well  set  forth  by  Niebuhr  in  tlie 
following  words:  'The  religion  which  he  had  in  his  head  inu.st  have  been  a  strange 
compound  indeed.  The  man  who  had  on  his  coins  the  inscription,  "Sol  invictus," 
who  worshiped  pagan  deities,  consulted  the  auspices  (diviners),  and  indulged  in  a 
number  of  pagan  superstitions,  and  interfered  in  the  Council  of  Nice,  must  have 
been  a  repulsive  phenomenon,  and  was  certainly  not  a  Christian.  He  was  a  super- 
stitious man,  and  mixed  up  his  Christian  religion  with  all  kinds  of  absurd  superstitions 
and  opinions ;  when,  therefore,  certain  Oriental  writers  call  him  equal  to  an  Apostle, 
they  know  not    what  they  are   saying ;  and   to   speak  of  him  as  a  saint  is  a  profa- 


PAGAN  ADMIXTURES.  203 

iiatinii  iif  till!  word.''  Thus  that  fantastic  niixtiiro  of  ,Iii(liiisiii,  heathenism  and 
Christianity,  tlien  called  the  'Catholic  Church,'  became  one  compact  Roman  system, 
held  together  by  bonds  within  and  pressure  without,  exalted  into  a  tremendous 
mysteiT  of  rite  and  pomp — a  vci'y  trampling  tyranny.  The  Carpenter  of  Nazareth 
was  to  be  no  longer  strong  in  his  own  weakness,  but  was  to  be  made  mighty  by  the 
paralysis  inflicted  through  an  imperial,  half-pagan  autocrat ! 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  here  to  state  how  soon  every  sort  of  su]>erstition  and 
heathen  ceremony  was  mixed  with  this  State  Christianity.  The  bones  of  Stephen 
were  found  by  a  revelation  from  Gamaliel,  Paul's  teacher,  after  they  had  rested  for 
three  centuries.  IVIany  made  pilgrimages  to  his  shrine  at  Jerusalem  and  were  won- 
derfully healed,  while  others  made  wonderful  sums  of  money  out  of  the  exhibition 
of  these  relics.  The  bodies  of  Luke  and  Andrew  were  discovered,  and  removed  to  a 
great  temple  which  the  Emperor  had  built  in  Constantinople.  The  remains  of 
Joseph  of  Arimathea  were  recovered,  and  large  portions  of  stone  and  earth  removed 
from  his  tomb  for  nn'raculous  uses.  Most  wonderful  of  all,  Helena,  Constantine's 
mother,  found  the  real  cross  of  Christ,  not  that  which  her  son  saw  in  the  sky,  but 
that  on  which  Jesus  sniTcred  ;  and  although  it  had  been  bui'ied  for  three  centuries, 
the  wood  was  as  sound  as  the  heart  of  oak  I  This  proved  an  immense  treasure. 
It  not  only  wrought  miracles,  but  although  countless  pieces  were  taken  all  ovei-  the 
world,  it  grew  no  less ;  at  any  rate  that  is  what  Tillemont  says.  It  was  a  sad  ovei-- 
sight  that  Constantine  did  not  build  a  war-ship  out  of  its  wood  for  blowing  heretics 
to  atoms.  Besides  all  this,  it  is  estimated  that  by  the  end  of  the  fourth  century 
27,000  monks  and  nuns  were  found  in  Egypt  alone,  most  of  whom  were  piously 
austere,  ignorant  and  lazy. 

These,  and  many  other  things  are  stated  by  numerous  M'riters  of  the  hierarchj', 
with  pride  and  even  with  triumph,  and  we  cannot  but  honor  their  frankness.  So 
far  from  attempting  to  disguise  these  things  by  pious  lying,  it  is  their  delight  to  make 
them  known,  with  others  just  as  disgraceful.  Take,  for  example.  Cardinal  Baronius, 
who  says  with  delicious  openness :  '  It  is  allowable  for  the  Church  to  transfer  to  pious 
uses  those  ceremonies  which  the  pagans  emploj'ed  impiously  to  superstitious  wor- 
ship, after  they  have  been  purified  by  consecration  ;  for  the  devil  is  the  more  mortified 
to  see  those  things  turned  to  the  service  of  Jesus  Christ,  wliich  were  instituted  for 
his  own.'  Polidore  Virgil  says :  '  The  Church  has  borrowed  several  customs  from 
the  religion  of  the  Romans  and  other  heathens ;  but  that  they  have  improved  them 
and  put  them  to  a  better  use.'  ^  And  Guillaume  du  Choul  suras  up  the  whole  case 
in  these  words :  '  If  we  examine  narrowly  we  shall  discover  that  several  institutions 
of  our  religion  have  been  transferred  frona  the  Egyptian  and  other  Gentile  cere- 
monies. Such  as  the  tunics  and  surplices,  the  crowns  or  tonsures,  of  our  priests, 
bowing  round  the  altar ;  the  sacrificial  pomp,  church-music,  adorations,  prayers,  sup- 
plications, processions,  litanies  and  several  other  things  which  our  priests  use  in  their 
mysteries;  offering  up  to  our  only   God,  Jesus  Christ,   what  the  ignorance  of  the 


206  PEUVKU.SIO.SS  UEtilHTED. 

Gentiles,  with  their  false  religion  and  foolish  presumption,  offered  to  their  false 
deities  and  to  mortal  men  of  their  own  deifying.' '"  Even  Eusebins,  in  the  life-time 
of  Constantine,  reports  that :  '  This  Emperor,  to  make  the  Christian  religion  more 
plausible  to  the  Gentiles,  adopted  into  it  the  exterior  cjrnament.s  which  they  used 
in  their  religion.' 

These  corrujjtions  were  lamented  and  resisted  by  brave  and  earnest  men,  l)nt 
with  slight  success ;  partly  because  they  themselves  held  some  paljiable  error,  and 
because  they  were  assailed  with  calumny  and  I'eseiitmeiit.  Amongst  these  was 
Aerius,  a  presbyter,  A.  D.  355,  who  maintained  that  the  JVew  Testament  makes  a 
]>resbyter  a  bishop,  condemned  prayers  for  the  dead,  rejected  all  fasts  ordained 
by  the  Church  and  attemi^ted  to  restore  Apostolic  discipline.  Ke  had  many  fol- 
hiwers.  '  For  some  time  his  Jjarty,  the  Aerians,'  says  Ilerzog,  '  assembled  in  the 
open  fields,  in  forests  and  among  the  iiiuuntains;  but,  persecuted  from  all  sides,  it 
soon  melted  away.'  "  The  bitterness  of  the  writers  of  those  times  shows  that  these 
bare-faced  pervei'sions  were  met  by  formidable  resistance;  but  ingenuity  circum- 
vented these  struggles,  cursed  and  branded  the  men  and  crushed  out  their  measures. 
A  remarkable  case  of  this  soit  is  found  in  the  manner  in  which  Jerome  trampled 
upon  Jovinian  and  Yigilantus.  His  injustice  comes  to  the  face  of  his  own  reports, 
through  exaggerated  noise  and  vulgar  abuse.  Jovinian  was  one  of  the  best-known 
heretics  in  the  last  half  of  this  period.  He  was  thoroughly  versed  in  the  Script- 
ures, and  wrote  stoutly  against  voluntary  martyrdom,  fasting  and  monkery.  He 
also  contended  that  all  baptized  believers  have  morally  the  same  calling,  dignity, 
grace  and  blessedness.  So  great  was  his  influence,  that  a  Synod  was  held  at  Rome, 
A.  I).  oOO,  at  which  he  was  condemned,  and  a  second  followed  at  Milan.  305.  He 
held  the  vital  principle  of  regeneration  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  the  perseverance  of 
the  saints,  and  denied  the  perpetual  vii-ginity  of  Mary.  It  is  believed  that  he  was 
scourged  at  Home,  aiul  banished  for  holding  conventicles.  So  far  as  we  can  judge 
from  his  writings  quoted  by  Jerome,  he  held,  in  substance,  the  same  views  as  those 
of  Luther. 

Vigilantus  was  born  in  Gaul,  and  ordained  a  presbyter  A.  D.  395.  He  went 
to  Palestine,  thinking  that  he  would  find  things  tliei-e,  iu  the  cradle  of  Christianity, 
much  after  the  Apostolic  order.  Instead  of  this  he  was  disgusted,  as  Luther  was 
afterward  at  Eonie,  and  returned.  Then,  he  and  Jerome  fell  into  controversy.  He 
attacked  the  worship  of  the  martyrs  and  of  relics  as  a  lapse  into  paganism ;  mak- 
ing an  attack,  also,  upon  the  claim  of  sujjerior  sanctity  in  clergymen,  monasteries, 
celibacy  and  the  vows  of  poverty.  To  these  two  we  may  add  a  most  noble  advo- 
cate of  liberty  of  conscience  in  Lactantius.  He  was  the  tutor  of  Crispus,  the  son 
of  Constantine,  as  well  as  the  historian  of  the  Diocletian  persecution,  and,  according 
to  Milman,  the  adviser  of  the  Emperor  in  questions  of  legislation.  From  full  con- 
viction, he  became  a  Christian  in  early  life,  and  stoutly  defended  religious  freedom. 
He  says: 


JEROME'S  ILL    TEMPER.  207 

'  To  defend  religion  by  bloodslied,  torture  and  crime,  is  not  to  defend,  but  to  ])ol- 
lute  and  profane  it.  For  notliiui;-  is  so  nnicli  a  matter  of  fi-ee-\viil  as  religion,  in 
which  if  the  mind  of  tlie  worshi]>ei-  is  disinclined,  religion  is  at  once  taken  awaj'  and 
ceases  to  exist.  The  right  way  to  defend  religion  is  by  patient  endurance  unto 
death,  tiirough  which  the  keeping  of  tiie  faith  is  pleasing  to  God,  and  adds  noth- 
ing to  the  truth.'  '^ 

Besides  these,  we  have  llelvidius,  who  lived  at  Rome  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
century.  He  and  Jovinian  were  the  first  who  dared  to  attack  the  doctrine  of  Mary's 
perpetual  virginity ;  and  he  also  assailed  nunnery  and  other  evils.  After  Jerome 
had  written  bitterly  against  Vigilautus  in  his  sixty-first  letter,  he  attempted  to  answer 
llelvidius,  under  great  excitement.  He  did  them  great  injustice  by  that  most  cow- 
ardly thing  which  a  man  can  do,  namely :  to  misrepresent  his  opponent,  and  so  cut 
oflE  his  appeal  to  an  unbiased  posterity.  The  pen  of  Jerome  was  rendered  very 
offensive  by  his  grinding  tyranny  and  crabbed  temper.  No  matter  how  wrong  he 
was,  he  could  not  brook  contradiction.  In  these  cases,  it  were  simply  mild  to  call 
his  composition  venom;  for  no  man  can  read  his  replies  to  the  simple  and  inoffensive 
words  which  he  quotes  from  Vigilantus  without  disgust.  He  pretends  to  call  it 
'sacrilege,'  either  to  hear  or  repeat  what  his  opponent  says.  He  then  calls  him  a 
'Jew,' a  'Samaritan'  and  a 'madman,  disgorging  a  filthy  surfeit.'  Pie  said  that 
his  tongue  was  only  fit  to  be  cut  out — he  had  a  '  fetid  mouth,  fraught  -with  a  putrid 
stench,  against  the  relics  and  ashes  of  the  martyrs.'  He  denounces  him  as  a  '  dog,'  a 
'maniac,'  a  'monster,'  an  'ass,'  a  'fool,'  a  'glutton,'  a  'servant  of  the  devil,'  and  a 
'useless  vessel  which  shall  be  shivered  by  the  iron  rod  of  Apostolic  authority,'  with 
a  few  other  names  quite  as  gentle  and  saintly.  Jovinian  received  the  same  treat- 
ment from  this  delectable  doctor.  This  reformer  had  said  that  there  was  no  differ- 
ence of  merit  between  the  married  and  the  unmarried.  This  made  Jerome's  pious 
indignation  boil  over,  and  he  calls  the  statement  a  'savage  howling  of  ferocious 
wolves,  scaring  the  flock  ; '  with  other  characteristic  sayings  of  a  slightly  acid  sort. 
Possibly,  an  interpretation  of  this  animus  is  given  in  the  '  Eetractationes '  of 
Augustine  when  he  laments  the  Jovinian  heresy,  which  had  so  far  prevailed  at 
Rome,  that  several  nuns,  whose  honor  was  spotless,  had  been  led  away  into  the  error 
of  matrimony. 

One  marked  feature  which  relieves  the  tendencies  of  this  age  is  the  vigor  with 
which  the  Scriptures  were  multiplied.  Few  had  ever  possessed  complete  copies  of 
them,  and  these  were  now  rare,  the  late  Bible-burnings  having  made  a  famine  of  the 
word  of  God  ;  it  was,  therefore,  in  great  demand,  and  great  efforts  were  made  to 
meet  that  demand.  Diligent  search  was  made  for  copies  that  had  escaped  destruc- 
tion, and  transcripts  of  them  were  multiplied.  Constantine  instructed  Eusebius  to 
have  fifty  copies  of  the  Sacred  Writings  beautifully  engrossed  on  parchment  '  by 
artificial  transcribers  of  books,  most  skilful  in  the  art  of  accurate  and  fair  writing, 
which  (copies)  must  be  very  legible  and  easily  portable,  in  order  to  their  being  used.' 
He  also  dispatclied    letters  to   his  civil   officers    in  various  provinces,  to  see    that 


208  THE  SVItll'TCUES    ClUCULATEJ). 

(jvery  thing  iieeessai-y  was  provided  fur  this  wurk,  and  .supplied  two  j'ublic-  camages 
to  convey  thcni  to  him  at  Coustantiin  iple,  at  his  expense.  Tiiis  order  was  immediately 
executed,  and  the  fifty  copies  were  ^eut  tu  him  '  in  volumes  magniticently  adorned."'^ 
Pie  also  established  a  library  in  the  imperial  city,  into  wliidi  he  gathered  nearly  seven 
thousand  volumes,  chiefly  of  Christian  books.  Tliis  grew  to  a  Imndred  thousand  in 
the  days  of  the  younger  Theodosius,  most  of  which  were  destroyed  by  the  Emperor 
Len  III.  Tisehendorf  conjectures  that  the  Sinaitic  MS.,  whicli  he  discoveivd  in  the 
l\[onastery  of  St.  Katharine,  on  Mount  Sinai,  A.  D.  1854-59,  miglit  have  formed 
'  (Jne  of  tlie  fifty  copies  of  the  Bible  which,  in  the  year  331,  the  Emperor  Constan- 
tino ordered  to  be  executed  for  Constantinople.'  '^ 

The  people  had  no  power  to  resist  the  decisions  of  Councils,  now  enforced  by 
the  Emperor;  and  tlieir  free  use  of  the  Scriptures  may  have  greatly  paciiied  them 
to  bear  more  patiently  the  many  innovations  which  had  crept  into  the  CInirch. 
Possibly  with  this  in  view,  the  Council  of  Nicnea  ordained  that  '  No  Christian  should 
be  without  tlie  Scriptures,' — that  of  Antioch,  A.  D.  341,  that  those  who  stayed  at 
))ublic  worship  only  to  hear  the  Scriptures  read,  without  partaking  of  the  eucharist, 
should  he  excommunicated ;  and  that  of  Laodicea,  A.  D.  343-381,  '  That  the  Gos- 
pels, with  the  other  Scriptures,  ought  to  be  read  on  the  Sabbath  day.'  The  monks 
of  those  days  were  diligent  students  of  the  Sci-iptures ;  for  Chrysostom  not  only 
exhorts  '  the  servant,  the  rustic  and  the  widow,'  to  read  them,  but  he  asks,  '  Are 
the  Scriptures  to  be  read  only  by  monks?'  And  the  common  people  used  them 
freely,  even  the  women  and  children  hanging  the  Gospels  about  their  necks,  a  fact 
proving  that  something  more  is  needful  to  a  pure  Christianity  than  free  access  to 
the  Bible.  A  Bible  possessed  but  neglected,  or  used  and  distorted,  leads  to  the  same 
result  in  substance ;  on  the  principle  understood  and  adopted  by  Julian  the  Apostate, 
when  he  forbade  Christian  educators  to  teach  Gentile  learning :  '  Lest,  being  furnished 
with  our  armor,  they  make  war  upon  us  with  our  own  weapons.' 

This  century  was  likewise  very  active  in  the  revision  and  circulation  of  the 
Scriptures  in  several  languages.  Jerome,  the  crabbed  monk  of  whom  we  have  already 
spoken,  devoted  his  life  chiefly  to  the  revision  of  the  already  existing  Latin  versions, 
known  as  the  Ante-Hieronymian,  that  is,  those  made  before  his  time,  as  the  word 
denotes.  This  most  learned  of  all  the  Latin  fathers,  A.  D.  331-420,  undertook  his 
woi'k  at  the  request  of  Damasus,  the  Bishop  of  Rome.  Much  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment he  translated  from  the  original  Hebrew,  but  his  revision  of  the  New  was  based 
upon  the  old  Latin  version  known  as  the  Itala,  compared  with  the  Greek  text. 
His  work  is  now  known  as  the  Vulgate,  or  current  Latin  text  of  the  Bible,  and 
is  declared  by  the  Papal  Constitution  to  be  '  authentic,  and  unquestioned,  in  all 
private  discussion,  reading,  preaching  and  explanation.'  By  '  authentic,'  here,  is 
meant  authoritative,  and  Sixtus  V.  threatened  to  excommunicate  all  who  should  vary 
from  that  text.  Yet,  the  Vulgate  as  we  have  it  to-day  is  not  the  unchanged  text 
chat  Jerome  left,  for  some  of  its  renderings  have  been  corrupted  and  made  to   tit 


JEROME'S   VERSION.  209 

into  certain  dogmas,  as  Fulkc  lias  siiown  in  countless  instances  in  his  '  Confutation 
of  the  liheniish  Testament.'  Whether  these  were  made  by  Pope  Sixtus,  or  by  Clement 
VIII.,  it  is  not  easy  to  decide,  as  both  of  them  changed  Jerome's  version.  Clement 
charged  that  the  edition  of  Sixtus  swarmed  with  error.s,  and  made  two  thousand 
changes  therefrom.  But  Jerome  himself  introduced,  or  at  least  sanctioned  the 
system  of  Latinizing  Greek  words  by  introducing  them  into  the  Latin  Bible;  the 
obvious  effect  of  which  was  to  render  his  version  obscure,  or,  as  the  historian. 
Fuller,  says,  liis  translation  'needed  to  be  translated  over  again.'  And  of  the  Vul- 
gate as  rendered  in  the  Rhemish  New  Testament,  the  same  writer  (juaintly  .says : 
'Tliey  could  no  longer  Mindt'oUl  the  laity  from  the  Scriptures,  resolved  to  tit  them 
with  false  spectacles."  '^ 

Ihit  Jerome  said  of  his  own  version,  that  he  had  '  Corrected  only  those  eri'ors 
which  seemed  to  change  the  sense,  and  had  pnniittcd  tiie  rest  to  remain  ;'  and  that 
lie  had  used  for  the  purpose  'Greek  copies  which  did  not  much  differ  from  the  usual 
Latin  reading.'  Amongst  many  Greek  words  which  he  transferred  instead  of  trans- 
lating them,  was  the  family  of  words  relating  to  baptism,  making  them  clu.ster  around 
the  verb  'laptizo ;  '  so  that,  those  who  knew  the  Latin  only,  could  not  possibly  tell 
wiiat  tiiose  words  meant.  Tliis  new  coined  method  of  keeping  back  the  meaning  of 
(ukI's  coiiiniands  has  debauched  the  consciences  of  translators,  and  perverted  many 
vcnsioiis  from  Jerome's  time  to  our  own,  by  copying  his  pernicious  example, 
and  refusing  to  translate  the  exact  sense  of  these  words  into  the  mother-tongues  of 
tiiose  for  whom  their  translations  have  been  made.  And  what  has  rendered  this 
jiractice  the  more  blameworthy  has  been,  the  common  pretense,  either  that  these 
\\-ords  wei-e  too  holy  to  be  translated,  that  their  meaning  was  immaterial,  that  it  was 
indetinite,  or  tiiat  they  were  incapable  of  translation,  for  want  of  proper  ecpiiva- 
lents  ill  the  t(>ni;ues  in  which  these  versions  were  made.  The  soul  of  a  translator 
who  attempts  to  pull  that  sort  of  wool  over  the  eyes  of  honest  folk,  would  suffer  no 
injury  by  a  very  literal  rendering  from  the  Greek,  of  Eev.  xxi,  8,  especially  if  he 
made  it  when  alone  on  his  knees  before  God.  Possibly,  Cartwright  and  Fulke  had 
some  such  thought  in  mind  when  they  said  of  the  Rhemish  Testament :  '  That,  com- 
pared with  the  authentical  Greek  text,  it  is,  in  many  places,  ridiculous,  insincere, 
untrue  ;  and,  consecpiently,  of  no  authority.'  This  conduct  of  Jerome  in  forming 
the  Vulgate,  justly  brought  upon  him  the  censure  of  Baillet,  when  he  says :  '  It  is 
agreed  that  Jerome  may  be  the  greatest  saint  ..f  all  translators,  but  that  he  is  not 
the  most  exact.  He  hath  taken  liberties  which  the  laws  of  translation  will  not 
admit,  and  his  adversary,  Rufinus,  fails  not  to  charge  him  with  it.'  '* 

But  this  was  not  the  character  of  all  the  versions  made  in  the  fourth  century. 
For  example,  the  '  Gothic,'  by  Ulphilas,  is  pronounced  by  scholars  to  be  very  faith- 
ful and  accurate.  This  able  and  devout  bishop  of  the  Goths  had  induced  his  coun- 
trymen to  become  Christians,  and  they  reposed  boundless  confidence  in  him,  saying 
that  whatever  he  did  was  well  done.  He  was  of  Cappadocian  ancestry,  but  was  a 
15 


iia 

tivf  (idtli  ; 

slill,  as 

his 

sti 

•net  a  laii,-i 

la-r  l(.r  ' 

tllCI 

til. 

L-(iiv..k.  1. 

;itili    and 

i;i 

ti-, 

iiislatidii   ul 

f   (Ik;  Oil 

1   a 

CI 

in.inclcs;  ; 

1.1(1  tra.li 

tioi 

licrcc  passion 

s  of  Lis 

l>v, 

an 

longst  the 

most  val 

iial 

fr: 

ijiiiifiits  cover  the  1 

arg 

e  f,,iin<l  it  iir. 

■ess:: 

)f   tllU  (iuthil-  1 

L.rk.      Into   thi 

is    ll 

I  /;//>rs    Til  A  NSLA  TIONS 


ll  .Xcw  Testaments,  excepting  tlie  Books  of  Kings  and 
says,  that  tln-s('  were  omitted  lest  they  sliould  increase  the 
)le  fdi-  war.  The  relies  which  are  left  of  his  version  are 
e  of  aiitiijuity,  as  it  was  made  fnaii  the  (4reek  text.  These 
r  ])art  of  the  JVew  Testament,  and  he  translates  the  verb 
Ixijitirjd  liy  the  word  ^  daujijiai'  which  means  to  dip.  Tregelles  thinks  this  to  have 
Keen  the  vernacular  IJihle  of  a  great  part  of  Europe  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  cent- 
uries, riphilas  lived  A.  D.  nil-;isi,  and  after  the  ninth  century  his  translation 
was  lost  until  the  sixteenth,  when  the  Gospels  were  recovered  ;  in  tlie  nineteenth, 
his  Epistles  of  Paul  were  found.  German  scholars  find  tlie  Gotliic  of  this  ver.sion 
superior  to  the  German  language,  of  which  it  is  the  parent,  in  richness  and  dignity 
of  expressiiin,  as  well  as  harmony  and  purity  of  tone. 

The  Ethiiipie  version,  nieiitinned  by  Chrysostom  in  his  second  homily  on  .Tuhn's 
(tosjicI,  was  made  in  the  ancient  and  vernacular  tongue  of  Ahyssinia.  hut  by  whom 
is  IK  it  known.  It  is  commonly  referred  to  Frumentius,  who  first  ].)reaelied  Chris- 
tianity in  thtit  eouiitry  ;  lint  at  the  best  tliis  is  niily  tradition.  It  is  generally  ascribed 
to  this  eeiitury.  and  is  regarded  as  the  ohlest  nioniinient  of  Ethiopic  literature. 
Dillman  declares  it  to  Ije  '  very  faithful ;  lieing  for  the  most  part  a  verbal  rendering 
of  the  Greek,  and  yet  readable  and  fluent,  and  in  the  Old  Testament  often  hitting  the 
ideas  and  words  of  the  Hebrew  in  a  surprising  manner."  It  also  renders  the 
word  which  defines  the  a(;t  of  baptism  by  •  taninlii'  to  dip. 

A  number  of  different  creeds  are  found  in  this  century,  but  they  did  not  liy  any 
means  push  the  Bible  aside.  Basil  is  a  fair  example  of  his  brethren  in  his  love  for 
scriptural  truth  who,  when  Valens,  the  Emperor,  promised  him  jiromiition  if  he 
would  embrace  Arianism,  replied  :  'That  sueh  fail-  promises  were  ht  .iuly  to  entice 
children,  but  that  he  was  taught  and  nourished  by  the  Holy  Seri|)tures.  and  was 
ready  rather  to  suffer  a  thousand  deaths,  than  to  suffer  one  syllable  or  iota  of  the 
Scriptures  to  be  altered.'  Then  the  Emperor  fell  into  a  rage,  and  threatened  him 
with  death  ;  to  which  Basil  answered,  that  '  If  he  [nit  him  to  death,  it  was  only  to 
set  him  at  liberty.''  The  prince  then  sat  down  to  write  an  edict  for  his  banishment, 
but  at  last  tore  up  the  paper  and  cast  it  from  him  ;  the  groat  divine  was  left  to  labor 
and  die  in  peace. 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE      FIFTH       CENTURY. 

DUEING  this  pcrioil  tlic  iniit.v  n{  thr  i;uiiian  K.upiiv  wa.  hn.kcn.  and  it  was 
dividud  into  the  Eusteru  and  Western  Knipiivs;  after  wliieh  followed  the 
migration  of  the  barbarous  Northern  peoples.  Then  tlu'  Western  Empire  fell  to 
pieces,  and  new  nations  sprang  up  out  of  the  hailiarian  forests.  The  Chureli  also 
was  rent  by  controversies  of  every  kind,  chietly  those  concerning  the  person 
and  work  of  our  Lord.  This  age  is  marked  by  tlie  total  eclipse  of  true  justifying 
faith  and  the  simple  method  of  Gospel  salvation.  A  dramatic  salvation  pushed  it 
entirely  aside,  and  our  Lord's  beautiful  ordinance  of  baj^tism  was  used  to  push  him 
aside,  to  take  his  jjlace  as  the  great  remedy  for  sin.  The  absurd  doctrine  of  bap- 
tismal regeneration  had  long  been  growing;  but  from  this  time  it  not  only 
changed  the  whole  current  of  ( 'hristianity  for  centuries,  but  corrupted  its  foun- 
dation truths. 

True,  a  few  individuals  still  held  saving  faith  in  Christ  as  a  precedent  to  bap- 
tism. Athanasius  declared,  A.  D.  360,  that  '  Our  Lord  did  not  slightly  command 
to  baptize,  for  first  of  all  he  said,  "  teach,  and  then  baptize  ;  "  that  true  faith  might 
come  by  teaching,  and  baptism  be  perfected  by  faitli.'  So  Jerome  of  Dalmatia, 
378  :  'It  cannot  be  that  the  body  shall  receive  the  sacrament  of  baptism  unless  the 
soul  liave  before  received  the  true  faith.'  In  the  same  year  Basil  urges  :  '  One  must 
first  believe  and  then  be  sealed  with  baptism.  Faith  must  needs  precede  and  go 
before.  None  are  to  be  baptized  but  the  catechumens  and  those  who  are  duly  in- 
structed in  the  faith.'  Several  others  taught  the  same  thing,  but  for  a  long  time 
there  had  been  a  strange  admixture  of  error  with  this  doctrine.  In  the  last  half  of 
the  second  century  even  clear-headed  Hippolytus  had  said  of  the  baptized  man, 
that  he  '  Goes  down  with  faith  into  the  bath  of  regeneration,  .  .  .  conies  up  from 
baptism  bright  as  the  sun,  flashing  with  the  I'ays  of  righteousness;  but  greatest  of 
all,  he  comes  up  a  son  of  God.'  The  Council  of  Nicsea  had  actually  decreed  that 
he  who  goes  down  into  the  waters  of  baptism  is  '  obnoxious  to  sins ; '  but  he  ascends 
free  from  their  slavery,  '  a  son  of  God,  an  heir,  yea  co-heir  with  Christ.'  And  the 
Christian  writers  of  the  fifth  century  generally  speak  of  baptism  as  intrinsically 
holy,  'ineffable'  and  'astounding'  in  its  results.  Chrysostom  preaches  this  danger- 
ous heresy  on  the  subject:  "Although  a  man  should  be  foul  with  every  vice,  the 
blackest  that  can  be  named;  yet  should  he  fall  into  the  baptismal  pool,  he  ascends 
from  the  divine  waters  purer  than  the  beams    of   noon.   ...   As  a   spark  thrown 


212  BAPTISMAL   MIRACLES. 

into  the  occnn  is  instantly  extinguished,  so  is  sin,  lie  it  wliat  it  may,  extitisuished 
wlien  the  man  is  thi'(i\vii  into  the  laver  of  regeneratiun."  Then  lie  solemnly  exhorts 
those  wlio  are  deferi-ing  hajUism  to  make  haste  and  be  thus  regenerated,  as  they 
were  liable,  in  his  judgment,  to  eternal  torment ;  fur  he  calls  trine  innnersion  -The 
pool  of  regenei'ation  and  justification.' ' 

Ihit  some  of  the  writers  uf  that  age  went  even  beyond  this  extreme,  insisting 
that  inunersicin  in  baptism  wrought  miracles  on  the  body  as  well  as  grace  in  the 
soul.  Soerates,  the  Christian  historian,  tells  of  a  Jew,  at  Constantinople,  who  had 
l)een  bedridden  for  years  with  the  palsy;  after  trying  all  sorts  of  physicians  he  re- 
solved to  receive  baptism,  was  brought  to  Atticus  the  bishop,  on  a  lied,  and  when 
dipped  in  the  water  was  perfectly  cured. ^  This  was  even  woise  tliaii  paganism. 
Ovid,  the  old  Eoman  poet,  had  ridiculed  the  idea  that  lustrations  in  water  washed 

away  sin  : 

'O,  easy  fools,  to  think  that  a  whole  Hood 
Of  water  e'er  can  purge  the  stain  of  blood  ! ' 

Yet  CHiristians  clung  to  this  heathen  thought,  and  inceii'pt 
r.londus  tells  us  that  at  Rome,  .Mercury's  Well  purifiei] 
J'.ut  Ovid  laughed  at  Peleiis,  who  had  murdered  his  liru 
himself  absolved  because  Acastus  had  lustrated  him 
thought  was  perfected  by  the  Christians  of  the  tiftli  pei 
mitted  after  baptism  was  iinpai-donaMe,  without  the 
baptism  was  delayed  as  near  to  the  hour  of  death  as  jiossilile.  Gratus  was  so 
troubled  by  this  question  that  he  asked  the  Council  of  Carthage,  A.  D.  34:8,  whether 
a  man  so  sinning  did  not  need  a  second  baptism.  This  notion  wrought  such  mis- 
chief that  as  few  as  possible  came  to  baptism  ;  and  many  sought  to  bring  this  state 
of  things  to  an  end.  For  this  reason  even  Chrysostom  pressed  that  men  should 
follow  this  duty  for  duty's  sake — as  sudden  death  might  cut  off  the  opportunity  for 
baptism;  then  its  negleeters  would  be  lost,  and  those  who  were  baptized  at  tlie  last 
would  only  shine  in  heaven  as  stars,  whereas,  had  this  duty  been  done  earlier  they 
would  have  been  like  suns.     Gibbon  says  on  tliis  subject : 

'The  sacrament  of  baptism  was  supposed  to  contain  a  full  and  absolute  expi- 
ation of  sin ;  and  the  soul  was  instantly  restored  to  its  original  purity  and  entitled 
to  the  promise  of  eternal  salvation.  Among  the  proselytes  to  Christianity  there 
were  many  who  judged  it  imprudent  to  pi-ecipitate  a  salutary  rite  which  could  not 
be  repeated;  to  "throw  away  an  inestimable  privilege  which  could  never  be  re- 
covered. By  the  delay  of  their  baptism  they  could  venture  freely  to  indulge  their 
passions  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  world,  while  they  still  retained  in  their  hands  the 
means  of  a  sure  and  easy  absolution.' 

He  attributes  the  conduct  of  Constantine  to  this  presumption  in  pursuing  his 
ambition  '  through  the  dark  and  bloody  paths  of  war  and  policy  ; '  and  charges  that : 

'As  he  gradually  advanced  in  the  knowledge  of  trutli,  he  proportionably 
declined  in  tli^e  practice  of  virtue,  and  the  same  year  of  his  reign  in  which  he  eon- 


ited  it  into  Christia 

nit, 

from    pei-jury  and   1^ 

vin 

ler    PlKieus,  and   tlm 

lUgl 

1   ri\'er    water.      A 

tw 

id,  namely,  that  sin 

col 

everest    penance ;    1 

leni 

UNiFOR.urry  Ky forced.  213 

veiieil  tlu'  Council  of  Nice  wiis  jiollutt'd  with  tlic  execution,  or  nitlier  murder,  of 
his  eldest  son.  .  .  .  The  insliops.  whom  lie  summoned  to  his  last  illness  in  the 
palace  of  Nicomedia,  were  edilied  by  the  fervor  with  which  ho  rcc^ucsted  and  re- 
ceived the  sacrament  of  baptism,  by  tlie  solemn  protestation  that  the  remainder  of 
iiis  life  sliould  be  worthy  of  a  disciple  of  Christ,  and  by  his  humble  refusal  to 
wear  the  iinperial  purple  after  he  had  been  clotlied  in  the  white  garment  of  a 
neophyte.  The  example  and  reputation  of  Constantine  seemed  to  countenance  the 
delay  of  baptism.  Further  tyrants  were  encouraged  to  believe  that  the  innocent 
blood  which  they  might  shed  in  a  long  reign  would  instantly  be  washed  away  in 
the  waters  of  regeneration,  and  the  abuse  of  religion  dangerously  undermined  the 
foundations  of  moral  virtue.'  ^ 

This  'abuse'  of  the  Gospel  mocked  at  the  need  of  a  holy  life,  made  an  ordi- 
nance a  mere  party  watch-word  at  heaven's  gate,  and  crushed  out  the  spirit  of  Christ 
in  a  candidate  for  baptism.  It  became  a  mere  talisman  around  wliich  men  could 
rally,  and  in  the  name  of  which  Christians  could  persecute  their  brethren  with 
iiihnmaiiity  ;  plots,  counterplots,  broils,  murders,  ambitions  and  bi'iberies,  all  rev- 
eled in  a  baptized  barbarism ;  while  gentleness,  justice,  purity  and  brotherly  love 
well-nigh  disappeared.  The  century  opened  with  an  Intolerant  bitterness  on  the 
part  of  the  orthodox  toward  all  who  differed  with  them,  not  only  in  opinion,  but 
in  forms  of  expression.  All  dissent  must  seal  its  lips  or  bite  the  dust.  At  the  close 
of  the  fourth,  '  heresy '  became  a  capital  offense,  punishable  with  death  in  some 
cases,  under  Theodosius,  A.  D.  379-395.  His  edict  enforced  uniformity  of  belief 
against  all  who  differed  with  '  Catholics.'  Tlieir  places  of  worship  were  confiscated 
for  the  use  of  '  Catholics,'  they  could  neither  bequeath  nor  inherit  property,  they 
were  forbidden  to  dispute  on  religion,  some  of  tlieir  ordained  ministers  were  fined 
ten  pounds  weight  of  gold,  others  were  banished,  and  the  'elect'  of  the  Manichcans 
were  sentenced  to  death  as  enemies  of  the  State.  The  civil  arm  etiforced  the  acts 
of  Church  discipline,  orthodoxy  was  made  the  form  of  all  public  acts  and  offices,  and 
when  the  balance  trembled  on  any  religious  topic  in  controversy,  the  Emperor  threw 
in  the  sword  for  settlement.  The  last  toleration  of  religious  differences  was  enjoyed 
under  Julian  the  apostate,  A.  D.  362,  if  we  except  the  brief  eight  mouths  of  Jovian 
in  363  ;  but  in  415  Honorius  issued  an  edict  forbidding  the  Donatists  to  assemble, 
on  pain  of  death.  This  was  the  result  of  a  great  debate  held  at  Carthage,  411,  be- 
tween 279  Donatist  and  280  Catholic  bishops.  This  edict  was  not  executed  to 
the  extreme,  but  it  silenced  every  opposing  tongue.  Gibbon  tells  us  that  300  of  the 
Donatist  bishops  and  thousands  of  their  ministers  were  stripped  of  their  proiierty, 
banished  to  tlie  islands,  or  obliged  to  hide  themselves  in  the  wilds  of  Africa.  Many 
persons  of  rank  in  schismatic  assemblies  paid  ruinous  fines,  and  obstinacy  was  un- 
pardonable. Of  course  there  was  much  earnest  remonstrance  and  resistance,  and 
the  more  far-seeing  Catholics  were  seized  with  alarm,  for  if  the  religion  of  the 
majority  or  that  of  the  Emperor  changed,  their  free  action  was  at  an  end. 

Moved  by  these  fears,  the  Council  of  Antioch,  A.  D.  371,  forbade  appeals  to 
Emperors  in  matters  of  purely  e(!clesiastical   authority,  without  the  consent  of  the 


214  PEIifiECUTIOy  BY   C'lIRISTIANS. 

liisliop.  Aii,i;-iistiiic  Icil  in  tlic  (lcl.;itr  ;i-;iiii>t  t!ic  1  ).iiiatists  at  Carthage,  and  after- 
wanl  advocated  luiviMc  lll(■:,Il^  fur  iTchiiiiiiii-  tliciii,  uii.h'i-  cover  of  Christ's  words, 
'  Coinjjel  tliem  to  conic  in."  I'.ut  in  earlier  life  wlicii  he  was  a  Manichean  himself, 
lie  thought  it  wrony  to  punisli  lierctics.  Petilian,  hi.-  Doiiatist  opponent,  urged 
strongly  that  there  should  be  no  ci.inpnlsidii,  or  interference  of  the  civil  power  in 
matters  of  religion.  Violence  however  triuin).lied  as  nsnal,  and  Tlieodosius  II. 
commanded  all  books  which  did  not  cunforni  to  the  Council  of  Nicaja  to  be  de- 
stroyed, and  those  who  concealed  them  to  be  put  to  death.  Still,  persecution  not  only 
followed  all  dissenting  Christians,  hut  the  pagans  were  slain  for  their  paganism. 
True,  the  Emperors  were  yet  as  much  the  head  of  the  pagan  faith  as  of  the  Chris- 
tian ;  liut  they  issued  decree  after  decree  ])roliibiting  sacrifices  to  the  gods  under 
extreme  penalties.  The  des[)otisni  of  Theodnsins  treated  his  heathen  subjects  and 
Christian  opponents  alike.  <  )n  the  gi'oundtif  a  moral  regeneration  Christ  demanded 
love  for  all  men;  l)ut  when  this  heathenish  system  of  baptismal  regeneration  sup- 
planted the  niH'd  of  purity  of  heart,  Christians  indicted  the  same  tragedy  of 
liorrors  upon  the  defenseless  pagans  whom  they  were  sent  to  convert,  tliat  the 
unconverted  heathen  had  inflicted  on  them.  Thus  a  heathenized  baptism  belied 
the  gentleness  of  Jesus  in  the  most  atrocious  way ;  and  its  ravenous  thirst  for  blood 
pawned  his  royal  crown  to  deck  the  brow  of  hate.  When  the  persecuting  demon 
took  possession,  Christ's  rebuke,  '  Ye  know  not  what  spirit  ye  are  of,'  was  forgotten. 
At  this  time  tlie  assumptions  of  the  Enaperors  and  the  ambitions  of  the  clergy 
liad  sunk  the  rights  of  the  people  in  the  dust,  both  in  State  and  Church.  The  con- 
gregations had  no  longer  tlie  right  to  select  their  own  pastors,  much  less  to  govern 
their  internal  affairs.  By  canons  xii,  xiii,  of  the  Council  of  Laodicea,  A.  D.  360,  the 
appointment  of  bishops  in  vilhii^-es  and  other  country  places  was  forbidden,  and  the 
'multitude'  deprived  of  all  \-oice  in  the  election  of  the  clergy,  all  power  being  now 
centered  in  the  metropolitan  Inshop.  Jerome  was  compelled  to  draw  the  contrast 
M'ith  former  times.  He  says,  in  his  '  Commentary  on  Titus,'  i,  1 :  '  Among  the 
ancients,  presbyters  and  bishops  were  the  very  same  ;  but  by  little  and  little,  in  order 
that  the  plants  of  dissension  might  be  plucked  up,  the  whole  management  was 
intrusted  to  one  individual.  As  the  presbyters,  therefore,  know  that  they  are  sub- 
jected to  him  who  was  their  president  by  the  custom  of  their  Church ;  so  the  bish- 
ops know  that  they  are  greater  than  their  presbyters,  more  by  custom  tlian  by  the 
principle  of  any  appointment  of  Christ.'  Cardinal  Manning  gives  us  the  fully 
developed  doctrine  which  has  grown  out  of  that  '  custom,'  in  the  claim  of  present 
infallibility  for  the  clergy.     lie  says  : 

'  The  pastoral  authority,  or  the  episcopate,  together  with  the  pi'iesthood  and 
the  other  orders,  constitute  an  organized  body  divinely  ordained  to  guard  the  deposit 
of  the  faith.  Tlie  voice  of  that  body,  not  so  many  individuals,  but  as  a  body,  is  the 
voice  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  ]iastoral  ministry"  as  a  body  cannot  err,  because  the 
Holy  Spirit,  who'is  indissoliibly  united  to  the  mystical  body,  is  eminently  and  above 
all  united  to  the  hierarchy  and  body  of  its  pastors.     The  episcopate  iinited  to  its 


punnATonr.  215 

center  is,  in  all  ages,  divinely  sustained  and  divinely  assisted  to  jierpetuate  and  tu 
enunciate  the  original  revelation.'  * 

These  high  prerogatives  on  the  i)art  of  the  l)islii)j)s  made  tlicni  worse  and  worse, 
till  they  took  leave,  not  only  of  simple  manners  and  pure  doctrine,  but  of  good  sense. 
They  gave  themselves  up  to  dissipation  and  volu])tuousne8s,  vied  with  princes  in 
sj)l('nd(>r  and  allerted  the  raidc  of  courts.  Martin,  of  Tours,  claimed  superior  dig- 
nity to  the  Knipeior,  the  liisluij)  i-A'  licme  supremacy  over  all  Church  dignitaries, 
and  tlie  Bishop  of  Constantinople  cui'sed  him  for  claiming  his  right.  Then  the 
Bishop  of  Jerusalem  entered  the  held,  claiming  that  as  his  Church  was  founded  first 
and  by  the  Apostles  themselves,  he  was  the  most  venerable  and  his  authority  unques- 
tionable. But  the  Emperor  Valentinian  III.,  A.  U.  445,  made  Leo  I.  of  Home  the 
rightful  ruler  of  the  whole  Western  Church.  The  Emperors,  however,  impiously 
claimed  high  honor.  They  were  addressed  as  the  'Supreme  Master,'  'Everlasting 
King,'  your  'Eternity'  and  your  '  Godship.'  Many  of  the  bishops  were  grossly 
ignorant,  for  several  of  those  who  attended  the  Councils  of  Ephesus  and  Chalcedon, 
in  this  century,  were  unable  to  write,  and  attested  the  decrees  in  this  form :  '  I,  such 

a  one,  have  subscribed  by  the  hand  of ;  oi-  such  a  bishop  having  said  that  he 

could  not  write,  I,  whose  name  is  undcrwiittcn  have  subsciibed  for  him.'  This 
ignorance  excited  andjition  for  the  speedy  enlai'gement  of  the  Church  by  infamous 
means.  Gibbon  says:  '  The  salvation  of  the  coninion  people  was  purchased  at  an 
easy  rate,  if  it  be  true  that  in  one  year  twelve  thousand  men  were  baptized  at 
Eome,  besides  a  proportionable  number  of  women  and  children  ;  and  that  a  white 
garment,  with  twenty  pieces  of  gold,  had  been  promised  by  the  Emperor  to  every 
convert.'  °  He  cites  many  grave  authorities  for  the  truth  of  this  statement.  But 
that  process  was  both  too  slow  and  expensive,  and  Augustine  set  the  fires  of 
purgatory  in  full  blaze,  to  awaken  the  people  from  their  apathy.  Clement,  of  Alex- 
andria, first  broached  the  doctrine  of  purgatory,  in  the  third  century.  Cyjirian  had 
great  trouble  about  those  who  had  become  martyrs  before  baptism,  but  concluded  that 
as  they  were  immersed  in  overwhelming  suflferings  they  might  be  saved.  But 
Augustine  thought  that  the  dead  must  be  saved  either  by  water  in  this  world,  m-tire 
in  the  next.  The  case  of  the  thief  on  the  cross  perplexed  him  suruly.  lie  could 
not  have  gone  to  purgatory,  for  Jesus  said  that  he  would  take  him  to  Paradise ;  and 
as  he  suffered  for  his  ci'imes,  suffering  could  not  save  him.  But  as  there  is  no  record 
of  his  baptism  before  his  crucifixion,  Augustine  found  some  relief  in  the  thought, 
that  no  one  knew  that  he  had  not  been  baptized  beforehand !  Hare  bitterly  laments 
Augustine's  '  morbid  tendency '  to  '  twist  and  warp  the  simplest  facts,  to  wrench  and 
distort  the  plainest  declarations  of  Scripture,  and  to  hatch  and  scrape  together  the 
most  sophistical  arguments  and  the  most  fantastical  hy])otheses,  rather  than  to  sub- 
mit to  what  makes  against  some  favorite  notion  or  fancy.  Yet,  Augustine  knew  the 
truth  here ;  he  had  known  it  thirty  years  before,  when  he  wrote  his  earlier  work.' " 
Still  iis  these  twistings  found  fur  iiim  a  wAy  to  save  men  who  sinned  after  baj)tisni. 


u 

"/'" 

d'nnn 

of  ll 

il 

:'  th. 

■,y  .11, 

1   lint 

1, 

upti 

sill. 

At  til 

t( 

.  l,;l 

hes  w 

ould  . 

11 

ml  I 

)irtli, 

Mild    1 

216  INFANT  BAPTrSM   ICXFOnCED. 

by  taking  them  through  purgatory  proper;  so  bahes  could  now  be  baptized,  and  yet 
be  saved  if  they  fell  into  after  sin. 

This  discovery  made  Augustine  bold  to  take  an  advanced  step  for  infant  bap- 
tism. He  held  (Serni.  29-ij  that  unbaptized  infants  were  consigned  to  eternal  fire, 
tliijiigh  their  damnation  would  be  '  the  lightest  of  all ; '  and  began  to  terrify  the  world 
with  this  horrible  dogma.  The  word  '  ^m&i<.s,' or  '  fringe,'  was  used  by  him  to 
indicate  the  outskirts  of  hell ;  but  he  held  that  dead  babes  unbaptized  were  pun- 
ished liy  exclusion  from  heaven,  and  by  positive  pain  in  this  new  found  I /'//thus 
In  that  case,  infant  liaptism  met  a  prime  necessity  for  the  imbes 
■,  anil  purgatory  another  at  the  close  of  life,  if  they  sinned  after 
point  another  motive  came  in.  (Jrthodo.x  ba^Jtism  administered 
cue  them  from  Arianisni  and  fill  the  ranks  of  the  Church  by  nat- 
the  seiitiiiieiital  sujjerstition  was  established.  The  most  eloquent 
preachers  of  this  day  vainly  exhorted  adults  to  seek  baptism  so  long  as  they  thought 
that  severe  jJenanee  could  atone  for  sin  after  baptism ;  but  a  future  purgation  by  iire 
gave  a  new  phase  to  the  question  and  rendered  the  baptism  of  babes  absolutely  neces- 
saiy.  Out  of  this  new  departure  of  infant  salvation  by  liaptism  some  fresh  and 
perplexing  questions  arose.  For  example:  the  Council  of  Neo-Ca?sarea,  314—325, 
answered  the  curious  question.  Whether  a  mother  being  immersed  shortly  before  the 
birth  of  lier  babe,  secured  thereby  the  baptism  of  her  unborn  little  one?  They 
gravely  decided  that  in  this  case  the  mother  'communicates  nothing  to  the  child, 
because  in  the  profession,  every  one's  own  resolution  is  declared.'  In  treating  of 
this  decision,  Grotius  cites  two  great  commentators  ujaon  the  canon  :  Balsamon,  who 
thinks  that  the  child  could  not  be  baptized  because  it  was  neither  '  enlightened,'  nor 
had  '  any  choice  of  the  divine  bajJtism  ; '  and  Zonaras,  who  decides  that  the  babe  had 
■  no  need  of  baptism'  until  it  was  born.  Grotius  himself  concludes  that  the  Council 
could  not  think  the  infant  baptized  with  its  mother,  as  'A  child  was  not  wont  to  be 
baptized,  but  upon  its  own  will  and  profession.' 

In  the  fourth  century,  the  baptism  of  a  babe  outside  of  xifrica  was  much 
more  common  than  before ;  but  in  order  to  silence  all  opposition,  the  Council  of 
Carthage,  A.  D.  397,  decreed  (can.  ii)  'an  anathema  against  such  as  deny  that  chil- 
dren ought  to  be  baptized  as  soon  as  they  are  born.' '  Then,  according  to  Bishop 
Taylor,  the  Council  of  Milevium,  416,  decreed  :  '  Whoever  denies  that  new-born 
infants  are  to  be  baptized,  to  the  taking  away  of  original  sin — let  him  be  anathema.'^ 
The  first  injunction  of  infant  baptism  by  Church  authority  was  at  Carthage,  in  397 ; 
the  second  at  Milevium,  416;  and  this  last  African  decree,  being  confirmed  by  Inno- 
cent I.,  was  the  first  indorsement  of  the  innovation  by  authority  at  Koine.  But 
the  great  fight  which  Augustine  made  on  the  subject,  marks  it  as  an  Afi-ican  move- 
ment from  the  first,  and  shows  that  it  provoked  resistance  at  every  step,  until  his 
brave  contest  enforced  it  on  the  fifth  century.  Winer,  the  learned  German,  sums  up 
the  whole  case  thus  in  his  Lectures  :  '  Originally,  only  adults  were  baptized  ;  but  at 


FniWJiS   OF  AUaUSTTyE.  217 

the  end  of  the  second  century  in  Africa,  and  in  the  third,  generally,  infant  l3a])tisni 
was  introduced ;  and  in  tlie  fourth  century  it  was  theologically  maintained  by  Augus- 
tine.' This  great  critic  thus  explains  the  fact  that  Augustine,  A.  D.  353— i30,  was 
tlic  first  theologian  wlio  niaintiuned  a  place  for  it  in  Christian  theology,  and  attempted 
to  indicate  its  theological  bearings  on  the  whole  Christian  system.  He  presided  at 
the  Council  of  Mileviuin,  and  w:is  IhhiihI  to  defend  the  ground  which  its  ninety-two 
members  had  taken.  Having  collected  his  ])rethren  and  pronounced  a  curse  upon 
those  who  denied  that  immersed  babes  were  washed  from  moral  pollution  thereby,  he 
was  forced  to  defend  the  error.  And  so  tliis  great  mind  went  from  one  error  into 
anotiier,  until  he  Ijecame  the  cjiampion  of  ecclesiasticism,  sacerdotalism  and  sacra- 
mentarianism,  all  distorted  into  monstrous  proportions. 

Augustine  was  beset,  on  the  other  hand,  by  Pelagianism,  which  denied  original 
sin;  and  hence,  to  him,  the  need  of  baptizing  babes.  Pelagius  contended  that  they 
were  as  pure  as  the  light,  and  the  wide  prevalence  of  this  faith  terribly  aroused 
Augustine.  The  companion  of  Pelagius,  Caalestus,  an  Irish  layman,  assigned  new- 
born babes  to  Adam's  moral  condition  before  his  fall ;  and  the  two  went  together  first 
to  Rome  and  then  to  Africa.  At  Carthage,  Aurelius  the  bishop  sunnuoned  the  Irish 
brother  before  a  synod  as  a  heretic,  on  the  charge  that  he  denied  original  sin,  in  that 
babes  had  need  of  remission ;  and  so  their  baptism  was  unnecessary  because  it 
implied  tlieir  sanctification  in  Christ.  He  was  condemned,  went  under  censure  to 
Sicily,  A.  D.  412,  and  was  condemned  again  by  Zosinms  the  Roman  bishop.  lie 
then  repaired  to  Constantinople,  420,  but  returning  to  Rome  was  finally  expelled. 
Augustine  thought  infant  baptism  a  great  bulwark  against  Pelagianism  and  an  evi- 
dence of  depravity. 

We  find  another  remarkable  fact.  Down  to  this  time  there  was  no  provision 
for  tiie  baptism  of  babes  in  the  liturgies,  but  now  it  began  to  appear.  From  an 
early  pei'iod  (juestions  had  been  put  to  those  who  voluntarily  assumed  baptism. 
Ambrose,  A.  D.  340-397,  put  these :  ' "  Dost  thou  believe  in  God,  the  Father 
Almighty?"  Thou  hast  said,  "  I  believe."  And  you  have  been  immersed.  Secondly, 
you  were  asked,  "  Dost  thou  believe  in  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  ? "  and  you  said,  "  I 
believe,"  and  you  were  immersed.  Thirdly,  thou  wast  asked,  "Dost  thou  believe 
in  the  Holy  Ghost  ? "  and  thou  said,  "  I  believe."  Then  you  were  immersed  the 
third  time.'  Right  here  Augustine  met  another  grave  difliculty.  This  formula 
must  now  I)e  forced  into  use  for  babes  in  some  way,  as  he  wished  the  immersed  babe 
to  stand  in  Christianity  exactly  where  the  adult  stood.  Because  the  child  could  not 
answer  for  himself,  the  sponsor  must  answer  for  him.  Or,  as  Dr.  Jacob  better 
expresses  it ,  'As  the  adult  by  his  own  mouth  professed  the  faith  which  he  had,  the 
infant  was,  by  the  mouth  of  another,  to  express  the  faith  which  lie  had  not.'  This 
the  doctor  calls  '  an  ecclesiastical  fiction,  to  exhibit  an  identity  which  did  not  exist.' 
Sponsors  had  existed  for  some  time  for  every  young  person  who  made  a  vohiiitary 
confession  of  faith.    But  Augustine  is  the  first  to  assume  that  the  spunsi>i's  of  l>abes  took 


218  TnoUBLE  ABOUT  SPONSORS. 

ujion  tlicmsclves  tlic  cliildV  ('lii'istian  responsibilities,  by  answering  tlie  baptismal 
questions  ill  place  of  tlie  lialie  ;  ami  so  that  in  case  of  tlie  babe's  death  before 
reacliiug  responsibility,  God  would  receive  their  answers  ;is  tlie  confession  of  the 
ehild.  Therefore,  in  Augustine's  day,  tiie  questions  were  tirst  put  to  the  sponsors: 
'  Does  this  child  believe  in  God  ?  Does  he  turn  to  God  ; "  etc.  They  replied, '  He 
<I'iesI"  l')Ut  Boniface  I.  asked  Augustine  directly  :  '  Ibiw  can  it  be  said  with  truth 
that  an  infant  believes  and  repents  and  so  forth,  when  it  has  no  thought  or  sense 
about  such  things?'  Augustine  replied  :  '  The  infant  is  said  to  believe  because  he 
receives  the  saeranicnt  of  faith  and  conversion.  As  the  sacrament  of  the  body  of 
Ghrist  is  in  a  certain  manner  calle.l  liis  IkmIv,  s,,  tlie  sacrament  of  faith  is  called 
faith;  and  he  who  has  this  sa.'rameiit,  therefore,  has  tliifli:  and  consequently  an 
infant  coming  to  be  baptized  may  be  said  to  ha\e  faith  or  to  believe,  because 
these  questions  and  answers  are  a  ]>art  of  the  celebration  of  the  sacrament  of  the 
celebration  of  faith.'"  This  answer,  if  it  was  iiitt'iided  to  mean  any  thing,  must 
mean  that  the  infant  believes  because  he  is  baptized,  and  therefore  he  was  baptized. 
This  constructive  faith  of  proxy  made  sad  li:i\'oc  of  justitication  by  faith ;  and 
yet  it  exhibits  Augustine's  eonctqjtioii  that  without  faith  baptism  is  invalid,  and 
for  that  i-eason  that  the  baptism  of  baljcs  was  a  troublesome  thing  to  manage. 
Faith  of  some  sort  must  be  had  :  and  as  the  child  had  none  of  any  order,  somebody 
must  believe  for  the  two,  although  the  babe  had  no  hand  in  the  arrangement.  In- 
nocent had  approved  infant  ba]itism  at  Rome,  but  it  grew  very  slowly  there,  for 
lloniface  and  others  would  keep  on  asking  these  inconvenient  questions  about  the 
I)ractice;  so  that  it  was  not  till  A.  I).  (iU4  that  Gregory,  tlie  Roman  bishop,  formed 
a  liturgy  for  its  celebration.     It  says  : 

'The  font  being  blessed,  and  he  holding  the  infant  bv  whom  it  is  to  be  taken 
up,  let  the  priest  incpiire  thus  :  *•  What  is  thy  name  i  "  [Answer.)  "  Dost  thou  be- 
lieve in  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  creator  of  heaven  and  earth?"  {Answer)  "I 
believe."  "  And  in  Jesus  Christ,  his  only  Son  our  Lord,  who  was  born  and  suf- 
fered?" {Ansiver)  "I  believe."  " Dost  thou  also  believe  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  the 
holy  Catholic  Church,  the  remission  of  sins,  the  resurrection  of  the  body?" 
{Answer)  "  I  believe."  Then  let  the  priest  baptize  with  a  trine  immersion,  once 
only  invoking  the  holy  Trinity,  saying:  "I  baptize  thee  in  the  name  of  the  Father 
{<nnJ  Jet  h'nii  immerse  once),  and  of  the  Son  {and  let  him  immerse  a  second  thne), 
and  of  the  Holy  Spirit"  {and  let  him  irmnerse  a  third  time).^ 

Rut  the  law  of  the  State  soon  made  it  compulsory  on  parents  to  bring  their 
children  to  baptism ;  resist  it  as  they  might,  the  legal  demand  left  them  no  choice 
in  the  matter.  Dr.  Schaff  says  that  compulsory  infant  baptism  was  '  unknown  in 
the  ante-Nicene  age,'  and  pronounces  it  '  a  profanation  of  the  sacred  event,  and  one 
of  the  evils  of  the  union  of  Chui'ch  and  State,  against  which  Baptists  have  a  right 
to  protest.' '" 

A  notable  fact  to  be  observed  here  is  that,  after  all  this  stir,  Augustine  himself 
was  not   immersed  until  he   came  to   manhood.     We  have  noticed  elsewhere  that 


CHRIS TTAy  MOTUERS   OPPOSE   INFANT  BAPTISM.  219 

Monica,  liis  niotlicr,  was  one  of  the  lioliest  women  in  f'in-istian  history.  Slie 
trained  his  mind,  having  entered  Iiim  as  a  catechnmcn  wliin  lie  was  an  infant,  but 
earefnlly  abstained  from  presenting  him  for  baptism  until  lie  ciioso  himself  to  be  a 
disciple  of  the  Lord.  When  yonng  he  fell  dangerously  ill,  and  earnestly  desired 
baptism,  bnt  it  was  '  deferred,  lest  he  should  incur  the  deeper  guilt  of  after  sin.' " 
His  early  life  had  been  very  wicked,  as  his  '  Confessions'  show.  Then,  after  all  his 
maternal  training,  Ix'fure  his  l)aiitisni  \\v  s|)ent  si.\  months  near  Milan  in  receiving 
rhristinn  insti-uction  ;  and,  sti-aiigt'ly  enough,  was  baptized  with  his  own  son,  who 
was  burn  of  a  cunculiine,  and  who  had  now  reached  the  age  of  fourteen  years. 
Ambrose  did  not  immerse  Augustine  until  he  had  reached  the  age  of  two  and 
thirty  years.  And  he  was  not  alone  amongst  the  fathers  in  this  respect.  Ephrem, 
of  Edessa,  the  greatest  hymnist  of  his  age,  is  supposed  to  have  been  born  of  parents 
who  were  martyred  for  Christ ;  he  was  educated  by  Bishop  Jacob  at  Nisibis,  but 
was  not  baptized  until  eighteen  years  of  age.  Bishop  Liberius  did  not  immerse 
Jerome  till  about  his  twentieth  year,  although  his  father  was  a  Christian.  The 
father  of  Gi'egory  Nazianzen  was  a  bishop,  and  Norma,  his  mother,  was  a  saintly 
woman.  She  devoted  her  child  to  God  by  prayer,  as  all  true  Baptist  mothers  do ; 
but  he  was  not  baptized  until  he  gave  his  own  heart  to  Christ,  when  he  was  thirty 
years  old.  Ilis  own  brother,  Csesarius,  physician  to  the  Emperor  at  Constan- 
tinople and  a  devout  Christian,  was  not  bajjtized  till  near  his  death.  The  ancestors 
of  Basil,  of  Cappadocia,  had  been  followers  of  Christ  for  generations,  and  Emraelia, 
his  mother,  was  eminent  for  godliness ;  yet  he  was  not  baptized  till  after  his  con- 
version when  he  had  reached  his  twenty-seventh  year.  Chrysostom  had  Christian 
parents,  too ;  and  Anthusa,  his  mother,  was  so  noted  for  her  talents  and  consecration 
to  Christ,  that  Libanius,  the  pagan  scholar,  said  of  her:  'Ah!  what  women  there 
are  amongst  the  Christians!'  Still  her  eloquent  son  did  not  receive  baptism  until 
he  had  become  a  distinguished  teacher  of  rhetoric.  Then  ho  studied  for  three  years 
under  Bishop  Meletius,  at  Antioeh,  and  was  baptized  upon  his  confession  of  Christ 
at  the  age  of  thirty. 

If  our  blessed  Lord  instituted  the  baptism  of  infants  when  he  prayed  for  them 
and  blessed  them,  it  is  passing  strange  that  with  one  consent  the  holy  parents  of 
these  great  nun  willfully  neglected  the  baptism  of  their  children,  in  open  disregard 
of  his  love  and  law.  The  godly  parents  of  these  great  lights  in  Christianity  delib- 
erately deprived  their  sons  of  their  rights  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  if  Christ  required 
them  to  bring  their  offspring  to  baptism  as  babes.  No  women  outside  of  New  Tes- 
tament times  rank  side  by  side  in  sanctity  with  three  of  these  mothers ;  and  how 
much  better  is  it  than  a  base  slander  on  them  to  say  that  they  were  remiss  in  the 
first  duty  of  Christian  motherhood  if  Jesus  required  not  the  baptism  of  their  babes 
at  their  hands?  No  writerof  their  day  has  left  a  rebuke  uf  thcirsad  negligence.  Yet 
thousands  of  otherwi.se  well-inftirmcd  Christians  in  dur  day  almost  shudder  in  holy 
horror  because  15aptist  fathers  and  mothers  will  persist  in  giving  their  olfspring  to 


220  TRINE  IMMERfiTOX 

Christ  by  prayer,  by  godly  example  and  by  Bible  instnictidii,  lint  will  Tiot  rob  tlicni 
of  the  right  to  put  on  Christ  by  their  own  pcr^mial  (ihi.MJicni'c— the  liuly  right  ot 
making  their  own  good  confession  of  their  Redeemei'  Iwfore  many  witnesses.  Tiiat 
is  to  say,  they  affect  to  be  scandalized  because  Bajjtist  fathers  and  mothers  treat 
tlieir  children  now  exactly  as  the  parents  of  Ephrem,  Jerome,  Gregory,  Cte- 
sarius,  Basil,  Chrysostom  and  Augustine  treated  their  suns.  The  simple  fact  is,  that 
the  illustrious  godliness  of  these  parents  knew  nothing  about  the  immersion  of 
babes  as  a  Bible  duty,  and  could  not  tritlc  with  an  oi-diuanee  of  their  (iml  and  King 
by  so  perverting  Gospel  bajitism  as  to  force  it  on  their  children.  And  if  these 
most  Christ-like  of  all  Christ's  disciples  abstained  from  the  baptism  of  babes  on 
principle,  until  the  Church  began  to  teach  the  superstition  that  infants  who  die  un- 
baptized  are  damned,  what  likelihood  is  there  that  the  unnamed  and  now  unknown 
thousands  of  less  godly  people  practiced  this  pretended  apostolic  rite,  which  Augus- 
tine so  thoroughly  clouded  by  its  admixture  with  the  doctrine  of  salvation  tlu-ough 
the  faith  of  proxy  ? 

The  act  of  baptism  remained  the  same  as  it  had  been,  the  immersion  of  the 
body  three  times  in  water,  and  this  amongst  the  orthodox  and  heterodox  alike ; 
excepting  the  sect  known  as  Eunomians,  of  whom  Theodoret  and  Epiphanius  had 
complained  in  the  previous  century,  because  they  immersed  only  the  upper  part  of 
the  body  with  the  head  downward.  '  These,'  says  Catheart,  '  were  the  only  men 
among  all  the  heretics  of  the  ancient  Church,  that  rejected  this  way  of  baptizing, 
by  a  total  immersion  in  ordinary  eases.'  '^  This  Arian  sect  used  but  an  immersion 
of  the  upper  part  of  the  body,  as  far  as  the  breast.  But  Cyril,  of  Jerusalem,  says 
of  the  orthodox :  '  Ye  were  led  by  the  hand  to  the  sacred  font  of  the  divine  baptism, 
as  Christ  from  the  cross  to  the  prepared  tomb.  And  each  was  asked,  if  he  believes 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  And  ye  pro- 
fessed the  sacred  profession,  and  sank  down  thrice  into  the  water  and  came  up  again.' 
Basil  asks :  '  Where  the  tradition  is  taken  from  to  immerse  a  man  tlii-ee  times,  and 
answers,  that  it  is  not  a  private  oi-  secret  one,  but  of  the  Apostles.  Jerome  said : 
'We  are  thrice  dipped  in  the  water,  that  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity  may  appear  but 
one.'  Augustine  states  that  this  way  of  baj^tizing  opened  a  twofold  mystery. 
Trine  immersion  was  not  only  a  symbol  of  the  Trinity,  but  a  '  type '  of  our  Lord's 
resurrection  on  the  third  day.  He  says,  also  :  '  Three  times  did  we  submerge  your 
heads  in  the  sacred  fountain.'  And  Chrysostom  tells  us  that  '  three  immersions 
give  but  one  baptism.'  Dupin,  writes  :  '  They  plunged  those  three  times  whom  they 
baptized.'  Maitland  adds:  'The  immersion  was  recpiired  to  be  threefold,  or  trine;' 
and  so  Bingham,  with  many  others. 

Yet,  this  well-attested  historical  practice  of  three  immersions  has  no  support 
in  the  Scriptures,  but,  as  Dr.  Conant  says :  '  Is  clearly  contrary  to  the  words  of  the 
conunand.  Had  trine  immersion  been  intended,  the  words  would  have  l^een  in  the 
names  of  the  Futliei',  etc.,  or  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  in  the  name  of  the  Son, 


DEAN  STANLEY.  221 

and  so  forth."  .Tcrome  classes  it  with  '  many  other  tilings  which  are  by  tradition 
observed  in  the  (  liurcii,  and  which  liave  no  authority  of  Scripture  for  theiu,  but  the 
consent  of  the  whole  world.'  which,  he  thought,  gave  the  force  of  a  jirecopt,  '  as  in 
the  font  of  baptism  to  plunge  the  head  thrice  under  water.' 

Further,  this  innovation  now  linked  to  it  the  repulsive  custom  of  immersing 
the  candidates  in  a  state  of  entire  nudity.  Dr.  "Wall  expresses  his  belief  that  they 
thought  this  better  I'epresented  the  putting  off  of  the  old  man,  also  the  nakedness 
of  Christ  on  the  ci'oss ;  but  in  addition  to  this,  they  came  to  regard  baptism  as  a 
purifying  of  the  body  from  all  moral  taint,  so  that  if  the  water  did  not  pass  over 
every  part  of  the  body,  leprous  spots  might  be  left.  But  whatever  the  motive  for 
this  misguided  zeal,  as  Cave  says :  '  They  were  brought  to  the  font  and  were  first 
6trii)ped  of  their  garments,  intimating  their  putting  off  the  old  man  which  is  corrupt, 
with  his  deceitful  lusts.'  "     Dean  Stanley  gives  this  exact  account  of  the  observance : 

'  There  was  but  one  hour  for  the  ceremony  ;  it  was  midnight.  The  torches  flared 
through  the  dai'k  hall  as  the  troops  of  converts  flocked  in.  The  baptistery  consisted 
of  an  inner  and  an  outer  chamber.  In  the  outer  chamber  stood  the  candidates  for 
baptism,  stripped  to  their  shirts  ;  and  turning  to  the  west,  as  the  region  of  sunset, 
they  stretched  forth  their  hands  through  the  dimly-lit  chamber,  as  in  a  defiant 
attitude  toward  the  Evil  Spirit  of  Darkness,  and  speaking  to  him  by  name,  said,  "I 
i-enouncc  thee,  Satan,  and  all  thy  works,  and  all  thy  pomp,  and  all  thy  service." 
Then  they  turned,  like  a  regiment,  facing  right  around  to  the  east,  and  repeated  in 
a  form  more  or  less  long,  tlio  bilicF  in  the  Father,  the  Son  and  the  Spirit,  whicli 
has  grown  up  into  the  so-cullr.  I  A]iM>tlL's'  Creed  of  the  West,  and  the  so-called  Nicene 
Creed  of  the  East.  Tlicy  then  advanced  into  the  inner  chamber.  Before  them 
yawned  the  deep  pool,  or  reservoir,  and  standing  by,  the  deacon  or  deaconess,  as  the 
case  might  be,  to  arrange  that  all  should  be  done  with  decency.  The  whole  troop 
undressed  completely,  as  if  for  a  bath,  and  stood  up  naked  before  the  bi.shop,  who 
put  to  each  the  cpu^stions,  to  which  the  answer  was  returned  in  a  loud  and  distinct 
voice,  as  of  those  who  knew  what  they  had  undertaken.  They  then  plunged  into 
the  water.  Both  before  and  after  the  immersion,  their  bare  limbs  were  rubbed  with 
oil  from  head  to  foot;  then  were  they  clothed  in  white  ^osvus,  and  niii\r(l.  as  token 
of  the  kindly  feeling  of  their  new  brotherhood,  the  kiss  of  peacr  aihl  a  taste  of 
honey  and  milk ;  and  they  expressed  their  new  faith  bv  using  for  tlic  liist  time  the 
Lord's  Prayer.'  >•'  ' 

This  picture  of  pious  savagery  drawn  by  the  delicate  hand  of  her  Majesty's  late 
chaplain  at  Westminster,  will  greatly  edify  those  who  recoil  froiu  the  shocking  inde- 
cency of  modern  Baptists,  who  modestly  immerse  believers  in  full  apparel,  because 
the  portrait  is  that  of  those  canonized  saints  whom  the  foes  of  the  Baptists  so  much 
admire.  Then,  it  smacks  so  zestfully  of  the  delectable  doings  of  the  Men  of  Mun- 
ster,  the  apt  and  docile  scholars  of  these  fathers,  as  to  deprive  decent  Baptists  of 
sainthood  entirely.  But  for  the  re-assurance  of  all  parties,  good  Brenner,  the  great 
Catholic,  says  :  '  If  all  this  at  present  seems  improper,  the  noble  simplicity  and  inno- 
cence of  the  early  Christians  took  no  offense  at  it.  They  had  but  one  thought  about 
the  matter,  which  was  the  importance  and  sacredness  of  the  "  mysteries."  They 
looked  at  everv  thing  of  the  natural  order  in  the  same  sacred    light.'''"     And   even 


,  aduiinililu  tliiny 

!      Xakt 

■d  yuti  liavf  heen 

vuursrlf; 

(s  iiiiiiicrscMl  at'tiM 

•this  ta 

shiun.  I)c..,.ndiLT 

f   KliuiiMs.  in  tlR' 

carhodr; 

;il  ha].fi>trry  of  t: 

V  -AU,]  calls   tur  n; 

irraticm. 

,       TIk-  t'ontl'dc.-: 

le  was  a   rival   n{ 

the    Fi' 

ank  I'onfedLTary 

>scii    as    the   wliili 

landur-ii 

i-chicf   to    i\'|i<d    1 

hold,  l.ravu   and 

desiU'i'al 

:v  warrior.      Uv  ii 

222  CLOris,    KINC    OF    THE  FRANKS. 

St.  (.»tho,  liislH-ii.if  nand.er-  tulls  us  most  s,,l,.niiiK-  that  '  Nothiii-  indrcrnt.  nothinir 
.slianudul;  in  short,  iiothin.;-  at  all  that  rouM  U-  dislike!  hy  any  one.-  t.M,k  |>iace,  and 
tliat  'no  honest  |M-rsoiis  al)stractiMl  theiii.sulvus  from  haptism  in  .■onsciiicnce  of  sliamc' 
In<lcc(k  why  sJHMdd  they,  when  tiiis  was  the  lii-iiest  fashion  ..f  the  times  ^  for  Sim- 
eon Metaphrastos  states  tliut  the  Emperor  Constantine  was  entirely  nude  when 
immersed  ;  and  so  was  Jobia,  daughter  of  Sapor,  the  King  of  Persia.  Besides, 
Angiisline  enforces  the  i^ractice  with  this  religious  consideration:  '  Xaked  wc  were 
boi'n,  naked  we  go  to  the  wasliing,  and  naked  we  go  to  the  gate  id'  hea\en  ;'  while 
Cyril  addresses  the  newly  imniensed  tlins:  '  As  soon  as  you  approached,  you  took  otf 
youi'  clothing  and  so  were  naked.  ' 
the  sight  of  all  and  you  did  not  sham 

Clovis,  the  King  of  the  Franks, 
A.  1).  4'.tt;,  by  Uemigins,  the  F.ishop 
city.  His  case  is  a,  most  inteivsting  ( 
of'the  Alenianni  on    the    Middle    \l\ 

the  Lower  Rhine,  and  Clovis  was  ch,>sen  as  the  commander-in-chief  to  repel  the 
invasion  ..f  their  territory.  He 
the  foe  in  lierce  encounter  at  Ziilpich,  about  twenty  niiles  south-west  of  Cologne, 
and  the  battle  tlireatened  to  go  against  him.  He,  therefore,  called  upon  his  gods  for 
help,  but  in  vain.  His  wife,  Clotilda,  a  Burgundian  princess  who  was  a  Christian, 
had  made  t'very  effort  to  coiivei't  liim ;  but  while  lie  permitted  his  two  sons  to  be 
liajitized,  hi'  doubted  the  power  of  Christ  unless  he  interpwsed  specially  in  his  behalf. 
Yet,  he  joined  her  in  prayer  to  Christ,  and  vowed  to  become  a  Christian  if  he 
won  a  \ictory.     (Tix'gory,  of  Tours,  gives  the  folliiwiug  as  his  prayer: 

'The  army  of  Clovis  began  to  rush  to  sure  destruction;  but  he  seeing  this, 
pained  at  tlie  heart,  moved  to  tears  and  with  eyes  lifted  u[)  to  the  lieavens.  said  : 
"O,  Jesus  Christ,  whom  Clotilda  ileelares  to  be  the  Son  of  the  living  God,  thou  who 
art  said  to  give  help  to  the  stiuuiiliiig  and  victory  to  those  hoping  in  thee;  devoted 
to  thee,  I  entreat  the  glory  ol  thy  a>-istance;  and  if  thou  wilt  indulge  me  with  vic- 
tory over  these  enemies,  and  I  shall  have  full  experience  of  that  valor  whicli  the 
people  dedicated  to  thy  name  proclaim  that  they  have  put  to  the  proof,  I  shall  believe 
upon  thee,  and  1  sliall  be  baptized  in  thy  name.  For  I  have  called  upon  my  gods, 
and  they  have  been  far  from  helping  ine;  from  whicli  consideration  1  believe  that 
the  gods  who  do  not  come  to  those  obeying  them  are  invested  with,  no  power.  Now, 
I  call  upon  thee,  and  I  desire  to  believe  upon  thee,  only  let  me  not  be  overtlirown 
by  my  adversaries."  And  when  he  said  these  things,  the  Alenianni  began  to  seek 
flight;  and  when  they  perceived  that  their  king  was  killed,  they  put  themselves  under 
the  authority  of  Clovis,  saying,  "We  enti-eat  that  no  more  people  may  be  killed  ;  we 
are  thine." ' 

Gregory  adds  that  the  queen  then  sent  for  the  bishop  to  show  him  the  way  of 
salvation,  and  the  king  raised  the  difficulty  that  his  people  would  not  permit  him  to 
forsake  his  gods.  On  consulting  them,  however,  they  sliouted,  '  We  are  prepared 
to  follow  tlie  immortal  God.'  Then,  Kemigius  ordered  the  baptistery  prepared,  and 
the  whole  city  flocked  to  the  cathedral,  or  more  properly  to  the  '  temple  of  baptism ' 


IMMEUSiny   OF   CI. oris.  223 

au joining.  The  king  walked  tlirougii  the  streets  nnder  painted  canvas,  a(h>iiie(l 
witii  white  curtains,  and  tlie  baptismal  building  was  lighted  by  wax  tapers,  and  tilled 
with  what  he  claims  to  have  been  a  celestial  perfume,  an  odor  of  Paradise.  As 
the  monarch  entered  this  splendor,  and  the  sweetest  music  floated  to  his  ear,  he 
asked  the  bishop  if  this  was  the  kingdom  of  heaven  of  which  he  had  heard,  and 
was  answered,  '  No!  but  it  is  the  beginning  of  the  way  thither.'  Tiie  baptistery  in 
which  Clovis  was  immersed  was  a  large  tank,  or  pool,  which  tradition  has  removed 
to  Paris,  where  it  is  n.iw  found  in  tlir  r.iMinthcMpiL-  Rationale.  It  is  seven  feet 
long,  two  and  a  half  leet  deej),  about  the  same  in  width,  and  is  of  polished  por- 
phyry. Alcuin  gives  substantially  the  same  account,  representing  the  eagerness  of 
the  king  to  lie  'Washed  in  the  living  fountain  of  Catholic  baptism,  for  the  remis- 
sion of  sins  and  for  the  hope  of  eternal  life.  He  led  the  eager  king  to  the  fountain 
of  life,  and  when  he  came  he  washed  him  in  the  fountain  of  eternal  salvation.  8ii, 
tiie  king  was  baptized  with  his  nobles  and  people,  who  rejoiced  to  receive  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  healing  bath,  divine  grace  having  been  previously  given  them.'  Before 
the  bishop  immersed  him  he  said  :  'Meekly  bow  thy  neck,  Sicambrian  ;  worship  that 
which  thou  hast  burnt,  burn  that  which  thou  hast  worshiped.'  Three  thousand  of 
his  warriors  and  large  numbers  of  his  subjects  were  i)aptized  with  him,  amongst 
them  his  two  sisters.  Hincinar  says  that  the  throng  which  pressed  to  baptism 
was  so  great,  that  the  priest  could  not  press  through  witli  the;  consecrated  oil,  '  hence, 
in  a  wonderful  manner  another  oil  appeared.''  Avitus,  P.isiiop  of  Vienne,  wrote 
him  a  letter,  saluting  him  'as  one  liorn  out  of  the  water;'  immersed  in  what 
Gregory  calls  'afresh  fountain.'  Thus,  the  founder  of  the  French  nation  made 
confession  of  the  orthodox  faith,  and  was  thrice  immersed.  At  that  time  Ik;  was 
the  only  orthodox  nnmarch  in  Europe,  the  others  being  Arians,  for  which  reason 
he  was  called  the  '  Eldest  Son  of  the  Church.'  His  subsecpient  moral  inconsistencies 
show  more  martial  enthusiasm  in  his  conversion  than  sacrificial  cross-bearing ;  an 
epitome  of  his  wliole  life  being  condensed  into  his  exclamation  when  he  first  heard 
of  Christ's  crucifixion :  '  Had  I  been  there  with  my  brave  Fi-anks,  I  would  have 
avenged  his  wrongs.' 

This  century  is  marked  by  many  ti'anslations  of  the  Seriptm-es.  Theodoret.  a 
Syrian  bishop,  says:  'The  Hebrew  Scriptures  are  not  only  translated  into  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Grecians,  but  also  of  the  Romans,  the  Indians,  Persians,  Armenians, 
Scythians,  Sarmatians,  Egyptians ;  and,  in  a  woi'd,  into  all  the  languages  that  are 
used  by  any  nation.'  Mesrobe,  a  devout  Christian  Minister  of  State  to  the  King 
of  Armenia,  translated  them  into  the  Ai'menian  at  this  time.  He  formed  an  alpha- 
bet of  thirty-six  letters  in  order  to  do  his  work ;  and  made  his  version  first  from  the 
Syriac,  and  then  from  a  Greek  manuscript  which  was  sent  to  hitn  from  the  Council 
of  Ephesus,  A.  D.  431.  On  account  of  its  exact  and  elegant  simplicity,  it  is  called 
the  '  Queen  of  Versions."  He  uses  the  word  '  rnogredil '  to  express  baptifem,  a  word 
which  signifies  immerse. 


224  TRADITION  KNb'OUCKD. 

This  age  crcntccl  tliosc  wuiHlcTful,  illuminatiMl  hihlicul  iiKinuseripts,  written,  in 
many  cases,  un  reil,  violet  or  dark  purple  pareliineiit,  often  in  letters  of  gold  ui 
silver,  with  illu>trated  l.orders  and  eapitals.  Many  of  tlieni  were  brilliant  beyond 
description,  bound  in  i\ory  and  studded  with  genj.s.  The  Eiu]ieror  Theodosins 
devote.l  hiinsL'lf  to  the  study  of  the  Bible,  and  with  his  own  hand  jirodueed  a  coi)y 
of  the  (iospels  ill  letter^  of  -old,  formed  by  a  eheniieal  solution  ...f  that  metal.  It 
was  also  in  this  century  that  Patrick  instructed  the  Irish  in  the  use  of  the  lionian 
letters. 

( 'lenient,  of  Alexandria,  had  warned  Christians  against  the  authority  of  antiquity 
and  tradition,  and  saw  no  cure,  therefore,  but  the  "written  wi.ird.'  llii  said  that 
he  alone  was  right:  'Who  pursuing  this  course  from  year  to  year,  in  converse  with 
and  conformity  to  the  Scriptures,  keeps  to  the  rule  of  the  Ajjostolic  and  ecclesiastical 
jiuiity,  arcording  to  the  Gospel  and  those  established  truths  which,  as  giveu  by  the 
Lord,  by  the  law  and  the  prophets,  whoever  seeks  shall  find.'  Instead  of  following 
this  counsel,  however,  tradition  came  in  like  a  flood.  Even  Chrysostom  taught :  '  It  is 
clear  that  they  (the  Apostles)  did  not  deliver  all  things  by  their  epistles,  but  com- 
municated many  things  without  writing;  and  these,  too,  demand  our  assent  of  faith; 
it  is  fiadition,  make  no  further  inquiry.' ^'^  E])iphanius,  of  Salamis,  declares  as 
roundly:  'Tradition  is  necessary;  all  things  cannot  be  learned  from  the  Scriptures. 
The  Apostles  left  some  things  in  writing,  others  by  tradition.' "  On  this  ground, 
every  absurd  practice  was  justified.  Basil  puts  such  questions  as  these :  '  We  sign 
with  the  sign  of  the  cross.  Who  has  taught  this  in  Scripture?  We  consecrate  the 
water  of  baptism  and  the  oil  of  unction,  as  well  as  him  who  receives  baptism.  From 
what  Scripture  ?  Is  it  not  from  private  and  secret  tradition  ?  Moreover,  the  anoint- 
ing with  oil,  what  passage  of  Scripture  teaches  this?  Kow  a  man  is  thriee  immersed. 
From  whence  is  it  derived  or  delivered  ?  Also  the  rest  of  what  is  done  in  bajitism  : 
as  to  renounce  Satan  and  his  angels.  From  what  Scripture  have  we  it  i  Is  not 
this  from  private  and  secret  tradition  i '  '- 

Chrj'sostom  talks  similar  inane  nonsense  of  the  Supper.  He  tells  us  of  '  The 
dreadful  and  mystic  Table.'  '  The  Lamb  for  thee  is  slaughtered,  the  priest  foi-  thee 
contends,  the  spiritual  fire  from  the  sacred  table  ascends,  the  cherubim  holding 
their  stations  round  about,  while  the  seraphim  hovering  around,  and  the  six-winged 
veiling  their  faces,  while  for  thee  the  incorporeal  orders  along  with  the  priest  inter- 
cede.' .  .  .  'iN'ot  as  bread  shouldst  thou  look  at  that,  neither  esteem  that  as  wine,  for 
not  like  other  aliment  do  these  descend  into  the  draught.'  .  .  .  'Think  not  that  ye 
receive  the  divine  body,  as  from  the  hand  of  man  ;  but  rather  as  was  the  fire  from 
the  tongs  of  the  very  seraphim  given  to  Isaiah.'  '^ 

Think  of  cherubim  veiling  their  faces,  lest  they  catch  a  glimpse  of  bread  and 
wine !  No  wonder  that  Tully,  when  ridiculing  the  heathen  notion  of  the  times,  asks, 
'  Was  any  man  ever  so  mad  as  to  take  that  which  he  feeds  upon,  for  a  god  ? '  ^  We 
can  suppose  that  the  angels  shudder  when  men  say  that  they  eat  the  body,  soul  and 
divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  when  they  say  that  bread  and  wine,  if  dropped  into 


MIRACLES    OF   TIIH  SlPPh'/!.  22S 

the  mouth  of  the  dying  and  the  dead  works  a  miracle,  as  the  Christians  did  at  tiiis 
time.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  declares  that  when  his  sister  Gorgonia  was  suffering 
from  a  severe  malady  she  Iknv  to  the  '  altar,'  and  holding  it  fast  obtained  an  instant 
cure,  by  rubbing  her  buily  witli  a  few  crumbs  and  drops  of  the  elements.  Evagrius 
reports  that  it  was  the  custom  at  Constantinople,  for  the  school-boys  to  eat  what 
remained  of  the  consecrated  bread  after  the  Su2)per.  The  son  of  a  Jewisli  glass- 
blower,  in  wrath  threw  another  boy  into  a  glowing  furnace,  but  a  woman  in  a  pur- 
ple robe  was  with  him  in  the  Hames,  pouring  water  on  the  coals,  and  his  motlicr  pulled 
him  out  unhurt.  The  fourth  canou  of  the  Church  of  Hippo  decreed  that :  '  The 
eucharist  should  not  be  put  into  the  mouth  of  the  dead.  For  it  was  said  by  our 
Lord,  "  Take  ye  and  eat."  But  corpses  cannot  receive  or  eat.'  Ferrandus,  a 
deacon  of  Carthage,  was  sorely  tried  because  a  black  slave  was  taken  with  a  vio- 
lent fever  and  baptized  before  death,  while  unconscious.  The  deacon  wrote  to 
Fulgentius,  Bishop  of  Ruspe,  to  know  whether  he  was  saved  without  the  Supper. 
He  thought  that  possibly  he  might  be.  In  this  he  differed  from  Gelasius  I.,  Bishop 
of  Rome,  who  said :  '  Jesus  Christ,  with  his  heavenly  voice,  pronounces,  "  Except 
ye  eat  my  flesh  and  drink  ray  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in  you."  We  see  no  excejition 
made,  nor  has  any  one  dared  to  say,  that  an  infant  without  this  sacrament  of  salva- 
tion can  be  brought  into  eternal  life.  But  without  this  life  he  will  no  doubt  be  in 
everlasting  death.'  In  a  word,  the  Supper  had  long  been  the  subject  of  sad  abuses. 
The  third  Council  of  Carthage,  A.  D.  397,  was  obliged  to  check  these,  and  forbid 
the  custom  of  giving  the  bread  and  wine  to  the  dead,  or  of  burying  them  with  the 
dead,  as  was  often  practiced.  By  the  close  of  the  sixth  century,  there  was  no  end 
to  the  ridiculous  virtues  claimed  for  these  elements,  many  fanatics  declaring  that  they 
had  raised  the  dead.^'  John  Moschus,  of  Jerusalem,  has  the  effrontery  to  tell  this 
'  lying  wonder '  of  a  certain  pillar-saint,  namely  :  '  That  he  threw  these  elements  into 
a  boiling  hot  caldron,  when  lo !  immediately  it  was  cold,  while  the  bread  and  wine 
remained  dry  and  safe ! ' 


CHAPTER    VI. 

THE    SIXTH,    SEVENTH,    EIGHTH    AND    NINTH    CENTURIES. 

THE  period  Htretcliing  fn.iii  tlio  tiftli  tu  the  tifteentli  ceiitiirv  is  nitvn  spoken 
of  as  tlie  Middle  Ages,  and  the  liivt  half  of  that  time  as  the  Dark  Ages; 
because  of  feudal  and  papal  violence,  the  univei-sal  reign  of  injiistiee  and  the  torpor 
of  the  intellect.  Innocent  and  Leo  had  long  struggled  to  bring  Christendom  under 
the  supremacy  of  the  Eoman  See.     This,  Gregory  the  Great  succeeded  in  doing.    At 


-% 


.RCH  EDIFRE 


the  close  of  the  seventh  age,  .Mexandria  and  Antioch  were  captured  by  the  Saracens, 
with  great  suffering  to  the  Churehes,  ^\•llile  the  Eastern  Empire  was  fast  declining 
and  the  Koman  pontiffs  were  left  without  i-ivals. 

As  yet,  we  have  said  nothing  of  the  introduction  of  the  Gospel  into  the  Brit- 
ish Isles,  and  as  the  sixth  century  marks  their  Christian  history  ycry  strongly,  it  will 
be  proper  to  advert  to  the  subject  here.  These  islands  were  scarcely  known  to 
Rome,  when  her  heavy  hand  was  laid  upon  them  under  Julius  C;vsar.  The  classic 
nations  and  all  the  seats  of  ancient  government  lay  to  the  far  East;  but  these 
were  at  the  extreme  of  the  wild  and  barbarous  West.  When  Plantius  landed  his 
four  legions  on  the  coast  of  Kent  and  took  firm  possession  of  them,  Claudius,  his 


BlUTAIN  CONVERTED. 


227 


th 


statements  of  Clem 
of  tlie  Gospel  i^oim 


master,  followed,  as  if  to  enlarge  the  emi>irr,  Imt  really  to  promote  the  spread  of 
the  Gospel,  which  was  to  redeem  those  dark  lauds  iVdiii  cruel  sii])erstition.  By  A.  1). 
180,  Christianity  appears  to  have  reached  every  province  of  this  colossal  realm,  from 
the  Danube  to  Ethiopia  and  the  Libyan  Desert,  and  from  the  Tigris  to  Britain.  It  is  not 
certain  when  the  Gospel  reached  Britain  however ;  although  Bishops  Bull,  Burgess 
and  Xewton  contend  that  it  was  introduced  by  one  of  the  Apostles.  Gildas  thinks 
that  it  was  before  the  defeat  of  the  British  forces  under  Boadicea,  in  61 ;  Bull  and 
Newton,  that  a  Church  existed  there  before  one  was  formed  in  Rome.  Pagitt  unites 
in  this  opinion,  calling  the  Church  at  Rome  not  only  a  sister  of  the  British,  but  'a 
younger  sister,  too.'  Mattlnw  i'aris  fixes  the  date  at  aliout  ItlT;  Moslieim,  in  the 
reign  of  Marcus  Aunliu.s  JtW-lsO,  being  disposed  to  think  that  its  missionaries 
took  refuge  there  from  Fi-ance  when  persecution  raged  at  Lyons  and  Vienna,  177; 
and  Neander,  at  the  close  of  the  second  century,  and  not  from  Rome  but  from  the 
East. 

Several  of  these  writers  place  too  uuicli  di-pcnd 
cut  Romanus,  L-emvus  and  Eusebius,  who  speik  wit! 
to  '  the  end  of  the  West '  at  that  eai-ly  date.  (>di 
bon  contributes  to  this  idea  by  saying,  that  the  high 
ways  'opened  an  easy  passage  to  the  raissionaiies 
as  well  as  the  legions  from  Italy  to  the  e\tiennt\ 
of  Spain  and  Britain.'  But  Tertullian  boasts  ot 
Christ's  reign  in  his  day:  'Among  people  whom 
the  Roman  arms  have  never  yet  sul)dind  In 

the  farthest  extremities  in  Spain  and  (t  lul  and 
Britain;'  and  he  iKinios  one  or  more  of  tliL  Jiiitisli 
converts.  St'vei-al  writers  of  the  second  ccntun 
make  the  same  statement  to  persons  high  m  tla 
State ;  which,  if  they  were  exaggerated,  w  ould  h  i%  t 
defeated  their  purpose,  by  provoking  otficial  conti  \ 
diction.     But  whatever  the  date  of  its  intioduction 

may  have  been,  we  have  many  evidences  that  it  has  never  been  entirely  rooted  out 
since,  although  the  Anglo-Saxons  by  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century  invaded 
Britain,  destroyed  the  Christian  places  of  assembly,  slew  their  pastors,  burned  the 
Scriptures,  and  drove  the  few  ancient  British  Christians  who  were  left  into  Corn- 
wall, Wales  and  Cumberland,  where  in  part  they  still  retained  a  footing.  About 
fifty  years  ago  Mr.  Mitchell,  the  antiquarian,  disentombed  a  church  building  at  St. 
Pieran,  on  the  sand  near  Truro,  Cornwall,  which  is  supposed  to  have  been  built  before 
Austin  visited  Britain,  and  to  have  disappeared  in  the  twelfth  century,  when  several 
parishes  on  the  north-west  coast  were  buried  in  the  sand.  The  preceding  cuts  represent 
this  building  and  tlie  stone  font  found  there.  Of  course,  idolatry  was  re-established 
wherever  Christianity  was  driven  out.   Two  salient  points  rise  out  of  this  early  history, 


228  EAULV    VIirjsTIA.Ws    /.V    WALEti. 

iKuiiuly  :  Were  these  British  Christians  aU.>-c'tlicT  iincnn-iiptccl  fmni  tliu  .-iiiiplieity  of 
tlie  (iospcl  hef ore  Pope  Gregory  sent  Austin  to  llritaiii.  A.  1 ).:.'.:«;  and.  Is  there 
any  fonnilatidii  tnr  the  oft-repeated  assertion  that  tlie  Wel.-h  penjile,  especially,  have 
never  howecl  the  knee  to  Rome?  It  seems  iinjiussiMe  to  detei-iniiie  the  first  of  these 
questions,  as  the  general  conviction  amongst  ixdialile  aiithniaties  is,  that  the  tnie 
Church  history  of  this  people  and  time  has  never  lieeii  written,  and  cannot  be  with 
the  material  now  at  command.  What  doctrines  they  held,  what  ordinances  they 
practiced,  and  what  was  the  fui'ni  of  their  Church  govermuent,  are  all  undeter- 
mined questions.  But  it  is  at  least  reasonable  to  suppose,  that  owing  to  their  polit- 
ical affinities  with  Eonie  during  the  fii'st  four  centuries,  Christianity  took  much  the 
same  general  character  in  Britain  that  it  did  in  other  w^estern  parts  of  the  empire. 
We  know  this  as  a  well-established  fact,  that  when  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  powers 
blended  at  Rome,  the  corrupt  leaven  permeated  Christianity  elsewhere;  and  in  all 
likelihood  this  is  true  of  Britain. 

I'nder  the  tlieory  of  uninterrupted  Ai)o.stolical  succession,  the  Church  of  En- 
gland claims  to  be  a  continiiation  of  this  ancient  Dritish  Ciiiirch.  This  is  clearly  a 
modern  invention,  to  serve  her  cleigy  as  a  bridge  user  which  tlii'y  may  trace  their 
line  back  into  the  immediate  post-Apostolic  ('luircli,  witln.iut  drag-ing  the  cumbrous 
chain  through  all  the  quagmires  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  The  scheme  is  indeed 
ingenious,  and  it  is  claimed  that  the  Bishops  of  London  and  York  were  both  alive, 
yet  in  exile,  when  Austin  came  to  Britain  ;  but  the  whole  plan  lacks  the  evidence 
of  truth,  and  wears  the  air  of  fancy.  The  swarm  of  monks  which  he  found  at  Ban- 
gor, Isycoed,  Flintshire,  N.  Wales ;  also  at  Bangor  on  Carrickfergus  Bay,  Ii-eland, 
founded  A.  D.  530,  and  in  lona,  an  island  of  the  Hebrides,  shows  that  these  Chris- 
tians who  are  said  never  to  have  bowed  the  knee  to  Rome  had  fallen  into  the  same 
errors  of  faith  and  practice,  in  some  things  at  least,  with  others.  When  we  bring 
the  baptism  of  King  Lucius,  St.  German  and  Lupus,  with  their  mission  and  miracles, 
together  with  the  lives  of  the  Cambro-British  saints,  such  as  David,  Beuno,  Wine- 
frede  and  others,  into  the  'Ancient  Christian  History  of  Britain,'  we  move  in 
the  fog  of  legend  and  point  to  Rome  as  their  true  source,  as  surely  as  the  needle 
points  to  the  pole. 

Gregory  sent  Austin  and  his  forty  monks  to  Britain  to  restore  what  the  Saxons 
had  destroyed.  Of  course,  he  expected  to  find  some  remnants  of  the  old  Christianity  ; 
but  his  chief  design  was  to  convert  the  idolatrous  Angles,  Saxons  and  Jutes,  who 
had  wrought  the  havoc.  There  were  few  better  or  wiser  men  in  his  day  than 
Gregory,  although  as  a  bigot  he  was  very  overbearing.  And  was  he  ignorant  of 
the  fact,  that  Columba,  the  Irish  nol)leman.  known  as  the  '  A])ostle  of  the  Highlands,' 
had  established  his  great  monastery  in  Scotland,  and  called  his  followers  the  'Servants 
oi  GoA,^  Keldees?  It  is  of  this  great  school  that  Dr.  -Johnson  says,  it  was  the 
'Luminary  of  the  Caledonian  regions,  where  savage  clans  ami  roving  liarbarians 
derived  the  benefits  of  knowledge  and  the  blessings  of  rehgiou.'     Then,  there  were 


O  HE  GORY  AND  AUSTIN.  229 

many  other  monks,  as  at  Derry  and  Durrow,  making  in  all  at  least  from  five  to  seven 
tliousarid,  and  so  the  conversion  of  the  Saxons  was  promising.  Pi-obably  both  these 
considerations  excited  the  zeal  of  the  pojje,  despite  that  pleasant  story  of  the  Angle 
youths  whom  he  met  in  the  market-place  at  Rome.  For  Bertha,  daughter  of  the 
King  of  Paris,  had  become  queen  to  Ethelbert,  King  of  Kent,  one  of  the  seven 
Anglo-Saxon  kings  of  Britain.  She  had  almost  persuaded  her  husband  to  embrace 
Christianity.  Thus,  Gregory  sent  Austin,  a  Eoman  monk,  on  this  mission  of  con- 
verting the  king  and,  if  possible,  all  Britain,  and  of  placing  it  under  the  sway  of  Kunie. 
He  began  his  work  on  the  island  of  Thanet,  where  the  king  welcomed  him,  and 
he  then  prucccded  to  C;mterl)ury.  Tiie  king  was  baptized  A.  D.  597,  after 
wiiich  he  made  Austin  archbishop  of  that  See,  at  which  place  he  built  his  cathe- 
dral, 602. 

But,  in  the  looseness  of  the  times,  Austin  had  been  instructed  to  adapt  the 
ceremonies  of  Christianity  to  the  usages  of  the  idolaters,  that  they  might  not  be 
shocked  by  too  great  a  change.  And  this  was  done.  Bede  tells  us,  that  there  was 
often  an  altar  for  the  sacrifices  of  paganism  and  one  for  Christianity  in  the  same 
temple ;  and  Procopius  his  contemporary  adds,  that  some  who  had  embraced  Chris- 
tianity continued  to  offer  human  sacrifices.  The  old  British  Christians,  however, 
sternly  opposed  the  pretensions  of  Austin,  who  assumed  great  pomp  and  arrogance ; 
spending  more  of  his  time  in  reducing  them  to  conformity  to  what  he  called  '  the 
unity  of  the  Catholic  Church,'  than  in  converting  the  heathen.  Tp  to  that  time, 
the  Christians  of  what  are  now  England,  Ireland  and  Scotland  had  Ijuen  free  from 
the  direct  jurisdiction  of  Rome,  and  had  maintained  their  ancient  rites  and  customs. 
Thus,  Austin  charged  them,  saying :  '  You  act  in  many  particulars  contrary  to  our 
custom,  or  rather  the  custom  of  the  universal  Church ;  and  yet,  if  you  will  comply 
witli  nie  in  these  three  points,  namely  :  to  keep  Easter  at  the  due  time ;  to  administer 
baptism,  by  which  we  are  again  born  to  God,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  holy 
Roman  Apostolic  Church  ;  and  jointly  with  us  preach  the  word  of  God  to  the  English 
nation,  we  will  readily  tolerate  all  the  other  things  you  do,  though  contrary  to  our 
customs.'  This  proposition  was  made  at  a  conference  held  with  the  leaders  of  the 
British  Christians  at  Chester.  But  Leland  says  that  they  disputed  with  him  with 
great  ability,  and  refused  either  to  accept  him  as  their  archbishop,  or  the  pope  as 
their  master,  or  to  change  their  customs.  On  the  contrary,  Dinoth  of  Bangor  said : 
That  they  owed  love  and  charity  to  all  Christians,  the  Bishop  of  Rome  with 
the  rest,  '  But  other  obedience  to  the  pope  we  know  not.'  He  then  censured  the 
pope  for  usurpation,  and  asked  Austin  to  restore  his  unjust  and  tyrannical  ])ower 
into  the  hands  whence  it  came.  Whereupon  Austin  threatened  them  with  war  and 
death,  for  he  was  filled  with  indignation. 

They  refused  to  observe  Easter  at  the  same  time  with  the  Uomish  connnunioii, 
because  they  did  not  believe  that  the  ]K)1ic  cclclirated  it  at  tiu;  pmper  time.  Tiiey 
refused  to  preach  U>  the  Saxons,  because  they   had  driven   tiiem   frum   their  homes, 


well  .1.1(1  fully  cstaM 

i^hrd,  su  that  i.ial 

terized  tliciii  a^  '  Soi 

mil  ill  the  faith,  a 

of  Christ,  as    it   was 

.IcIivcTcd    to    tJK 

stateiiK'iit,  however, 

diK's  not  tlii'ow  S( 

230  AVST/iWS   niSl'UTE    WITH  BRITISH   CIimsTIANS. 

had  persecuted  them  cruel Ij,  and  imw  suut^lit  to  make  thcni  vassals;  and  they  saw 
no  fitness  in  cx]iosing  theinsclves  anew  to  their  wi-atli,  on  the  itare  request  of  a 
stranger  who  was  pi-eaehing  to  them  himself.  As  to  the  sec(.)nd  jiarticular,  regard- 
ing bajitism  acconling  to  the  custom  of  RiJine,  it  is  not  easy  to  determine  exactly 
wliat  he  demanileil.  Some  tliiiik  tliat  he  rec|nired  them  to  adopt  all  the  ceremonies 
wliieh  the  ( 'atliolies  had  added  to  tiiat  ordinance;  and  others,  that  he  exacted  of 
them  tiie  practice  of  infant  baptism.  While,  perhaps,  this  point  cannot  now  be  fully 
determined,  several  things  seem  to  imply  that  he  covered  both  considerations,  and 
especially  the  latter.  We  have  no  record  showing  that  infant  baptism  was  practiced 
in  Britain  at  that  time,  while  there  are  hints  that  it  was  ;  but  in  view  of  the  great 
simplicity  of  these  British  Christians,  it  is  at  least  fair  to  suppose  that  it  was  not 
ly  still  doubted  its  ]ii'opriety.  Geoffry  charac- 
nd  pure  in  the  worship,  order  and  discipline, 
■m  from  the  Apostles  and  evangelists.'  This 
i  much  light  on  the  subject  as  the  following 
facts,  namely  : 

1.  That  in  597,  aeeording  to  Bede,  Austin  'desired  the  solution  of  some  doubts 
that  occurred  to  him,'  and  sent  a  letter  to  Pope  Gregory  by  the  hands  of  Laurentius 
and  Peter  the  monk,  asking  for  their  solution.  His  eighth  question,  in  part,  was 
this :  '  Also,  after  liow  many  days  the  infant  born  may  be  baptized,  lest  lie  be  pre- 
vented by  death  T  To  whieli  tlie  [lojie  answers  :  that  the  child  may  be  baptized, 
'The  very  hour  it  is  born,  is  no  way  /ifu/i/'/j/'/n? ;  because,  as  the  grace  of  the  holy 
mystery  is  to  be  with  much  discretion  pro\  iiled  for  the  living  and  understanding,  so 
it  is  to  be  without  any  delay  offered  to  tlie<lying;  lest,  while  a  further  time  is  souglit 
to  confer  the  mystery  of  redemption,  a  small  delay  intervening,  the  per.son  to  be 
redeemed  is  dead  and  gone.'  This  was  in  harmony  with  what  he  had  decreed 
not  long  before  Austin  put  his  qiiestion  :  '  Let  all  young  children  be  baptized  as  they 
ought  to  be,  according  to  the  tradition  of  the  fathers.'  2.  But  the  conference  with 
the  British  Christians,  at  which  he  demanded  that  tliey  should  '  administer  baptism 
according  to  the  custom  of  Rome,'  was  not  held  till  A.  D.  602,  about  five  years 
after  he  had  asked  Gregory  to  solve  his  doubts  on  this  question.  3.  If  Austin  him- 
self, even  when  he  had  been  ordained  '  Archbishop  of  the  English  nation,'  had 
doubts  on  the  question  as  to  how  many  days  old  a  babe  should  be  before  he  could 
receive  baptism,  the  pope's  answer  throws  light  upon  his  meaning  in  the  phrase,  '  by 
which  we  are  again  born  to  God,'  and  more  than  hints  that  the  Britons  neither 
believed  this  nor  acted  accordingly.  5.  Disinterested  writers,  some  of  them  ancient, 
understand  this  to  have  been  the  subject  in  dispute.  Thierry,  in  his  account  of  the 
matter,  says  of  these  British  Christians,  that  they  refused  to  believe  in  the  '  dam- 
nation of  infants  dying  without  baptism,'  which  is  the  very  point  that  the  pope 
argues.  ^  Fabian  represents  Austin  as  demanding,  '  That  ye  give  Christendom  to 
children,'  that  is,  that  they  admit  children  into  Christianity,  according  to  the  custom 


THE  sr.Al'GIITEn    OF    THE  MONKS.  231 

of  tlio  IloiiKiii  Cliurcli.  G.  And  as  if  to  show  tlio  resistance  wliicli  infant  Ijaptism 
met  with,  Liiigard  tells  lis,  that  as  early  as  the  days  of  the  grandson  of  Ethelbert 
of  Kent :  '  Persuaded  of  the  necessity  of  baptism  by  the  instructions  of  his  teachers, 
the  legislators  of  Wessex  placed  all  new-born  infants  under  the  protection  of  tlie 
law,  and  hij  the  fear  of  pwu'shment  st\mu\a.ted  the  diligence  of  the  parents.  Tlie 
delay  of  a  month  sul)ject('d  tlicni  to  the  penalty  of  thirty  shillings;  and  if,  after 
tiiat  period,  tlie  child  died  witliuut  having  received  the  sacred  rite,  nothing  less  than 
the  forfeiture  of  their  property  could  expiate  the  offense.'  ^  All  this  marks  the  hard 
struggle  which  ensued  in  enforcing  infant  baptism  even  upon  the  converts  whom 
Austin  made  from  the  Saxons,  and  bears  strongly  upon  the  second  ])oint  in  his  three 
requisitions. 

Austin  told  the  British  Christians  that  if  they  would  yield  these  three  points, 
he  '  would  readily  tolerate  all  the  other  things'  which  they  did  'contrar}'  to  our  cus- 
toms.''  What  these  were  does  not  appear.  But  they  treated  his  toleration  with 
contempt,  for  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth  says  that  they  'reckoned  their  faith  and 
religion  as  nothing,  and  would  no  more  communicate  with  the  Angles  than  with 
dogs.'  He  then  says,  that  when  the  King  of  Kent  saw  '  That  the  Britons  disdained 
subjection  to  Austin,  and  despised  his  preaching,'  he  stirred  up  Ethelfrid,  the  King 
of  Nortlmmbria  ;  a  great  army  was  raised,  they  marched  against  Bangor,  A.  D.  (il8, 
and  slew  these  patriots  who  stood  for  religious  freedom  in  their  own  country.  Some 
writers  place  the  number  of  the  monks  and  priests  who  were  slain  as  low  as  two 
Inmdred,  while  others  put  them  as  high  as  twelve  hundred.  And  one  sucii  con- 
test followed  another  until,  before  the  end  of  the  eighth  century,  all  tlie  Churches 
of  Wales  had  submitted  to  the  pope's  authority.  The  '  Liber  Landavensis '  and  other 
trustworthy  documents  bear  abundant  proof  of  their  rapid  and  thorough  fall.  But 
that  consumnuition  was  not  reached  until  the  sword,  the  purse  and  the  pen,  of  the 
Saxon,  the  Dane  and  the  Norman,  had  all  been  devoted  to  the  task  with  untiring 
energy. 

This  period  is  made  immortal  by  that  .stupendous  mental  and  moral  revolution 
which  was  effected  by  Mohammed,  a  native  of  Arabia,  A.  D.  509-632.  But  a  degen- 
erate Christianity  had  carefully  prepared  his  way,  so  that  every  thing  was  ready  for 
the  introduction  and  spread  of  his  new  system.  It  is  difficult  to  find  one  body  of 
Christians  who,  at  this  time,  had  not  departed  in  a  large  measure  from  the  primitive 
simplicity  of  Christianity.  Metaphysical  jargon  had  taken  the  place  of  its  doctrines 
and  almost  buried  its  truths.  Its  holy  spirituality  had  nearly  expired  in  tierce  con- 
tentions, either  about  matters  of  no  vital  consequence  or  those  which  never  can  be 
settled.  The  original  beauty  of  its  institutions  had  been  frightfully  remodeled,  and 
an  intolerable  weight  of  ceremonies  had  ridiculed  its  pure  and  unpretending  rites  out 
of  existence.  With  obscui-e  exceptions,  Christians  had  become  a  by-word  and  a  hiss- 
ing in  Arabia,  and  in  the  East  generally.  They  had  given  themselves  up  to  legend,*, 
to  the  adoration  of  relics,  of  images,  saints  and   angels,  of  Mary-worshi]i,  and  other 


232  MOHAMMED. 

ridiculous  and  extravagant  things.  These,  together  with  salvation  by  baptism,  the 
seeking  of  soul-food  by  eating  the  Sujiper,  the  forcing  of  babes  into  the  communion 
of  the  Church  and  their  participancy  in  the  Supper,  purgatory,  ecclesiastical  pomp 
and  corruption  finished  the  work ;  so  that  Gregory  the  Great  himself  likened  the 
Church  to  a  ship,  rotten  and  leaky,  hourly  looking  for  wreck.  Slie  had  become 
thoroughly  indolent,  contentious  and  faithless  to  her  trust,  and  was  ready  to  be  led 
away  with  any  new  doctrine. 

Learning  was  nearly  extinct,  or  was  shut  up  in  the  cells  of  monks.  Many  of 
those  bishops  of  whose  lordliness  we  hear  so  much  could  neither  read  nor  write, 
and  their  lives  were  given  to  the  most  odious  forms  of  iniquity.  The  Church  was 
full  of  spurious  Gospels  and  other  writings;  and  stood  out  before  the  world  in  bit- 
ter strifes  and  absurd  distractions,  parading  an  empty  pride  which  proved  to  men 
the  need  of  a  new  faith  and  threatened  her  entire  overthrow  east  of  the  Bosphorus. 
The  condition  of  Arabia,  social,  political,  religious,  threw  powerful  influences  in 
favor  of  a  new  i-eligion.  The  Arabians  were  pre-eminently  ignorant,  and  no  one 
faith  prevailed  strongly  over  anotlier,  so  that  no  great  bond  held  them  together. 
They  were  not  even  united  under  one  civil  government,  but  under  several  which 
were  at  enmity  with  each  other — a  condition  exactly  adapted  to  combine  them  under 
one  rapturous  book  and  one  bloody  sword.  Mecca,  the  birthplace  of  Mohammed, 
was  also  a  singular  center  of  religious  sects,  Jewish,  Christian  and  Pagan  ;  and  he 
saw  the  weakening  effect  of  their  hostilities,  especially  in  the  divisions  and  hatreds 
of  those  who  professed  the  same  creeds.  In  the  times  of  Roman  persecution  the 
Jews  had  flocked  there  for  security,  and  all  sorts  of  Christians  had  tied  for  the 
same  protection,  where  they  could  cherish  and  broach  their  own  views  without  fear. 
Of  course,  in  this  promiscuous  interblending,  all  kinds  of  errors  mixed  themselves 
with  truth,  until  there  came  a  general  decay  of  first  principles.  The  epoch  was 
specially  turbulent.  New  kingdoms  were  springing  up  out  of  the  vast  wrecks  of 
the  Empire  and  in  their  seething  jealousies  Arabia,  which  was  rising  into  impor- 
tance, only  required  a  leader  to  make  her  formidable.  In  a  word,  he  would  be  a 
great  artist,  whose  pen  could  draw  a  picture  so  black  as  to  exaggerate  the  fearful 
state  of  things  in  this  age  of  usurpation,  fraud  and  error,  which  inflicted  its  due  pen- 
alty in  a  dark  and  endless  variety  of  evils. 

Mohammed  was  highly  gifted  by  nature.  lie  was  graceful  in  person  and 
manners,  rising  superior  to  many  of  his  country-men  in  his  genius,  and  highly  en- 
thusiastic. In  very  early  life  his  powerful  mind  grasped  the  great  influence  of 
religion  over  mankind,  an  idea  which  drew  him  into  deej)  religious  contemplation, 
and  rendered  him  affable  to  the  weak  and  deferential  to  the  powerful.  What  his 
original  notions  were  in  framing  a  new  religion,  whether  enthusiasm  or  hypocrisy 
predominated,  is  a  secret  left  with  God.  But  for  years  he  affected  an  almost  total 
exclusion  from  the  world,  and  was  ready  to  burst  ujion  it  with  his  new  revelations 
just  after  the  Emperor  Phocas  had   conferred   upon  Gregory  the  Great  the  title  of 


THE   KORAX.  233 

Universal  Pastor.  Phocas  had  nnirclered  his  predecessor,  Maurice,  in  order  to  take 
the  crown,  and  he  desired  to  j)ro2)  up  his  throne  by  the  support  of  the  Churcli. 
Gregory  had  passed  through  a  long,  fiery  contest  for  this  supremacy  in  the  Chni'ch, 
and  so  he  sanctioned  the  usurper  and  received  his  reward.  But  dying  at  that  junct- 
ure, Boniface  took  the  title,  A.  D.  606,  while  the  Arabian  prophet  really  opened 
his  public  mission  in  609 — a  remarkable  coincidence.  The  many  sects  of  his  own 
home  opened  to  him  a  wide  field  for  his  joint-political  and  religious  experiment. 
The  first  idea  which  seized  his  mind  was  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Unity  of  God  was 
in  danger  of  being  lost.  This  one  great  truth  was  common  to  Jews,  Christians  and 
Arabs.  But  pagan  polytheists  amongst  them  contradicted  this  doctrine ;  and  by 
gratuitous  assertion  he  accused  the  Jews  of  holding  a  plurality  of  gods  by  believing 
in  Ezra  as  the  son  of  God ;  and  accused  the  Christians  of  the  same  in  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity.  By  this  artiliee  he  made  himself  the  apostle  of  the  tenet  of  the 
Divine  Unity,  and  used  it  to  prove  his  own  legation  from  God. 

In  that  gloomy  cave  at  Mount  Kara,  near  Mecca,  he  made  this  fundamental 
article  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  the  corner-stone  of  his  new  system,  lie  was 
shut  up  to  the  alternative  of  framing  an  entirely  new  religion,  or  of  grafting  new 
notions  of  his  own  into  the  credibility  of  those  already  existing.  In  this  laboratory, 
therefore,  he  tampered  with  Christianity  and  Judaism,  mixing  certain  elements  of 
these  weighty  and  ancient  faiths  with  a  curious  compound  of  pagan  superstitions. 
The  admixture  under  his  weird  alchemy  came  forth  an  eclectic  faith  from  genuine, 
spurious  and  apocryphal  writings,  the  Bible,  the  pagan  traditions  and  the  reveries 
of  the  Talmud.  What  did  not  suit  his  purpose  he  threw  aside,  and  studiously  accom- 
modated his  teachings  to  the  preconceptions  of  all  sects,  yet  directly  imitating  none. 
For  the  Jew  he  recognized  the  divine  authority  of  Moses;  for  the  Christian  the 
divine  mission  of  Jesus  ;  and  for  the  pagan  he  tolerated  all  his  imposing  ceremonies. 
He  opened  his  mission  with  tact  and  sagacity,  showing  that  he  read  the  popular 
mind.  He  appealed  directly  to  the  prejudices  and  prepossessions  of  his  countrymen  ; 
declaring  himself  a  delegate  from  God  to  supplement  what  Moses  and  Christ  had  left 
unfinished,  by  improving  their  work,  supplying  their  deficiencies,  closing  forever 
the  book  of  prophecy  and  thus  clothing  the  new  revelation  with  an  air  of  progress. 
His  sagacious  penetration  employed  all  these  in  the  best  way  to  promote  his  ambition. 
His  largest  elements,  therefore,  were  taken  from  Moses  and  Christ,  as  he  depended 
on  them  for  his  vivifying  principle  to  be  cast  into  the  dull  and  inert  mass,  and  to 
give  it  plausibility  and  consistency.  This  was  his  passport  both  to  Jewish  and 
Christian  confidence,  and  shows  his  superior  skill  to  use  the  most  powerful  auxili- 
aries in  his  politic  cause.  Then  he  bent  the  sword  around  the  motley  mass  to  bind 
it  together.  This  laid  bare  his  design  on  the  State,  while  the  Koran  interpreted 
his  purpose  on  the  Church.  This  singular  piece  of  com])osition,  the  Koran,  is 
thrown  together  in  the  most  desultory  manner,  after  the  general  order  of  Eastern 
writing.     Yet  it  possesses  great  copiousness;  it  is  full  of  natural,  vivid  imagery,  is 


234  THE  PAl'LICIANS. 

elcf^iuit  ill  cadeiiee,  and  wcaltliy  in  i-liytlini.  Indeed,  the  Mussulman  is  prond  of 
wliiit  lie  calls  its  ininiitable  siihliiiiit  v,  ami  a\'n\vs  that  for  tlii.s  reason  it  cannot  be 
translated  out  of  the  Arabic  into  any  other  tonnne. 

The  Aral)ians  were  also  proud  of  their  descent  frum  Tshinael,  and  tlie  anti(iiiitv 
of  their  temple,  which,  Moliammed  told  them,  angels  liad  built  fur  Abraham,  after 
the  pattern  i>(  that  Jinilt  for  Adam  in  Paradise,  and  that  Ishmael  and  Abraham  both 
wdi'shipiMl  tliei-e.  Hence,  he  was  sent  to  save  his  countrvnieu  from  that  idolatry 
which  ad.uvd  the  stars  which  lloat.-d  ,,ver  its  venerable  walls.  But  he  appealed 
only  to  their  i)ri(le,  tlieir  blind  prejudices  and  (jueiicliles.  passi,,ns.  He  gave  them 
a  political  religion  on  a  level  with  tlieir  sensual  lives.  There  was  no  mystery  in  it 
for  their  reason  U>  grapple  with  or  for  their  faith  to  fathom,  no  discipline  to  keep 
their  depraved  appetites  in  check,  no  pride  to  be  mortitied  and  no  sacritices  imposed 
for  the  blessing  of  others.  Then  he  threw  into  it  the  martial  element.  There  were 
new  laurels  to  conquer,  new  lields  of  slaughter  for  fierceness  and  rapine  to  flood  and 
new  provinces  to  possess.  In  oi'der  to  fire  their  zeal  lie  declared  the  divine  patience 
exhausted,  and  tliat  every  monument  of  idolatry  must  be  destroyed  by  the  sword. 
Thus  all  things  favored  his  plan,  and  the  Church  was  to  reap  the  terrible  harvest 
which  she  had  sown.  Yet  there  was  not  light  enough  left  to  penetrate  the  bosom 
of  his  odious  system ;  not  piety  enough  to  exhibit  a  Christian  superiority  to  the  im- 
position. In  fact,  he  urged  it  upon  his  countrymen  as  a  better  practical  religion 
than  any  that  then  existed,  and  there  was  little  in  the  spirit  or  conscience  of  the 
so-called  Christian  Church  to  contradict  him. 

Paulioian  history  has  come  to  us  mainly  through  the  persecutors  of  the  Pauli- 
cians,  and  it  scarcely  has  its  parallel  for  calumny  in  the  annals  of  the  centuries. 
They  liave  always  been  coupled  with  the  Manichfeans,  and  nothing  has  been  too 
base  to  say  of  them.  Bossuet  and  Bowers  have  distinguished  themselves  in  this 
calumny,  but  Bowers  has  been  effectually  answered  by  the  learned  Lardner.  Witli 
his  characteristic  narrowness  of  all  whom  he  dislikes,  Bossuet  says  of  them  :  '  This 
so  hidden  a  sect,  so  abominable,  so  full  of  seduction,  of  superstition  and  hypocrisy, 
notwithstanding  imperial  laws  which  condemned  its  followers  to  death,  yet  main- 
tained and  dift'used  itself.'  *  This  is  his  usual  style  of  treating  the  sober  facts  of 
history,  hence  so  collected  a  pen  as  Buckle's  charges  him  with  an  'audacious 
attempt  to  degrade  history,'  as  '  a  painful  exhibition  of  a  great  genius  cramped,' 
who  could  '  willingly  submit  to  a  prostration  of  judgment,  and  could  display  a  lilind 
credulity,  of  which  in  our  day  even  the  feeblest  minds  would  be  ashamed.'  Fene- 
lon  was  a  lovely  spirit  and  almost  adored  Bossuet,  meeting  in  return  little  but 
taunt  and  scorn.  In  his  noble  book  defending  Madame  Guyoii,  he  liad  ventured 
to  differ  in  opinion  with  him  on  a  single  point,  whereupon  Bossuet  arrogantly  sent 
a  charge  of  heresy  to  Rome  in  1697  against  his  gentle  fellow-bishop.  True,  Louis 
XIV.  had  trusted  him  with  great  responsibilities,  bnt  the  good  man  was  compelled  to 
sign  a  recantation  on  pain  of  death — an  act  which  Bishop  Burnet  treats  with  con- 


PHOTirS  AND   SICULU8.  238 

tempt. '  Mosheim  esteems  him  as  liglitly  as  Buckle  as  a  historian,  saying :  '  This 
writer  certainly  did  not  go  to  the  sources,  and  being  influenced  by  party  zeal,  lie 
was  willing  to  make  mistakes.' "  Xeither  Joi-tin  nor  Fleury  trust  him  where  points 
of  orthodo.xy  or  Church  authority  are  concerned. 

The  older  writers  cherished  a  singular  inveteracy  against  the  ^lanicha^ans  as 
if  they  were  fiends  incarnate.  Eusebius  denounces  Manes  as  a  '  barbarian,'  a  '  mad- 
man,' 'diabolical  and  furious,'  and  otherwise  speaks  so  unguardedly  that  the  discreet 
Lardner  says  of  the  great  historian  in  this  case,  he  'appears  out  of  humor  and 
scarce  mi\stcr  of  himself.'  Without  doubt,  the  system  of  Manes  was  abstruse,  intri- 
cate and  subtile,  therefore  it  must  be  examined  with  the  more  care.  It  was  a  piece 
of  mystic  theology  and  cold-blooded  reasoning  which  brought  the  theories  of  the 
Gnostic  to  a  point  of  logical  extravagance,  and  mingled  the  doctrines  of  the  Magi 
with  those  of  Christ.  It  allied  with  it  little  superstition,  but  aiming  at  the  pro- 
foniidest  philosophy,  it  was  as  cold  as  ice ;  this  alone  put  it  beyond  the  grasp  of  a 
fiery  spirit  like  Bossuet,  and  he  confounded  the  Paulicians  with  the  ManichsBans, 
principally  because  he  implicitly  trusted  their  two  enemies,  Photius  and  Siculus,  the 
authors  who  have  sent  their  names  down  from  the  nintli  century  on  a  tide  of  acrid 
invective.  Arnold  of  Germany,  Beausobre  and  Lardner  have  honored  themselves 
and  the  subject  with  sedate  investigation  and  judicial  candor,  and  have  set  ri<;ht 
many  of  the  inconsistencies  and  contradictions  of  Photius  and  Siculus.  Let  us  ex- 
amine the  competency  of  these  two  witnesses.  Who  were  they  and  to  what  did 
they  testify  ? 

Photius  possessed  great  ability,  Ijut  he  was  an  interested  party  in  his  own 
evidence,  and  we  may  fairly  question  how  far  he  is  entitled  to  absolute  credence. 
As  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  no  one  was  more  interested  than  he  in  crushing  the 
Paulicians.  He  was  a  layman,  a  great  diplomat,  and  headed  one  of  the  most 
scandalous  dissensions  of  his  times.  In  five  days  he  hurried  himself  through  the 
five  necessary  orders,  to  become  Patriarch  on  the  sixth  day,  thrusting  himself 
into  the  place  of  Ignatius,  son  of  Michael  I.,  a  man  of  blameless  character,  who 
was  deposed  because  he  refused  tlie  put  the  Empress  out  of  the  way  of  plotting 
Bardas  by  forcing  her  into  a  nuntiery.  But  Pope  Nicolas  I.,  by  the  advice  of  a 
synod  held  at  Rome,  dej^osed  Photius  as  an  usurper,  A.  D.  862.  In  turn,  Photius 
excominunicated  the  pope,  but  Gass  says  that  another  synod  deposed  Photius  in 
867  as  'a liar,  adulterer,  parricide  and  heretic'  He  was  restored  to  the  patriarchate 
on  the  death  of  Ignatius,  but  was  degraded  and  banished  by  the  Emperor  Leo  in 
886  for  political  intrigue  and  embezzlement  of  the  public  money.  This  is  the 
chief  witness  on  whose  word  the  Paulicians  are  condemned. 

Peter  Siculus  is  not  so  well-known  ;  but  he  was  a  nobleman  under  Basil  when 
that  emperor  drifted  into  a  war  with  the  Paulicians.  He  was  sent  to  Fabrica,  a 
Paulician  town,  to  negotiate  an  exchange  of  prisoners,  remaining  there  from  seven 
to  nine  months  under  restraint,  within  an  enemy's  lines  by  suiferance.     After  this, 


236  THE  PAULICIANS  t^LANDERED. 

lie  piY'ti'iids  til  wi'ite  tlieir  liistoi'v  iis  ;i  sect.  Uiit  tliry  wci-i'  s|ilit  up  into  several 
sects,  !Ui(l  lii.w  could  lie  Icarii  the  lii^torv  of  tlinii  all  in  that  place  ami  time;  Tlie.y 
were  scattered,  accordiuii'  to  (Wlilioii,  'through  all  the  regions  of  Pontus  and  Cappa- 
docia,'  and  made  up  i.f  'tlie  remnant  of  the  Gnostic  sects,' with  many  converted 
Catholics,  and  '  tiiose  of  the  religion  of  Zoroaster.'  This  was  the  training  he  received 
for  writing  a  liistory  of  the  Paulicians,  under  the  absurd  notion  that  they  were  fol- 
lowei-s  of  Manes.  Gass  remarks  that  Photius  wrote  his  book  before  A.D.  867,  and 
Siculiis  wi-olc  Ills  after  8G8,  the  latter  having  a  'curious  resemblance'  to  the  former, 
from  which  Sicidiis  'borrowed.'  Gibbon  charges  him  with  'much  prejudice  and  pas- 
sion' in  defining  'the  six  capital  errors  of  the  Paulicians.'  Xow,  on  common  legal 
principles,  what  iy  the  value  of  these  two  witnesses?  Had  they  full  knowledge  of 
thcsuhject  to  which  they  dejiosed  ?  Were  they  disinterested  and  vmbiased ?  And 
did  their  testimony  harmonized  On  tlie  iirst  of  these  questions  we  have  scant 
knowledge.  As  to  the  second,  no  more  partial  witnesses  could  be  chosen,  one  being 
patriarch  of  that  religion  which  the  Paulicians  o^jposed,  the  other  embassador  to 
a  jii-ince  who  was  seeking  their  lives.  And  as  to  the  third,  their  testimony  conflicts 
in  many  iioiiits,  and  bears  the  marks  of  ill-will.  They  op.enly  take  the  place  of 
accusers  rather  than  of  witnesses,  and  treat  them  as  enemies  whom  they  would 
destroy.  Photius  makes  no  attempt  to  disguise  his  hatred,  but  bluntly  titles  his 
book  '  against '  them.  Then,  Siculus  is  so  violent  in  his  denunciation  that  he  spends 
his  strength  and  space  in  scorning  what  they  denied,  rather  than  in  stating  what 
they  held,  his  deepest  grievance  being,  that  they  rejected  so  much  that  he  avowed. 
The  whole  aniinns  of  their  design  and  drift  is  seen  in  their  uidjlushing  effort  to 
stigmatize  them  as  j\Linicli;eans. 

The  Paulicians  themselves  certainly  shoidd  have  known  what  they  were,  and 
both  these  witnesses  explicitly  state  that  they  repelled  this  cliarge  with  great  spirit. 
Rut  what  difference  did  that  make  with  these  maligners?  So  long  as  they  could  be- 
fo\d  their  fame  by  that  odious  brand,  they  pinned  the  charge  to  them  as  if  it  were 
true,  (iibbon  states  that  the  Paulicians  disclaimed  'the  theology  of  Manes,  and 
the  autlioi-s  of  the  kindred  heresies,  and  the  thirty  generations,  or  aeons,  which 
had  been  created  by  the  fruitful  fancy  of  Valentine.  The  Paulicians  sincerely 
condemned  the  niemury  and  the  ojiinions  of  the  Manichaean  sect,  and  complained 
(if  the  injustice  which  impresse<l  tliat  invi<lious  name  on  the  simple  votaries  of 
St.  Paul  and  of  Christ.''  All  through,  these  witnesses  judged  them  by  a  false 
standard  of  their  own  raising,  while  the  Paulicians  are  allowed  no  counter  evidence 
nor  cross-examination,  nothing  but  denial  and  protest.  Photius  pretended  fair  play 
when  he  took  up  his  pen  to  write  '  Contra  Manichaeos '  in  one  book,  without  telling 
what  they  did  believe ;  and  then,  on  a  false  assumption,  followed  that  by  three 
others  to  confute  them  as  though  they  were  disciples  of  Manes.  Mosheira  protests 
against  such  a  bare-faced  abuse  when  he  says  of  the  Paulicians:  'They  declared 
their  abhorrence  of  Manes  and  his  docti'ine,  and  it  is  certain  that  they  were  not  gen- 


BEARING   FALSE    WITNESS.  237 

uine  Maniehaeans,  altliough  tliej  might  liuld  soine  doctrines  hearing  a  re8enii)hiMcc> 
to  those  of  that  sect. ' 

There  were  different  chisses  of  Maniciiaeans  as  well  as  Pauiicians,  but  Piiotius 
and  Siciilns  hiinp  tlicin  en  masse  and  convict  themselves  again  and  again  of  mis- 
representation in  matters  of  public  notoriety.  They  were  much  like  Augustine, 
who  for  nine  years  had  been  a  zealous  ManicluBan,  and  whose  loudest  complaint 
against  them  aftei"ward  was  that  they  laughed  at  Catholic  credulity  and  mocked  at 
its  authority,  setting  up  reason  against  these,  as  well  they  might.  Photius  and 
Siculus  weaken  themselves  by  that  silence  which  shows  that  they  did  not  tell  the 
wliole  truth,  as  well  as  renders  it  doulirful  wliether  tliry  told  nothing  but  the 
truth.  Wc  liod  such  contradictions  as  these  in  their  testimony.  They  admit  that 
Constantino,  the  leader  of  the  Pauiicians,  received  the  New  Testament  as  his 
inspired  guide,  and  cited  it  to  prove  his  tenets,  and  then  charge  him  with  claiming  to 
speak  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  They  fail  to  charge  him  with  teaching  any  new  doctrine, 
but  allege  that  he  pretended  to  speak  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  then  charge  him  with 
borrowing  his  doctrines  from  the  Scythian,  Pythagoras,  and  other  pagan  teachers ! 
They  contemn  him  for  professing  to  be  the  very  power  of  God,  but  fail  to  show  that 
he  ever  attempted  miracles !  They  ridicule  the  Pauiicians  as  an  aristocratic  organiza- 
tion, then  sneer  at  them  because  they  gave  the  Scriptures  to  every  bod}',  because 
they  had  no  priests,  and  because,  instead  of  listening  to  the  ravings  of  their  inspired 
leader,  they  read  tlie  Scriptures  jjublicly !  They  charge  them  with  dissolute  lives, 
with  gluttony  and  obscenity  at  their  festivals ;  and  in  the  same  breath  tell  us  that 
they  studiously  married,  drank  no  wine  and  ate  no  flesh !  TJiey  taught  that  they 
might  eat  fruit,  herbs,  bread,  but  neither  eggs  nor  iish.  In  other  things  they 
discredit  their  whole  testimony  under  the  ordinary  rules  which  govern  evidence. 

So  far  as  we  know  the  true  history  of  the  Pauiicians  is  this.  They  first 
appeared  about  A.D.  660,  and  on  this  wise.  Constantine,  a  young  Armenian  and 
a  Mauichaean,  sheltered  a  Ciiristian  deacon  who  was  flying  from  Mohammedan 
captivity  in  Syria.  Grateful  for  his  hospitality,  the  deacon  gave  him  a  copy  of 
the  Four  Gospels  and  Paul's  Epistles.  These  the  youth  prized  as  a  new  treasure 
from  God.     Gibbon  says: 

'  These  books  became  the  measure  of  his  studies  and  the  rule  of  his  faith ;  and 
the  Catholics,  who  dispute  his  interpretation,  acknowledge  that  his  text  was  genuine 
and  sincere.  But  he  attached  himself  with  peculiar  devotion  to  the  writings  and 
character  of  St.  Paul.  The  name  of  the  Pauiicians  is  derived  by  their  enemies  from 
some  unknown  and  domestic  teacher ;  but  I  am  confident  that  they  gloried  in  their 

aftinity  to  the  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles In  the  Gospels  and  the  Epistles  of 

St.  Paul,  his  faithful  follower  investigated  the  creed  of  primitive  Christianity  ;  and, 
whatever  may  be  the  success,  a  Protestant  reader  will  applaud  the  spirit  of  the 
inquiry.' 

He  then  aflirms  that  the  Pauiicians  respected  the  Old  Testament,  the  Epistles  of 
Peter  and  the  teachings  of  Manes. 


238  PAULIOIAJVS   AND    THE   OltDINANCES. 

It  is  lianl  t(,  ul.tain  tlicir  full  cived.  Siculiis  lilc-sscs  -flic  divine  :ind  orthodox 
Einperors,"  Ikm-iiiisi'  tln'V  (•(HuinittLMl  their  li.i.iks  to  tlic  llaiiR-s.  -and  it' any  person  be 
found  to  have  secreted  tiiem,  lie  was  to  lie  put  to  death,  and  his  goods  coiiiiscated.' 
Beausobre  states  that  tliev  a-reed  but  little  with  the  Manichaeans,  gave  the  Scriptures 
to  all,  even  women,  and  treated  the  w<irsliip  of  crosses,  images,  rehcs  and  Mary  with 
ctinteuipt.  hike  the  Friends,  they  had  no  urder  of  clergy  or  pastors,  but  held  their 
assemblies  as  a  universal  priesthood,  having  no  councils,  synods  or  association ;  or, 
as  Gibbon  expresses  it,  their  '  teacliers  were  distinguished  only  by  their  scriptural 
names,  by  the  modest  title  of  fellow-pilgrims,  by  the  austerity  of  their  lives,  their 
zeal  or  knowledge,  and  the  credit  of  some  extraordinary  gifts  uf  the  Ilnly  Spirit. 
But  they  were  incapable  of  desiring,  or  at  least  obtaining,  the  wealth  and  honors  of 
the  Catholic  prelacy  ;  such  anti-Christian  pride  they  bitterly  censured,  and  even  the 
rank  of  elder  or  presbyter  was  condemned.'  They  rejected  the  perpetual  virginity 
of  Mary,  but  lielie\ed  that  she  gave  birth  to  the  budy  of  Jesus  precisely  as  its  form 
came  fi-tmi  heaven.  lH)r  these  reasons  they  eould  nnt  live  in  the  Greek  Church,  nor 
could  they  be  Maniclueans,  believing  and  practicing  as  they  did,  neither  were  they 
Baptists. 

In  regard  to  iKijitism  and  the  Supper,  Neandei'  says  that  they  rejected  'The 
outward  celebration  of  the  sacraments;'  and  Gibbon,  that  '  In  the  practice,  or  at  least 
in  the  theory  of  the  sacraments,  the  Paulicians  were  inclined  to  abolish  all  visible 
objects  of  worship,  and  the  words  of  the  Gospel  were,  in  their  judgment,  the  bap- 
tism and  communion  of  the  faithful.'  By  which  is  clearly  meant,  that  they  neither 
used  the  elements  of  water  in  ba]itisiii,  nor  of  bread  and  wine  in  the  Suiqier.  They 
believed  in  a  baptism  known  as  the  Consolamentum  or  baptism  of  the  Spirit,  which 
they  administered  by  laying  a  copy  of  the  Gospels  on  the  head  of  the  candidate, 
accomjianied  with  prayer.  As  to  the  Supper,  they  fed  on  Christ  only  by  faith  in  the 
heart,  regarding  this  as  the  S]iirit  of  the  institution.  In  a  word,  on  the  ordinances 
they  were  in  substance  Quakers.  In  this,  again,  they  differed  from  the  Manichgeans, 
who  both  administered  water  baptism  and  the  Supper,  in  the  use  of  the  projier  ele- 
ments, as  is  seen  in  the  dispute  of  Felix  with  Augustine,  and  the  accusations  against 
them  of  Leo  the  Great ;  though  Beausobre  surmises  that  they  used  water  instead  of 
wine  at  the  Supper,  because  of  their  known  abstinence  from  wine.  The  simple  fact 
appears  to  be,  that  they  became  so  thoroughly  disgusted  with  all  the  ceremonies  and 
nonsense  which  the  Catholics  threw  about  baptism,  making  it  regeneration  de  facto, 
and  with  the  ridiculous  abomination  of  transubstautiation,  that  they  rejected  both, 
by  swinging  to  the  other  extreme.  And  no  wonder.  Clearly  enough,  they  were 
Reformed  Manichseans,  who  were  disgusted  with  the  rubbishly  teachings  of  the  times 
all  around,  and  were  groping  their  way  back  to  primitive  truth  as  best  they  could, 
with  the  little  light  that  they  possessed.  They  were  terribly  troubled  with  Gnos- 
ticism and  Oriental  Magisra,  as  were  most  of  the  Christians  of  their  day,  and  were 
filled  with  all  sorts  of  speculations  as  to  the  nature  of  God,  the  origin  of  matter,  its 


TUEin   Sl'lIlirCAI.ITV.  239 

relations  to  moral  and  physical  c\  il :  ami  so  wure  poor  specimens  of  Christians  any 
way,  wlien  measured  after  the  lull  unler  uf  the  Gospel.  But  the  Christian  world 
at  that  time  alforded  nothing  better.  Dr.  Semler  accords  them  more  correct  ideas 
of  godliness,  worship  and  Church  government  than  the  Catholics  of  that  time,  and 
these  virtues  drew  upon  them  more  persecution  froui  the  hierarchy  than  their  doc- 
trinal views.  Besides,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  the  germ  of  a  great  movement  in 
the  right  direction  was  lodged  in  them,  which,  finally,  led  to  the  most  gratifying 
results. 

As  best  tliey  could,  they  were  trying  to  get  at  the  Bible  and  to  follow  its 
light.  Wolff,  the  Editor  of  '  Photius,'  speaks  of  them  as  mightily  affecting  Apos- 
tolical things,  because  they  changed  their  surnames  to  scriptural  names,  as  Timothy, 
Titus  and  Sylvanus,  and  called  themselves  '  Christians,'  as  if  Catholics  were  Koinan 
and  heathen ;  they  also  designated  their  Churches  by  New  Testament  titles,  as 
Ephesians,  Colossians,  and  the  like.  All  this  was  of  little  account,  but  the  future 
showed  that  this  love  of  the  Bible  grew  with  them,  for  Siculus  tells  ns  of  the  luaii- 
ner  in  which  Sergius  one  of  their  most  successful  defenders  was  converted  to  their 
views,  about  810.  A  Paulician  woman  asked  him  :  '  Why  do  you  not  read  the  holy 
Gospels  i '  He  replied,  '  It  is  not  lawful  for  us  laymen,  but  only  for  the  priests.'  She 
pressed  him  to  the  privilege,  declaring  that  God  desired  all  to  be  saved,  and  showed 
him  his  right  to  the  Scriptures,  as  a  good  Quakeress  or  Baptist  woman  might ;  and 
being  converted,  he  stirred  Western  Asia  for  more  than  a  generation  and  brought 
nameless  thousands  to  Christ. 

It  may  be  well  to  say,  in  closing,  that  some  think  the  conversion  of  yoiuiii  Con- 
stantine  a  mere  revival  of  this  sect.  Mosheim  finds  its  origin  in  two  bidthers,  I'aul 
and  John,  natives  of  Samasoto,  and  Photius  in  another  Paid,  who  lived  under  the  reign 
of  Justinian  II.  Several  state  that  this  sect  had  been  trtateil  with  great  rigor  in  a 
ninnbcr  of  imperial  edicts,  and  had  almost  disappeared  when  Constantine  revived  it, 
only  to  be  treated  with  greater  barbarities.  Be  this  as  it  may,  he  preached  his  doc- 
trines with  all  his  might  for  seven-and-twenty  years,  and  they  spread  wide  and  fast, 
shaking  the  whole  of  Asia  Minor,  reaching  to  the  Euphrates.  Such  vast  numbers 
of  Catholics  were  converted,  that  the  Emperor  sent  Simeon,  one  of  his  officers,  witli 
a  military  force  to  Cibossa,  to  bring  the  guilty  preacher  to  justice.  Gibbon  touch- 
ingly  describes  the  scene,  when  he  says :  '  By  a  refinement  of  cruelty,  they  placed 
the  unfortunate  man  before  a  line  of  his  disciples,  who  were  commanded,  as  the  price 
of  their  pardon  and  the  proof  of  their  repentance,  to  massacre  their  spiritual  father. 
They  turned  aside  from  the  impious  office ;  the  stones  dropped  from  their  filial 
hands,  and  of  the  whole  number,  only  one  executioner  could  be  found,  a  new  David, 
as  he  is  styled  by  the  Catholics,  who  boldly  overthi-ew  the  giant  of  heresy.  This 
apostate,  Justus  by  name,  again  deceived  and  betrayed  his  unsuspecting  breth- 
ren, and  a  new  conformity  to  the  acts  of  St.  Paul  may  be  found  in  the  conversion 
of  Simeon  ;  like  the  Apostle,  he  embraced  the  doctrine  which  he  had  been  sent  to 


1,(1   u-n,\v  „„ 

n^^■  ami  iiKU'e,  and  so 

F  the  EustLT 

n   Cliun-li  it.-^L'lf  tiiat 

7'J(i,  pruLili 

litiiii;-  tiie  woi'shi])  of 

tliiVL-  huiidi 

i-cil    and   thii'ty-eiglit 

t  tliuir  use. 

Tiic  result  was  that 

240  TJ/J'J  J'A  ULICJAA'.S  PKlH^KailTKI). 

jHTscciilr,  ivnouncing  his  honm-.-  and   lortuiie,-,  and  acM^uii'cd  amongst  the  P 
the  I'anic  of  a  missionary  and  a  martyi-.' 

Jlut,  as  is  usual  in  such  cases,  the  word  of 
pi'evaik'il.  Such  a.  change  came  over  the  spiiit 
Leo  Isaui'icus  tiie  i']iiiiieror  issued  an  edict,  A.  1 
images;  and  in  T.H  his  son  called  a  council  < 
hisiiops,  who  condemned  not  oidy  their  worship  1 
the  Churches  were  cleared  of  images,  and  pictures  of  tlie  crucifixion  only  were  left, 
the  images  being  publicly  burned.  The  Roman  Pontiff  resented  this,  and  civil  war 
followed,  with  all  sorts  of  complications  between  the  rulers,  both  of  Church  and  State. 
Under  the  Emperor  Nicephorus  their  religious  liberty  and  privileges  had  been 
restored.  P.nt  persecution  broke  out  afresh  under  Michael  Caropalatus  and  Leo 
the  Arnieniai).  Tlien  their  endurance  failed.  They  rebelled,  slew  the  tyrannical 
Bishop  of  Neo-Cesartea,  with  the  Emperor,  magistrates  and  judges,  and  took  refuge 
with  the  Saracens.  But  one  persecution  followed  another  until  tlie  Panlicians  allied 
themselves  with  the  Mussulmans  to  save  their  people  from  total  extermination.  The 
Empress  Theodora  issued  a  fresh  edict  against  them,  and  between  A.  D.  .s:32 
and  846  one  hundred  thousand  of  them  were  put  to  death  in  the  most  barbarous 
manner.  Infuriated  with  their  persecutors,  they  took  up  arms  in  self-defense,  and 
the  contest  continued  in  one  shape  or  another  until,  in  973,  large  numbers  of  them 
were  transported  to  Philippopolis,  south  of  the  Balkan  mountains,  in  what  is  now 
called  Bulgaria.  For  more  than  a  century  the  Paulicians  stood  with  unshaken  for 
titude,  which  the  sword  was  unable  to  suppress.  Like  men,  they  defended  their 
rights  to  home,  religion  and  liberty  under  the  holy  sanctions  of  rebellion  against 
intolerable  tyranny.  And  now  they  were  accorded  full  religious  freedom  in  their 
transportation,  on  condition  that  they  would  guard  the  borders  against  the  pagans. 
But  the  conflict  between  them  and  the  Greeks  continued  till  the  twelfth  century. 
Alexius  Comnenus  put  forth  some  kind  efforts  to  reclaim  them,  but  failed,  and  they 
finally  took  refuge  in  Europe,  where  we  shall  meet  them  again  amongst  the  Albi- 
genses.  Anna  Comnena  tells  the  sad  story  in  her  great  historical  work.  ^  God 
wrought  mighty  things  through  the  Paulicians. 

In  the  sixth  century,  the  Philoxemian  (Syraic)  version  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment M'as  produced  by  the  Bishop  of  Hierapolis,  who  was  a  thorough  opponent 
of  image  worship.  He  was  denounced  as  a  Manichsean,  and  the  Emperor  Justin 
banished  him  into  Thrace,  where  his  enemies  murdered  him.  In  translating  the  word 
haptizo  he  used  the  word  '  amad,'  immerse,  as  it  was  used  in  the  Peshito.  Mar  Abba 
translated  the  Old  Testament  into  Syriac  about  the  same  time.  The  Arabic  version 
was  made  in  the  seventh  century,  and  employs  two  words  for  this  purpose,  '■amada,'' 
and  'tsalaffha,'  both  of  which  give  the  sense  of  immerse  and  are  used  inter- 
changeably in  the  version.  It  may  be  noted  here,  that  this  period  originated  the 
practice  of  obliterating  the  manuscript  text  of  Scripture  from  the  face  of  vellum  or 


VAJi'/ors  vKRsross. 


241 


ENT  CYIUL    IMilEUSING 


parchment  by  some  chemical  process,  by  boiling,  or  the  use  of  quick-lime.  As  this 
was  done  for  gain  in  sale,  the  Council  of  Trullo,  in  canon  Ixviii,  forbade  the  practice 
on  pain  of  excommunication. 

In  the  gloom  of  the  eiglitii  cuiitury  tiie 
word  of  God  shone  here  and  there  as  in  a  dark 
place.  The  Persic  Version,  as  now  known,  came 
into  existence,  rendering  the  words  relating  to 
baptism  by  the  terms  s/tustcm,  shuyidan,  or  wash. 
But  in  its  influence  upon  modern  Christianity,  we 
have  the  much  more  important  translation  of 
the  four  Gospels  into  the  Anglo-Saxon.  The 
Saxons  from  Northern  Germany  and  the  Angles 
from  Denmark,  who  emigrated  to  Britain  A.  D. 
449,  spoke  dialects  of  the  same  language,  which 
in  process  of  time  blended  and  became  known 
as  the  Aiiglo-Saxon  in  England  ;  for  the  Angles 
gave  their  own  name  to  their  new  home,  En- 
gle-land.  This  work  was  executed  by  that  gi-eat 
Saxon,  the  Venerable  Bede,  who  almost  with 
his  last  breath  dictated  to  his  amanuensis  the  closing  words  of  John's  Gos- 
pel. Lewis  mentions  a  very  ancient  version  of  the  four  Gospels  in  the  old 
Saxon,  said  to  be  made  by  one  Alfred  a  priest  as  early  as  the  year  080,  but  it  is 
lost.  Two  days  before  Bede's  death  he  was  taken  suddenly  ill ;  he  breathed  witii 
great  difficulty  and  his  feet  began  to  swell.  He  undei'stood  what  this  meant,  and 
dictated  all  the  day  long,  saying :  '  Make  haste,  I  know  not  how  long  I  shall  hold 
out ;  my  Maker  may  take  me  away  very  soon.'  His  scribe  remarked,  '  There  is 
but  one  chapter  more.'  The  man  of  God  replied,  '  It  is  easy ;  take  your  pen,  dip  it 
in  ink  and  write  as  fast  as  you  can."  He  did  so,  and  coming  to  the  end  of 
the  chapter,  said  :  '  Master,  but  one  sentence  is  wanting.'  '  Write  it  quickly,'  said 
the  dj'ing  translator.  'It  is  done,'  cried  the  amanuensis.'  'Thuu  hast  well 
said  the  truth,'  rejoined  the  gasping  bishop,  '  it  is  finished.  Hold  my  head 
with  thy  hands ;  let  me  sit  on  the  holy  spot  where  I  have  so  often  prayed,  and  I 
will  invoke  my  Father.'  When  placed  on  the  pavement  of  his  cell,  he  sung  '  Glory 
be  to  the  Father,  and  to  the  Son,  and  to  the  Holy  Spirit.'  And  as  the  word  '  Spirit ' 
dropped  from  his  lips  he  breathed  his  soul  into  the  bosom  of  Jesus  before  the  ink 
on  the  last  chapter  of  John  was  fairly  dry. 

He  rendered  his  work  faithfully.  The  words  used  by  him  to  express  the  Chris- 
tian ordinance  of  baptism  were  dyppan,  fidlian  ;  that  is,  dip,  cleanse.  There  are 
three  MSS.  copies  of  the  Saxon  Gospels,  and  in  cases  which  relate  to  this  rite,  depan, 
dyppan  and  fidlian  are  used,  the  last  word  meaning  to  whiten  ;  probably  having 
reference  to  the  idea  of  regeneration,  as  the  effect  of  the  dipping.  There  is  no 
17 


242  ALFRED    THE    (IUHJAT. 

Hussiliility  of  mistaking,'  wliat  liu  means  wlicii  lir  uso  '  ili/jijnm''  as  the  translation  of 
hiijithd  in  ftfatt.  iii,  1  1.  and  xxviii,  ]'.»;  I'm-,  in  di'.vrialjiii::-  ilir  rite  as  Jesus  receivea 
it  in  the  depths  of  .lunlaii,  he  says,  of  that  s]iot  in  the  ei-lith  centurv  :  '  In  the 
plaee  wliere  onr  ].(.rd  was  haptized  stands  a  \V(iu(k-n  eruss  as  hi-h  as  :i  man's  neck, 
and  sometimes  covered  by  tiie  water.  From  it  to  tiie  farther,  that  is,  tiie  eastern, 
bank,  is  a  sling's  cast ;  and  on  the  neai'er  Ijank  is  a  large  monastery  of  St.  John  the 
Baptist,  standing  on  a  rising  ground,  and  famous  for  a  very  handsDine  eluireli.  from 
which  they  descend  to  the  cross  by  a  bridge  supported  on  arclies,  to  dlTer  wy  their 
prayers.  In  the  farther  part  of  the  river  is  a  «[uadrangular  cljureli.  supported  on 
four  stone  arches,  covered  with  burnt  tiles,  where  our  Lord's  clothes  are  said  to  iiave 
been  kept  while  he  was  baptized.' '" 

The  ninth  century  gave  Alfred  to  England,  a  prince  who  ranked  with  Charle- 
magne in  ability,  but  was  much  his  superior  in  gentleness  and  godliness..  Under 
the  influence  of  Alcuin  his  instructor,  tlie  great  Empenir  unwittingly  prei)ared  the 
Sa.xons  whom  he  had  conquered,  and  thus  maile  (ieianany — the  fruitful  sciil  in  which 
Baptist  principles  afterward  flourished.  Alfred,  stimulated  by  the  affection  of 
Judith  his  step-mother,  first  acquired  a  thirst  for  knowledge  and  then  a  love  for 
Christ.  He  gave  the  English  the  right  of  trial  by  jury,  and  said  of  them:  '  It  is 
just  that  they  should  ever  remain  free  as  their  own  thoughts.'  But  his  great  love 
for  them  is  seen  in  his  Christ-like  design  to  give  them  the  Bible  in  their  mother 
tongue.  The  old  Chronicle  of  Ely  says  that  he  succeeded  in  doing  this,  but  this  is 
doubted ;  it  is  more  likely  that  William  of  Malmesbury  gives  the  exact  fact  when 
he  tells  us  that  Alfred  began  a  translatiim  of  the  Psalms  with  his  own  hands,  but 
left  it  unfinished,  for  he  died  at  fifty-two.  Still.  l]oston  of  Bury  states  that  'he 
translated  the  whole  of  the  Testament  into  the  English  tongue.'  Spelnian  flunks 
the  same,  and  that  he  had  commenced  the  Psalms  when  death  stopped  his  work. 
It  is  clear,  however,  that  he  did  one  or  both  these  forms  of  work,  and  was  the  first 
layman  who  made  such  an  attempt. 


CHAPTER   VII. 


BAPTISM    AND    BAPTISTERIES    IN    THE    MIDDLE    AGES. 


st  riu-ht  of  coiiM-ii'iiw  in  tlie  iiKittcr  of 
iking  it  a  special  suljject  of  civil  legis- 
II  baptized  parents  to  present  themselves 
)  III.  issued  another  edict,  A.  D.  723, 
and  Moiitanists.     Toward  the  close  of 


d  t..  gii 


in  the 


if  fees  paid 


THE  Emperor. I  u^tincnislR.d.mt  tlie  1: 
baptism  in  tiie  sixtii   ceiitiirv.  liv   n 
lation.     He  issiietl  an  edict  eommaiuling  all  i 
and  their  children  for  baptism  at  once.     Le 
demanding  the  forcible  baptism  of  the  Jews 
the  sixth  century  the  baptism  of  infants  was 
for  its  administration ;  but  the  charges 
soon  became  so  enormous  that  the  poor 
could  not  pay  them,  yet,  lest  their  chil- 
dren should  die  unsaved,  the  frightened 
parents  strained  every  nerve  to  get  them 
baptized.     A   few,  and  but  a  few,  op- 
posed these  outrages.     Stokes  mentions 
Adrianus,  a  pastor  at  Corintli,  who  not 
only  refused  to  baptize  infants,  but  cast 
his  influence  against  the  practice;    for 
which  Gregory  accused  him  to  John  of 
Larissa  of  the  crime  of  turning  young 
children  away  from  baptism  and  suffer- 
ing them  to  be  lost.' 

As  showing  the  religious  greed  of 
the  times,  it  may  be  said  here  in  pass- 
ing, that  both  in  France  and  Spain  the 
sale  of  bishoprics  became  common  in 
these  centuries.  The  refinement  and 
hospitality  of  the  elci'gy  may  be  in- 
ferred from  the  fact  tliat  A.  D.  585  the  Council  of  Macon  decreed  that  bishops 
should  not  keep  mastiffs  to  worry  beggai-s.  Many  of  these  bishops,  whose  haughti- 
ness was  unendurable,  could  neither  read  nor  write  and  their  lives  were  given  up 
to  the  most  odious  forms  of  iniquity.  In  653  the  Council  of  Toledo  forbade  the 
ordination  of  those  who  could  not  read  the  psalms  and  hymns  used  in  the  public 
service,  with  the  ritual  in  baptism.  In  Britain  the  canon  of  Edgar  required  the 
priests  'To  take  care  of  their  clnirches,  and  apply  exclusively  to  their  sacred  duties; 


THE    BAPTISTERY  AT 


244  GliKdOUY   ON  INFANT  BAPTISM. 

and  not  to  indulge  in  idle  sjucili,  or  idle  ducds,  oi'  excessive  drinking;  nor  to  let 
dogs  come  within  their  chiiri'h  iiicld^iirc.  iioi-  more  swine  than  a  man  might  govern.' 
Besides  this,  the  grave  Coiun.-il  of  Prague  ecnsureil  those  of  the  higher  clergy  who 
whipped  the  inferior  ministei's,  oj-  eumiielled  them  to  cari'y  the  hishup  upon  their 
shoulders.  And  as  if  these  barbarities  were  not  enougii,  in  the  seventh  century  the 
wine  of  the  Supper  was  nii.xed  with  ink  and  the  pen  dipped  therein,  when  a  contract 
or  covenant  was  signed.  Such  signatures  were  peculiarly  holy,  especially  when 
made  in  the  sign  of  the  cross.  When  bishops  wished  to  throw  uncommon  venom 
and  gall  into  their  curses  and  excommunications,  they  called  for  the  consecrated  cup, 
which  was  intended  to  commemorate  the  love  of  Christ,  and  dipped  tlie  pen  in  this 
fluid  to  strike  the  superstitious  with  double  horror.  Such  absurdities  readily  prepare 
our  minds  for  the  many  perversions  to  which  bai)tism  was  subjected  during  the 
same  period. 

Infant  baptism  had  about  as  severe  a  struggle  to  foi-ce  itself  upon  the  faith  of 
men  as  had  transubstantiation.  In  the  fourth  centui'v  we  find  Gregory  of  Con- 
stantinople obliged  to  defend  it  and  pul)liely  eensuriiig  parents  wIki  delayed  it  for 
their  children.  In  his  fortieth  oration  and  in  tlie  pulpit  of  liis  eatliedral,  when 
preaching  to  many  who  did  n(_)t  Ijclieve  in  the  alisui'dity.  he  saiil  : 

'But,  say  some,  what  is  your  opinion  of  infants  who  are  not  eapaiile  of  judging 
either  of  the  grace  of  bajitism,  or  of  the  damage  sustained  by  the  want  of  it:  sluill 
we  baptize  them,  too ''.  By  all  means,  if  there  be  any  apparent  danger.  For  it  were 
better  they  be  sanctified  without  their  knowing  it,  than  that  "they  should  die 
without  being  scaled  and  initiated.  As  for  others,  I  give  my  opinion  that  when 
they  are  three  years  of  age,  or  thereabouts  (for  then  they  are  able  to  hear  and  an- 
swer some  of  the  mystical  words,  and  although  they  do  not  fully  understand,  they 
may  receive  impressions),  they  may  be  sanctified  both  soul  and  body  by  the  great 
mystery  of  initiation.' 

He  gives  this  as  '  my  opinion  ;'  and  the  value  of  his  opinion  is  seen  in  its  entire 
absence  of  reference  to  Bible  authority,  and  in  the  fact  that  he  was  trying  hard  to 
drive  Baptist  notions  out  of  'some  '  of  his  hearers,  who  raised  troublesome  cpiestions 
on  the  subject.  His  embarrassment  can  best  be  understood  when  we  take  into  account 
that  this  pi'imate  of  all  Greece  was  born  when  his  father  was  a  bishop,  and  yet  was 
not  baptized  himself  at  '  three,'  but  only  at  thirty  years  of  age.  Nay,  his  own  Em- 
peror, Theodosius,  who  was  very  likely  one  of  his  hearers,  had  just  been  baptized  at 
the  age  of  thirty-four  oi-  five  years.  Nectarius,  -who  succeeded  him  as  bishop  in 
the  same  diocese  aiul  pulpit,  was  not  baptized  at  all  until  after  his  election  to  fill 
Gregory's  place.  All  his  surroundings  made  it  a  most  interesting  occasion  for  a 
controversial  sermon  on  infant  bajjtism  from  this  great  pedobaptist  oracle. 

Yet  the  Penny  Cyclopedia  says  that  some  of  the  fathers  of  the  fifth  century 
did  '  not  scruple,  in  spite  of  edicts  and  decrees,  to  condemn  the  practice  of  baptizing 
infants,  as  a  deviation  from  Scripture  and  the  early  custom  of  the  Church.'  In 
S58-882  infant  baptism  had  become  almost  universal,  to  the  exclusion  of  believer's 


POLITICAL   BAPTISMS.  248 

baptism,  excepting  in  mission  fields  where  new  ])eo]>les  were  converted.  Indeed, 
to  deny  infant  baptism  was  considered,  botli  l)y  the  ignorant  and  the  learned, 
as  the  denial  of  infant  salvation,  and  all  dissidents  were  hated  accordingly. 
Possibly  it  was  on  this  ground  that  a  synod  of  British  prelates,  held  near  Clouesho 
in  747,  decreed  that  the  clergy  should  take  no  money  for  baptizing  infants.  Char- 
lemagne made  baptism  a  political  institution,  and  connselled  the  conquered  Saxons 
to  be  baptized  under  pain  of  death.  After  this,  political  baptism  and  political 
Christianity  soon  became  nearly  universal.  In  826  his  son  Lewis  was  iisked  to  restore 
Harald,  a  petty  king  of  Jutland,  to  his  throne;  he  consented  on  condition  that  he 
would  be  baptized,  and  so  Ilarald  and  his  brother  were  baptized  at  Mentz.  After 
that  two  priests  accompanied  him  to  his  own  country  and  baptized  his  subjects. 
Hence  Christ's  simple  institution  was  converted  into  a  piece  of  political  craft,  a 
machine  of  State.  Even  good  Alfred  made  it  a  condition  of  peace  that  the  con- 
quered Danes  should  be  baptized  ;  and  Hume  tells  ns  that  '  Guthrun  and  his  army 
had  no  aversion  to  the  proposal ;  and  without  much  instruction,  or  argument,  or 
conference,  they  were  all  admitted  to  baptism.  The  king  answering  for  Guthrun 
at  the  font,  gave  him  the  name  of  Athelstan,  and  received  him  as  his  adopted  son.' 
Thierry  adds  that  the  Dane  promised  Alfred  that  if  he  would  desist  from  pursuing 
him,  he  and  his  army  would  be  baptized  and  retire  to  East  Auglia  in  peace ;  and 
Alfred,  A.  D.  879,  not  being  strong  enough  to  carry  on  the  war,  accepted  the 
proposal.  So  this  historian  says  that  '  Guthrun  and  the  other  pagan  cajjtains 
swoi'e  by  a  bracelet  consecrated  to  their  own  gods  to  receive  baptism  faithfully.' 
It  may  bo  wi41  to  remember  that  this  beautiful  arrangement  was  not  made  by  Jesus 
and  John  at  tlie  -lurdan,  but  by  an  English  king  and  a  pagan  Dane,  in  the  ninth 
century.  Kidpath,  speaking  of  this  enforced  treaty-baptism,  says  that  to  the  Danes 
it '  was  no  more  than  a  plunge  in  the  water.  Sweyn  himself  had  already  received 
the  rite  at  the  hand  of  the  zealous  priests,  anxious  for  the  welfare  of  his  barbaric 
soul.  One  of  the  other  leaders  made  a  boast  that  he  had  heen  toashed  twenty  times? ' 
We  have  another  case  quite  as  interesting,  in  connection  with  Norway  and 
Iceland,  wliich  is  detailed  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  Art.  '  Infant  baptism,' 
by  T.  M.  Lindsay,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Divinity  and  Church  History  in  the  Free 
Church  College,  Glasgow.  He  shows  that  infant  baptism,  as  a  pagan  civil  rite,  ex- 
isted for  civil  purposes  in  these  two  countries  long  before  the  introduction  of 
Christianity.  It  was  connected  with  the  savage  custom  of  exposing  infants  who 
were  not  to  be  brought  up  ;  much  after  the  order  of  things  in  Africa.  The  Doctor 
says : 

'  The  newly-born  infant  was  presented  to  tlie  father,  who  was  to  decide  whether 
the  child  was  to  be  reared  or  not ;  if  he  decitled  to  rear  it,  then  water  was  poured 
over  the  child  and  the  father  gave  it  a  name ;  if  it  was  to  be  exposed,  then  the 
ceremony  was  not  gone  through.  If  the  child  was  exposed  by  any  one  after  the 
ceremony  had  been  gone  through,  it  was  a  case  of  murder;  whereas  it  was  not 
thought  a  crime  if  the  child  was  made  away  with  before  water  had  been  poured 


FINES    OR    ClIRISTENINO. 


ClVf 

1-   it  :i 

n.l  it  1 

had  1km,. 

1  named.      The    s; 

,n>e|H.o,,le.a 

tiiii; 

lit.v,   i 

unir,l 

tlii>    ill 

to  a  Clii-i.-tiaii  riti 

.  rall,Mi    .sL,rn 

tlial 
and 

t,  tlu.  a 

lit  ram- 

f  into  ri 

n  the  two  '  lies  in 
\'il  life  throni;-li  t 

tl,eu^eof  w 
he  rite.' 

tlie  introduction  of  Cbris- 

riien  tli(,  Doctor  remarks 

f  water,  the  he.stowai  of  the  name, 


This  thorough  and  frank  scholar  nii-ht  also  have  added  the  diiierence  in  the 
form  of  using  tlie  water  hetween  the  ancient  pagan  rite  and  the  so-called  Christian 
i-ite  of  these  centuries;  for  Christianity  was  introduced  into  Norway  in  the  tenth 
and  eleventh  centuries,  and  its  baptism  was  very  different  from  tliat  of  the  Apostolic 
age.  However,  if  the  ancient  Norwegians  and  Icelanders  had  immersed  their  babes 
it  woukl  liavo  made  no  diifei'ence,  as  Ilerzog  says  that  •  the  people  remained  pagan 
at  heart  long  after  they  had  officially  become  Christians.'  ^  Well  did  Baronius  speak 
of  this    as    a  'nionstnms    age"    fi«r   many   other  reasons;  hut   wliat  could   be  more 

•n strolls'  than  the  eiiactineiit  of  Charlemagne,  that  all  infants  should  be  baptized 

before  tliev  were  a  year  old,  a  nobleman  being  tilled  for  neglect  120  shillings,  a  gen- 
tleman (it),  and  others  oO.  In  those  days  a  sheep,  was  bought  for  a  shilling;  so  that 
a  poor  man  must  sacrifice  a  flock  of  30  sheep  and  a  nobleman  li'K.  if  he  neglected 
to  bring  his  babe  to  this  Christian  State-f<ild.  ^  The  Nortliumbrian  law,  A.  I).  U.5(i^ 
was  in  substance  tlie  same  :  'Let  every  infant  be  baptized  within  nine  days,  uj^on 
pain  of  six  ows/  and  if  the  infant  die  a  pagan  within  nine  days,  let  his  parents 
make  satisfaction  to  God  without  any  earthly  mulct ;  if  after  he  is  nine  days  old, 
let  thein  pay  twelve  ores  to  the  priest  besides.'  Whether  the  fine  paid  to  the  priest 
would  rescue  the  deceased  little  pagan  from  its  Ibnhus  infant'ium  does  not  appear. 
It  is  difficult  to  determine,  at  this  distance  of  time,  what  the  basis  of  '  satisfaction 
to  God '  might  be,  as  between  a  babe  of  seven,  nine  and  ten  days ;  but  there  must 
have  been  some  difference,  as  ^Ifric  understood  the  matter,  when  he  addressed  the 
priesthood  about  A.  D.  759,  saying :  '  Ye  should  give  the  Eucharist  to  children 
when  they  are  baptized,  and  let  them  l^e  brought  to  mass  that  they  may  receive  it, 
all  the  seven  days  that  they  are  unwashed.'  Evidently  these  teachers  were  not 
troubled  at  all  about  the  question  of  consciousness  on  the  part  of  the  child  in  either 
of  the  ordinances;  for  about  960  Pope  John  XIII.  baptized  a  bell  in  the  Lateran, 
and  named  it  John  the  Baptist ;  still  the  bell  understood  t!ie  matter  quite  as  well  as 
the  babe. 

The  very  enactment  of  these  penalties,  proves  the  existence  of  dissent  from 
the  custom  of  infant  baptism  in  all  the  ranks  of  society,  and  in  all  places  where  they 
were  imposed.  Labbe  and  Cossart  tell  us  that  in  102-2  ten  priests  at  Orleans,  France, 
were  found  who  rejected  the  doctrine  that  lia|itisin  washes  away  sin,  and  that  the 
real  body  and  blood  of  Christ  exist  in  the  bread  and  wine.  The  king  and  queen 
and  many  bishops  flew  to  the  spot  in  alarm,  accused,  tried  and  burnt  these  holy 
men  at  once ;  the  gentle  queen  keeping  guard  at  the  door  of  the  cathedral  where 
the  proceedings  were  held,  and  in  a  most  lady-like  manner  knocking  out  the  eye  of 
her  own  confessor,  who  was  amongst  those  consigned  to  the  flames.  =     There  was  uo 


TRIXE  IMMERSION.  247 

necessity  for  protest  against  the  nictiiod  of  baptism  even  in  these  dark  centuries 
for  Cardinal  Pullns,  in  tlie  twelfth  century,  describes  it  thus :  '  Whilst  the  candidate 
for  baptism  in  water  is  immersed,  the  death  of  Clirist  is  suggested  ;  wliilst  immersed 
and  covered  with  water,  tlie  burial  of  Christ  is  shown  forth  ;  whilst  he  is  raised  from 
the  waters,  tlie  resurrection  of  Christ  is  proclaimed.'  ^  But  infant  baptism  was 
opposed  at  every  step.  Dr.  .VUi.x  sj)ealvs  of  a  people  in  Turin  and  Milan  who  vehe- 
mently condemned  it  as  an  eri'or,  and  tiie  IJishop  of  Vercelli  sorely  complained  of 
them  ill  iU.'>.  Diipin  (juotes  Dacliery  as  authority  for  saying  that  the  canons  of  the 
cathedral  in  Orleans,  mentioned  above,  suffered  for  their  views  of  infant  baptism. 
'  They  maintained  that  baptism  did  not  remove  original  sin,'  which  was  the  plea  com- 
monly used  in  its  favor,  in  behalf  of  infants.  Milner  and  Hawies  tell  us  of  Gun- 
dulphus,  the  leader  of  a  people  who  were  brought  to  trouble  for  the  same  views. 
'  They  particularly  objected  to  the  baptism  of  infants,  because  they  were  altogether 
incapable  of  understanding  or  confessing  the  truth.' '  When  Gerard,  the  Bishop  of 
Cambray  and  Arras,  cited  Gundulphus  to  appear  before  a  synod  in  St.  Mary's,  at 
Arras,  A.  D.  1025,  he  seems  to  have  become  nearly  wild  on  the  subject.  The  same 
charge  of  heresy  was  brought  against  Berengarius  by  the  Bishop  of  Leige,  and  also 
by  the  Bishop  of  Aversa;  and  Archbisliop  Usher  thinks  that  'Several  of  the 
Berengarian  sect  had  spread  his  doctrine  in  several  of  the  Belgic  countries,  who 
npon  examination  did  say  that  baptism  did  not  profit  children  to  salvation.' 

A  very  warm  controversy  arose  in  the  sixth  century  on  the  subjectof  trinebaptism. 
Pope  Pelagius  complains  of  the  Euuomians :  '  That  they  baptize  in  the  name  of 
Christ  alone  and  by  a  single  immersion.'  He  avows  that  Christ  requires  baptism 
'  by  trine  immersion,'  and  in  the  name  of  the  Trinity.  Pope  Gregory,  too,  enforces 
this  order  in  his  '  Sacramentary : '  'Let  the  priest  baptize  with  a  triple  immersion, 
with  only  one  invocation  of  the  Holy  Trinity.'  When  the  Spanish  bishops  explained 
to  him  that  they  had  begun  to  practice  single  immersion  because  the  Arians,  who 
also  immersed  three  times,  taught  that  a  second  in  the  name  of  the  Son,  and  a  third 
in  the  name  of  the  Spirit,  indicated  their  inferior  condition  to  the  Father  ;  he  mod- 
ified his  order,  under  the  idea  tliat  (nie  immersion  best  expressed  the  equality  of 
each  person  in  the  Trinity.  Leaiider,  Bishop  of  Seville,  sought  the  pope's  counsel 
in  the  matter,  who,  in  a  letter,  replies  :  '  Concerning  tlie  three  immersions  in  bap- 
tism, you  have  judged  very  truly  already,  that  different  customs  do  not  prejudice 
the  holy  Church  whilst  the  unity  of  the  faith  remains  entire.'  So  he  assents  to 
the  use  of  one  immersion,  lest  the  '  heretics '  intei'pret  the  three  immersions  '  as  a 
division  of  the  Godhead  ; '  at  any  rate  so  far  as  Spain  was  concerned.  '  Yet  this 
judgment  of  Pope  Gregory  did  not  satisfy  all  men  in  the  Spanish  Church  ;  for 
many  still  kept  to  the  old  way  of  baptizing  by  three  immersions,  notwithstanding 
this  fear  of  symbolizing  with  the  Arians.  Therefore,  some  time  after,  about  633, 
tiie  fourth  Council  of  Toledo  which  was  a  general  council  of  all  Spain,  was  forced 
to  make  another  decree  to  determine  tiiis  matter  and  settle  the  peace  of  the  Church. 


248 


ANCIENT  BAPTISTERIES. 


,-ith 
tlic  .•oiiteiidii 
baptized  in  a 
sided  M'itli 


Cfesar  cl.; 

ll-cd 

of   Eoiiial 

liist 

rial,  l)iit  i 

1  its 

uth 


AVliilc  sdiiie  priests  baptized  \vitli   tliive   iininerMoiis,  and  tlie  otliers  with  but  one, 
usc'liisni  was   raisc^d  endan.-erin-  tlie   unitv  of   tlu'  faith:   fur 
carrie.i  the  mattei-  >(>  lii,-h  a,-  to  pretend  that  they  who  were 
trary  to  theii- own  were   not   bapti/eil  at  all"  '      Tiie  council 
yet  it  was  a  loUii'  time  before  trine  iuiniei'siou  was  abandoned. 

Baptisteijies. — As  these  centuries  were  peculiarly  distinguished  for  their  great 
baptisteries,  we  shall  consider  these  striking  examples  of  Baptisinal  Archffiology  in 
this  ]>la<-e.  The  valuable  remains  of  anti.|uity  are  found  not  only  in  books,  Init  in 
ruins,  coins,  vases,  scul])ture  and  other  woi'ks  of  art.  The  fa.-t  that  Augustus 
lloiiie  from  biaek  to  marble  throws  great  light  upon  the  tiaie  sources 
iry  ;  as  it  show.-  the  trend  of  the  Uoman  mind  not  only  in  the  niate- 
iieasurement,  shape,  eo>t  and  use.  lnserij>tions  also  are  found  witli 
the  natural  rock>.  on  tombs,  metal  plates,  tablets  of  fine  clay,  pillars 
of  temples  and  palaces.  Some  of  these  have  continued  for  thousands  of  years,  and 
are  readers  to  us  of  ancient  history,  especially  that  of  Egypt,  Assyria,  Persia.  Greece 
and  Rome.  This  is  especially  true  when  tlicy  are  intended  as  monuments  of  human 
transactions  and  events.  In  this  way  the  iiajitistery  is  the  niomiment  of  Christian 
baptism. 

To  Jesus  and  his  Apostles,  the  foundations  of  the  Temple,  its  towers  and 
fortresses,  were  relics  of  the  stone  age  of  Israel.  As  our  Lord  habitually  walked 
to  and  fro  in  its  porches  and  cloisters,  these 
relics  filled  him  with  sacred  thought ;  and 
his  unlettered  disciples  asking  for  the  import 
of  this  sacred  Archeology,  exclaimed  :  '  Mas- 
ter, see  what  manner  of  stones  and  what 
buildings  are  here  ? '  In  like  niannei-,  these 
ancient  baptisteries  call  us  back  to  the  true 
liaptismal  age,  its  literature  and  primitive 
teaching,  as  these  were  understood  by  their 
builders.  These  antiquarian  remains  chal- 
lenge our  reverence  for  Christian  truth,  and 

"■^^   |>  ^  ,  -«»  every  lover  thereof  will  take  pleasure  in  these 

historic  stones,  will  walk  about  them  to  tell 
their  number  and  honor  their  dust.  His 
love  of  the  truth  endows  them  with  a  voice  ;  they  cease  to  be  dead  architecture  and 
become  living  teachers.  Such  sacred  remains  calmly  rectify  the  mistakes  of  the 
present ;  for  in  that  case,  the  simplicity  of  the  child  corrects  the  sophistication  of 
the  man.  They  teach  us  that  present  truth-lovers  do  not  stand  alone  in  their  gen- 
eration, but  that  the  years  of  ancient  times  call  us  back,  to  our  profit.  Old  cent- 
uries as  by  magic  draw  us  back,  and  old  generations  rehearse  the  truth  as  it  lives 
in  venerable  art  and  antiquity.     These  throw  the  inward  spirit  of  the   past  into  the 


THE  ROMAN  BATHS. 


249 


hath 

ill    tilt 

(irdi 

larv    SL'i 

8e   of 

tlic   word 

('(Hm 

1    .littV 

rent  f 

•HI  11   the 

ordina 

rv  one  of 

present  outward  form  and  heconie  the  fraino-work  for  now  thoiiglit ;  and  througli 
their  imagery  tlie  living  past  and  the  living  present  are  brought  into  the  etiuipoise 
of  a  sublime  truth.  They  lielj)  us  to  put  new  meaning  into  old  words  and  acts;  so 
that  instead  of  casting  the  old  away,  it  is  continued,  found  to  be  eternal  and 
exactly  liarmonious. 

The  baptisterium  amongst  the  ancient  Romans  was  simply  a  place  of  bathing, 
whicli  Rugler  calls  the  '  swimming-tank  of  the  ancients ; '  and  its  construction  is 
well  illustrated  by  the  discoveries  at  Pompeii,  especially  in  one  of  the  lesser  baths  of 
white  marble,  which  Gell  describes  as  of  a  circular  form  eighteen  feet  six  inches  in 
diameter.  With  them,  as  witl 
was  the  immersion  of  the  Imdy 
atmospheric  air,  which  mediiiiu 
was  usually  common  water  in 
some  form.  The  Romans  prac;- 
ticed  warm  more  than  cold  bath- 
ing, and  wherever  they  found  hot 
springs  they  converted  them  into 
baths.  The '  warm '  water  spoken 
of  in  the  recently  discovered 
'Teaching of  the  Apostles,'  leaves 
tlie  implication  that  the  public 
baths  were  used  for  baptism. 
Tlie  baths  of  Caracalla  contained 
1,600  marble  seats  around  the 
inner  sides,  for  the  use  of  bath- 
ers; and  those  of  Diocletian, 
3,200;  these  building's  beinsopen 

'  '  n  n      r  ANCIENT  ROMAN    HATH.      VVTICAN    MLSKl'M. 

to  the  public,  and  the  price  fur 

bathing  being  only  about  half  a  cent  of  our  money.  Of  course,  primarily,  these 
baths  were  constructed  without  regard  to  the  Christian  rite,  but  in  all  probability 
they  suggested  the  form  of  Christian  baptisteries.  AVallcott  says  in  his  '  Sacred 
Archfeology  : '  'The  early  Christians  were  baptized  in  water  by  the  road-side  (Acts 
viii,  36-38) ;  or  in  a  river  (Acts  xvi,  13-15) ;  or  in  a  prison  (Acts  xvi,  33) ;  or  in  a 
spring,  or  at  sea ;  or  in  private  houses  (Acts  ix,  18 ;  x,  47,  48) ;  or  in  any  place.'  At 
Rome  there  was  an  early  baptistery  in  the  house  of  Cyriacus,  in  the  Pontificate  of 
Marcellus,  A.  D.  308-310,  according  to  the  same  authority.  Down  to  the  middle  of 
tlie  second  century  no  place  was  specially  set  apart  for  the  rite,  for  at  tliat  time  the 
Christians  had  no  places  of  worship.  But  by  the  end  of  the  third  century  they  had 
not  only  sanctuaries  of  their  own,  but  also  special  buildings  devoted  to  the  uses  of 
baptism,  as  those  spoken  of  by  Eusebius,  at  Tyre.  Haydn's  '  Dictionary  of  Dates' 
says :  That  in  the  '  reign  of  Constantine,  319,  baptisteries  were   built,  and   baptism 


11(1 

am 

1   ( 

.ut 

ys   tlmt 
'of  the 

the 
clnii 

eai'] 
i-cli   ( 

y  Chris- 
edifice) ; 

ix.s 

Lif 

liaptism, 

,  as 

lime 

h  as  for 

280  ITALIAN  BAPTISTERIES. 

was  performed  by  dipping  tlie  pcismi  all  o 
tiaiis  "Always  practiced  haptism  hy  iinuu' 
consequently  they  wanted  a  Uuildiiig  Jur  tl 
that  of  worship."  ■' 

The  earliest  Christian  baptistery  known  is  in  the  Catacomb  of  Calixtus  at 
Rome,  and  was  used  in  the  times  of  the  pagan  persecutions.  Parker  says  that  this 
catacomb  wasaburying-place  as  early  as  the  first  century,  although  its  earliest  inscrip- 
tion is  A.  D.  2GS-279.  This  secret,  subterranean  relic  is  a  small  chamber,  containing 
a  cistern,  or  as  it  is  called,  'a  well,'  a  fountain ;  and  is  about  four  feet  deep,  supplied 
by  a  small  stream  on  the  left  side,  with  steps  down  into  it,  as  Parker  says,  'for 
baptism  by  immersion.'  When  the  first  Christian  sanctuaries  were  reared,  baptis- 
teries were  also  erected  as  distinct  bnildiii-s;  but  dfteii  the  ba])tistery  preceded  the 
Church  edifice  itself  and  was  the  point  aliunt  which  the  place  of  general  assembly 
arose.  In  such  cases  the  baptistery  was  Imilt  on  a  large  scale  for  receiving  a  great 
number  of  peoi)le,  and  it  stood  near  to  the  church  building  to  which  it  belonged. 
Generally  the  form  of  the  baptistery  was  hexagonal,  but  some  were  circular  and  all 
had  a  Vdx& piscina,  or  reservoir,  in  the  middle.  They  were  also  called  '  iUnminatoria^ 
because  there  the  converts  were  instructed  or  illuminated  before  baptism.  The  bap- 
tistery was  not  introduced  into  the  church  edifice  until  the  sixth  century,  and  then 
only  into  the  porch  or  entrance,  to  indicate  that  immersion  was  the  door  into  the 
Church  itself ;  but  this  practice  did  not  become  coiiiniun  until  the  ninth  century. 
Yet  Clevis  was  immersed  in  a  church  edifice  in  the  latter  part  (jf  the  fifth  century. 

We  have  distinct  accounts  of  about  sixty  of  these  structures  in  Italy  alone;  in 
the  generality  of  Italian  cities  one  large  baptistery  sufiiced  fur  all  the  churches  of 
that  city.  These  commonly  adjoined  the  cathedral,  as  at  Pisa  and  Florence,  but  in 
Rome  itself  most  of  the  churches  were  supplied  with  baptisteries ;  for  mention  is 
made  of  the  building  or  repairing  of  five  different  baptisteries  in  that  city,  between 
A.  D.  772-816.  Pope  Leo  III.  rebuilt  that  of  the  A]iostle  Andrew,  a  circular 
building  and  enlarged  its  '  fons,'  because  the  jjlace  was  too  small  for  the  people 
wdio  came  for  baptism.  In  distinction  from  all  others  this  building  became  known 
as  '  The  Baptistery ; '  and  as  its  size  increased  it  grew  into  a  meeting-place  for  re- 
ligious assemblies,  even  for  ecclesiastical  councils.  In  each  baptistery  there  was  a 
table  for  the  Supper  as  well  as  a  reservoir  for  the  immersions ;  and  Martene  tells 
us  that  until  about  the  eleventh  century  the  Supper  was  administered  there  to  all 
who  were  immei'sed.  Immersion  was  the  necessity  which  called  these  structures 
into  existence.  Rahn  says  that  their  '  origin '  was  '  dependent '  on  the  old  custom 
of  having  a  great  baptismal  occasion,  and  of  the  rite  of  immersion  ;  otherwise  a 
bowl  in  the  hand  would  have  met  every  purpose,  as  now,  in  all  cases  where  immer- 
sion is  not  practiced.  The  '  Encyclopagdia  Bi'itanniea'  truly  says,  Art.  '  Baptistery  : ' 
'  Christianity  made  such  progress  that  infant  baptism  became  the  rule,  and  as  soon 
as  immersion  gave  place  to  sprinkling,   the    ancient  baptisteries  were  no   longer 


FONTS   OF  LATERAN  AXD   FLOIiEXCE. 


is    eck 


,1    NV„rk 


pushed 
litecture 


IS    t(l     I 

lark.^l 
lillcd 


Mdiiiiiiisti'ivil  In'  inimer- 
IV  tliu  ceiiieterv  of  St. 
itli  watfi',  and  liollowcd 


BAPTISTERY   Or  ST.  JOHN  (L.ITF.R.4N). 


necessary.'  Then  tho  size  of  tlie  font  w 
aside  tiie  bowl  sutlieed.  (iailliaiiand 
covers  this  point : 

'  At  the  oriii'in  of  the  new  religion  liaptisn 
sion.  We  desire  to  esjiecially  note  a  localit\ 
Pontianno.  Tliere  one  sees  a  kind  of  large  bat 
out  of  the  soil  at  a  depth  quite  convenient  to 
receive  (juite  a  number  of  neophites.'  But 
when  the  Church  in  most  of  Europe  ceaseii 
to  'recognize  the  inop^jortuneness  of  immer- 
sion and  replaced  it  by  pouring, — ever  since 
tliat  time  it  has  established,  in  place  of  the  reser- 
voir made  below  the  soil  and  tilled  with  water 
for  immersing  tlie  neophites,  the  font  of  stone. 
This  marks  in  the  history  of  religion  and  of  the 
liturgy  a  very  noticeable  change  in  the  admin- 
istration of  baptism.' '" 

In  the  nineteenth  century,  where  Christian- 
liave  turned  their  backs  upon  the  old  ordinance 
and  substituted  another,  they  build  no  such  edi- 
fices at  an  enormous  cost ;  but  the  primitive 
Christians  looked  upon  burial  in  water  as  obedi- 
ence to  Christ,  and  their  antiquated  baptisteries  stand  as  solemn  witnesses  against 
the  popish   innovation.     Prior  to  the  tenth  century,   Easter,   Pentecost   and   the 

Epiphany  were  the  ordinary  times 
employed  for  baptism,  when  great 
numbers  of  the  candidates  and  their 
friends  assembled  ;  rendering  it  need- 
ful that  the  baptisteries  be  spacious 
and  separate  from  the  church  build- 
ings, which  were  always  crowded  by 
the  general  worshipers. 

The  most  celel)rated  of  the  bap- 
tisteries now  remaining  are  found 
ut  Kome,  Florence  and  Pisa;  the 
most  ancient  being  that  of  St.  John 
of  LiUeran,  at  Home,  fourth  century. 
This  building  is  octagonal,  being 
about  75  feet  in  diameter  and  is  ex- 
tremely splendid.  The  piscina,  or 
bath,  is  octangular,  of  green  ba.salt, 
about  25  feet  in  diameter  and  from  3  to  -i  feet  deep.  It  was  constructed  by  Sixtus  III., 
who  died  A.  D.  -i-in  ;  and,  according  to  De   Bussiere,  'has  served  as  a  model  for  all 


3Al'TISTEnY   AT   FLORENCE. 


nil-:  SIIAPI-:  of  iiaptisteiue.^ 


t    NmI.Iuii,  um 
^>n^ll  i  Mill    IK 

\U.K1,  V      Hill,. 


I'.   ' 


■  ccilin-  uf  one  of  its  cliajx'ls  is 
n    po.Mlih  ,,t  tliL  hfth  c-L-iitiiry. 
It  w--    iiul  jui^aiis  as  accept  the 
till   -lupe  ol  these  baptistei'ies 
io)iu\  ot   Aichitecture:'  'For 
1 11  uloptc  il  111  jiiefereiice  to  the 
LUtk      It  was  the  one  which 
])icscnted  the  k  ist  difficulty 
of    constiuctioii,     especially 
wIrii  thL  (h-ic  entablature 
\\  is    itt  lined  ,    it    was    also 
tioiii  Aei\    tail>    times   held 
IS  tilt   emblem  of  regenera- 
tion     The   ^(^u  ire,  from  the 
oiuiiul   l.ki  ot    the    eartirs 
shape,  w  IS  aceepted    as    the 
emblem  ot    the   world ;    the 
0(  t  i^on  -w  is    idopted  l)y  the 
(  Ini-tiin^  is  tint  of  perfec- 
tion,  eoiiseipieiit    upon     the 
( oiifession  of   the  faith,  and 
the  new    biitli    in    liaptism ; 
md  the  cutk  as  the  emblem 
of    cteinit\    01     everlasting 

''^-^  ^^,  11r      most     magnificent 

liipti^ten  now  in  existence 
is  tint  of  1  lounee.  It  has 
a  diameter  of  about  100  feet, 
its  gallery  is  supported  by  1(1  granite  columns,  and  its  vault  is  decorated  by  the 
richest  mosaics.  Its  bronze  doors  are  marvels  of  beauty  in  bass-relief,  and  fifty 
years  were  spent  in  preparing  them.  This  structure  was  originally  the  cathedral 
of  the  city,  built  about  the  middle  of  the  seventh  century.  The  old  font  stood  in 
the  center;  Imt  when  Philip  de  Medici  was  immersed  in  it  his  father  to  the  great 
disgust  of  Hm-eiice,  had  it  destroyed,  for  the  same  reason  that  Peter  I.,  of  Eussia, 
liroke  the  drinking-cup  of  Luther  after  drinking  from  it  himself,  namely,  that  it 
should  never  be  used  again.  The  locality  of  the  font  is  still  seen,  however,  as  that 
part  of  the  floor  is  plainly  paved,  while  the  rest  is  laid  in  beautiful  patterns  of  black 
and  white  marble.  The  present  font  was  erected  A.  D.  1(!5S,  to  supjily  th.e 
place  of  that  which  was  destroyed  A.  I),   I.'>77. 

The  baptistery  of  Pisa  is  known  to  the  entire  worhl  for  its  splendor.     It  has  a 


vi.lf^' 


INTERIOR  OF  BAPTIS 


BAPTISTERT  OF  PISA. 


diaiiictei- of  llfi  fci't,  and  its  pear-shaped  dome  tnwc 
by  most  costly  columns  and  arches.  It  was  com 
cost  was  so  great  that  it  long  remained  untinished. 


itil  tl 


lii-r  liigli,  supported 
A.  I).  1153,  and  its 
citizens  levied  a  rate 


tllCI 


■(ir  its  ccimpleti 

.n.      Its  w 

1   an    attic  stor\ 

.      The    U 

uit    liaptism.' 

riie    l>uil( 

isccutc'd   until 

I'Ts,  ■ 

are  eight  feet  thick,  it  lias  a  base 
is  described   by  Webb  as  an  octag- 

:    was    begun   l)y    Diotisalvi.  but  tlie 
ipleted   till  abinit   the  (.i)ening  of  the 


onal   bath  • 
work   was   i 

fourteenth  century.  Credu- 
lous people  of  the  nineteenth 
century  would  have  us  be- 
lieve that  all  this  taste,  toil 
and  cost  was  had  for  the  pur- 
pose of  pouring  a  handful 
of  water  upon  the  head  ! 
The  accompanying  cut  of 
the  interior  as  it  stands  to- 
day gives  the  ancient  ideal 
of  Go.spel  order:  1.  The 
linlpit,  tViini  which  the  can- 
didate bu-  l)a|)tisni  is  ex- 
horted to  faith  on  Christ. 
2.  The  basin  or  font  in  which 
he  is  immersed.  It  is  octag- 
onal, being  1-i  feet  in  diam- 
eter and  -1  feet  deep,  and  is 
supplied  with  water  by  a  tube. 
after  his  immersion. 

The  largest  baptistery  ever  built  was  that  of  St.  Sophia  at  Constantinople.  At 
one  time  it  served  as  the  residence  of  the  Emperor  Basiliscus,  and  a  great  ecclesi- 
astical council  was  held  within  its  walls.  Three  thousand  people  once  assembled  in 
the  baptistery  at  Antioch  at  one  time,  to  be  baptized ;  but  the  baptistery  of  St. 
Sophia  was  greater  even  than  that  at  Antioch. 

Mention  may  be  made  of  the  great  baptistery  at  Aix,  which  was  constructed  A.  1). 
1101 ;  of  that  of  Verona,  A.  D.  1116 ;  and  of  that  of  Parma,  with  its  three  matchless 
gates,  said  to  have  been  pronounced  by  Angelo  as  worthy  of  being  the  gates  of  Paradise. 
The  same  praise  is  claimed  for  those  of  Florence,  and  yet  it  is  questionable  wliether  he 
said  this  of  either  of  them.  The  Parma  baptistery  was-begun  A.D.  1196,  and  completed 
1281.  Its  great  marble  font,  8  feet  wide  and  4  feet  deep,  is  cut  out  of  one  yellowish-red 
block  and  stands  in  the  middle  of  the  floor,  bearing  date  A.  D.  1299.  The  records 
of  the  Church  at  Parma  contain  an  oflicial  report  of  its  uses,  sent  to  the  pope  and  bear- 
ing date  November  21, 1578,  saying  that  this  sacred  font  was  consecrated  to  baptism 


VI  IISTDRY   AND  lABLE   \T  PISA 


3.  The   Lord's   Table,  where   he  too 


Suj)per 


^Yitl 

fe«- 
.  tlic 

1  the  two 
di-o]is  of 
•  rushing 

u'ic  1 

.aptistery 

c^eri 

ntidii : 

254  OTHER  liAPTISTFAUE!^. 

'  per  imnicrsionciii.' '-  Tlie  haptistery  at  VLTuiia  cuiitiiiiis  a  basin  of  marble  28  feet 
in  circumference,  licwii  (Hit  of  a  single  block  of  porpliyry,  and  is  four  and  one  half 
feet  deep.  The  bajjlistcry  of  Pistoia  is  especially  interesting,  and  differs  from  most 
of  tliose  described.  It  was  built  A.  D.  1-337.  The  font  is  of  white  marble  and  is 
square.  Standing  near  to  the  western  entrance  is  a  beautiful  black  and  white  marble 
]Hiliut,  from  which  >ciaiiuns  were  prcaclicd.  tu  sliow  tliat  tlic  people  must  hear  and 
believe  before  they  could  ])ass  into  its  waters.  Its  ,-,,piare  pool  is  1(1  feet  in  di- 
ameter and  -1  feet  deej>.  The  baptistery  at  Milan  is  peculiai'.  and  differs  from  all 
others.  As  if  to  convey  the  Scriptural  idea  of  bui'ial,  it  is  in  the  shape  of  the 
ancient  sarcophagus.  Its  material  is  porphyry,  being  (J  fs^et  S  inches  long  and  24 
inches  deep.  Dean  Stanley  refers  to  this  baptistery  in  the  words :  ' 
exceptions  of  the  cathedral  of  Milan  and  the  sect  of  the  Pjajjtists.  a 
water  are  now  the  AVesteru  substitute  for  the  threefold  plunge  int( 
rivers  or  the  wide  baptisteries  of  the  East.'  '^ 

Great  Britain  furnishes  a  beautiful  exanijile  of  a,  natural  but  hist( 
which  must  l.)e  noted  here.     Dr.  Cathcart  presents  it  in  this  graphic  d 

'Aliout  eleven  miles  from  the  Cheviot  Hills,  which  separate  England  from 
Scotland,  and  about  the  same  distance  from  Alnwick  Castle — the  well-known  resi- 
dence of  the  Dukes  of  Northumberland — and  two  miles  from  the  village  of  Har- 
bottle,  there  is  a  remarkable  fountain.  It  issues  forth  from  the  top  of  a  slight  ele- 
vation, or  little  hill.  It  has  at  present  as  its  basin  a  cavity  about  34  feet  long, 
20  feet  wide,  and  2  feet  deep.  By  placing  a  board  over  a  small  opening  at 
one  end  its  depth  can  be  considerably  increased.  A  stream  flows  from  it,  which 
forms  a  little  creek.  .  .  .  The  spring  is  a  place  of  public  resort  for  the  population 
for  many  miles  aidund,  and  for  numerous  strangers,  on  account  of  its  early  baptis- 
mal associations.  .  .  .  An  ancient  statue,  as  large  as  life,  lay  prostrate  in  the 
fountain  for  ages,  probably  from  the  period  when  the  monasteries  were  destroyed, 
in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.  This  statue,  when  the  writer  saw  it,  was  leaning 
against  a  tree  at  the  fountain.  It  was,  mo,st  likely,  the  statue  of  Paulinus.  It  was 
called  "  the  bishop."  Its  drajicry,  t!ic  action  of  the  atmosphere  upon  the  stone  of 
which  it  is  made,  and  its  gennal  apprai-auce,  show  that  it  was  set  up  at  a  very  re- 
mote period,  perhaps  two  or  thicc  centuries  after  Paulinus  baptized  the  Northum- 
brian multitude  in  the  fountain."  " 

This  fountain  is  commonly  known  as  '  Our  Lady's  Well,'  after  the  Virgin,  and 
is  one  of  the  natural  baptisteries  vvhei-i'  Paulinus  administered  Christian  immersion. 
The  Vicar  of  Harbottle  has  caused  a  ciucitix  to  be  erected  in  the  center,  with  the 
following  inscription:  'In  this  place  Paulinus  the  bishop  baptized  three  thousand 
Northumbrians,  Easter,  627.'  This  accords  exactly  with  the  statement  of  Camden, 
who  describes  Harbottle  as  '  on  the  Coquet  River,  near  to  which  is  Holystone,  where 
it  is  said  that  Paulinus,  when  the  Church  of  the  Englisli  was  first  i^lanted,  baptized 
many  thousands  of  men.'  A  convent  lies  in  ruins  at  Holystone,  close  by,  which  was 
probably  raised  as  a  monument  to  the  holy  spot  and  its  waters.  Camden  lived  in 
the  last  half  of  the  sixteenth  century,  when  the  tradition  was  all  aglow ;  and  the 
clerical  son  of  Oxford  reared  this  cross  as  late  as  1869. 


rnE  BAPTISTEHY   OF  PAULINU8. 


283 


As  to  tlie  Slipper,  tlie  doi-triiie  of  transubstantiation  crystallizcil  in  those 
centuries,  and  apparently  in  an  incidental  way.  In  7S7  the  Council  of  Nice  alleo;ed 
that  the  bread  and  wine  of  the  Su])per  were  not  images  of  Christ,  but  his  very  body 
and  blood.  This  brought  the  gi-eat  controversy  to  a  head,  and  giants  on  both  sides 
drew  their  swords.  Amongst  these  Ratram  wrote  a  powerful  treatise  against  tran- 
substantiation, S03,  which  centuries   aftiT\v:inl    c.mviiiciMl    TJidlcv  of  his   error  on 


*PTISTKRY   OF   BISHOP   PAULI 


the  subject;  then  Ridley  lent  it  to  Cramner,  in  whom  it  \vn_)uglit  a  similar  change. 
John  Scotus,  the  Roger  Bacon  of  his  day,  wrote  a  stronger  work,  875,  which  lived 
for  about  two  centuries.  Many  Councils  denounced,  and  that  of  Rome,  1059,  con- 
demned it  to  be  burnt.  Berengarius,  998-1088,  followed  with  heavy  blows.  Bigotry 
wrecked  itself  upon  these  men  in  every  shape,  but  their  doctrines  spread  through 
Germany,  Italy,  France  and  Britain ;  for  as  fires  never  burn  out  controversies,  more 
than  winds  blow  out  stars,  the  dispute  Aveut  on  to  the  Reformation  and  is  as  firm 
and  fresh  to-day  as  ever. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

ANCIENT     BAPTISMAL     PICTURES. 

TIIKSE  Ikivc  cunie  iluwn  to  ii.s  cliieilj  in  frescoes,  mosaics  and  bass-reliefs. 
1  opt  ism  itself  symbolizes  thought  as  it  lies  in  the  divine  mind,  so  that  the 
hnn]:in  eye  catches  the  truth  of  which  it  is  the  symlxil.  Art  in  these  pictures  marks 
the  ordinance  as  it  existed  in  the  life-time  of  the  artist,  and  only  to  this  extent  are 
they  of  historical  value.  The  co-existing  literature  of  his  times,  however,  must  show 
the  purpose  of  his  treatment,  and  interpret  its  forms  in  his  absence.  In  fact  we  are 
so  dependent  (in  tliis  literature,  that  where  a  separate  history  of  the  picture  is  uot 
preserved,  only  the  contemporary  writings  of  its  day  can  give  us  its  age.  The  pict- 
ures, therefore,  even  in  the  rudest  state  of  the  art  are  in  no  case  purely  realistic, 
but  symbolical  also.  Dean  Staidey  ]irononnces  those  of  the  Catacombs,  'mis-shapen, 
rude  and  stiff,'  which  is  seen  at  a  glance.  Most  of  them  have  been  restored  several 
times  and  also  altered ;  so  that,  as  Parker  remarks,  to  this  extent  they  have  lost 
their  historic  value,  especially  by  changes  of  shape  and  color,  though  the  general 
design  is  unchanged.  He  says :  '  A  work  which  has  been  restored  becomes  the  work 
of  the  hands  that  restore  it.'  Their  age  and  damp  situation  has  rendered  their 
restoration  necessary,  and  in  the  case  of  the  Callixtine  frescoes  he  ascribes  this 
work  to  Leo  III.,  795 ;  and  that  of  Ponziano  to  Nicholas  I.,  858-807.  Even  the 
great  fresco  of  the  Supper  by  Da  Vinci,  at  Milan,  though  upon  a  perfectly  dry 
wall  and  scarcely  four  hundred  years  old,  is  fast  fading  out.  Parker  states  that  the 
St.  Ponziano  has  not  been  restored  '  over  ca.refully,'  and  that  '  The  rather  rash  out- 
line of  the  Baptist's  right  arm  and  shoulder  are  drawn  over  a  far  more  careful  and 
correct  figure.'  Also :  '  The  stiffness  of  the  i-estoi'ation,  white  eyes  and  heavy,  incor- 
rect outline,  point  to  a  late  date.' 

Early  Christian  art  at  the  best  was  deficient  in  all  respects,  and  its  broad, 
symbolic  ideal  must  ever  be  remembered  in  seeking  its  historic  bearings.  The  earlier 
companion  pictures  on  the  Supper  made  by  the  same  hands  in  the  same  places 
strongly  attest  this.  The  table  is  spread,  a  company  is  gathered  around  it,  but  with 
one  exception  no  wine  is  on  the  table.  There  is  a  small  supply  of  bread  in  some 
cases,  in  others  abundance,  but  in  all  there  is  much  fisli  !  A  fresco  in  the  Crypt 
of  St.  Cornelius  presents  a  mysterious  fish  swimming  in  water,  with  a  basket  on 
its  back  containing  the  bread  and  wine  of  the  Supper.  Yet  this  strange  conceit  is 
in  keeping  with  the  ancient  play  upon  the  Greek  letters  of  our  Lord's  technical 
name  1X6X2,  that  is,  '  The  Fish.'     This   is  a  very  ancient  anagram  amongst  Chris- 


SYMBOLIC  PICTURES.  257 

tians.  Almost  all  the  fathers,  Greek  and  Latin,  call  him  '  The  Fish,'  the  '  Heavenly 
Ichthus ; '  and  so  they  made  the  fish  an  emblem  of  both  Baptism  and  the  Supper,  to  set 
fortli  tlie  truths  which  these  express.  This  figure  was  early  engraved  upon  the  rings 
of  Christians  by  the  advice  of  Clement  of  Alexandria,  194,  possibly  because  the 
heathen  could  not  detect  its  meaning.     He  says :  '  Let  the  dove  and  the  fish  .  .  .  l)e 


THE   SYSlbOLlC   SUPPER. 


signs  unto  you  ;'  and  Augustine  calls  Christ  the  Fish,  '  Because  he  descended  alive 
into  the  depths  of  this  mortal  life  as  into  the  abyss  of  waters.'  An  inscription  of 
tlie  fourth  or  iifth  century  found  at  Autun,  France,  exhorts  the  baptized  to  '  Eat, 
drink,  holding  Ichthus  in  thy  hand.  Faith  brought  to  us  and  set  before  us  food,  a 
Fish  from  a  divine  font,  great  and  pure,  which  she  took  in  her  hands  and  gave  to 
her  friends,  that  they  should  always  eat  tliereof, 
holding  goodly  wine,  giving  with  bread  a  mingled 
drink.'  Yet  the  ancient  Christians  never  celebrated 
the  Supper  b}'  the  use  of  fish.  Here,  then,  while 
we  have  the  realistic  table,  we  have  the  mystic  sym- 
bol of  fish  thereon — possibly  intended  by  the  painter 
to  keep  before  the  mind  Christ's  presence  with  his 
disciples,  when  he  broke  bread  and  ate  fish  with 
them  on  the  evening  after  his  resurrection.  A  more 
singular  use  of  a  fish  is  found  in  the  Catacombs, 

where  a  ship  is  carried  on  its  back  through  the  water — evidently  intended  to  repre- 
sent the  Church  being  carried  through  the  stormy  sea  of  life  by  firmly  resting  on 
Christ,  '  The  Fish.'     The  helmsman  also  is  Christ,  the  Dove  on  the  poop  is  the 
18 


Holy  Spirit,  ami  tin-  Dove   mi  tlic  nia^t  rcjiR'SL'iits  tiic  heavenly  ])eace  wliidi   Jesus 
is  giving  both  to  JVter  and  the  sliip. 

Ilippoiytus  glows  wlien  speaking  <>(  the  (Mnirrh  as  a  >hi|i,  tossed  by  storms 
but  never  wrecked,  because  Christ  is  with  lier.  He  makes  {\[v  cniss  her  mast,  his 
word  lier  rudder,  his  precepts  her  anchoi',  the  sea  iiei-  la\er  of  regeneration.  The 
Spirit  breathes  into  her  sails  to  waft  Ikt  tu  lier  heaxenly  ]iort,  and  he  gives  her  an 
abundant  entrance  into  her  desired  haven.  In  tlie  ali(i\u  rude  gem  from  the  Cata- 
combs two  Apostles  are  rowing,  and  a  tliird.  i'etei'.  is  stretching  lii>  hand  to  Christ 
in  prayei-  as  he  meets  Jesus  on  the  vva\e,  to  save  him  ivmn  sinking.  Hut  in  the 
following  we  have  the  idea  of  J]i|)])olytus,  where  tlie  storm-fiend  is  endeavoring  to 
wreck  the  (!hui-eh  by  persecution.  In  tiie  distance  is  a  man  swept  away  by  the 
same  waves  which  dash  over  the  vessel,  to  rej^resent  the  cliihlivn  of  this  world  being 
drowned  in  the  billows  of  perdition.  But  with  Christ  on  the  dei'k  and  the  Almighty 
hand  reached  forth  from  above,  theeruss-riblied  flag  rises  high  in  the  1)0W  above  the 
threatening  sea.  Although  the  rud<ler  is  swept  away,  the  outstretched  hands  of 
Jesus  direct  her  course  in  the  gale. 


These  piirely  syndjolical  pictures  from  the  Catacondis  nuiy  help  ns  to  under- 
stand their  Baptismal  Pictures,  where  we  have  a  large  admixture  of  the  real  and  the 
symbolic.  No.  4  is  from  the  Crypt  of  St.  Lucina  at  Rome,  and  is  described  by 
Father  Garrucci.  Its  date  is  in  dispute,  but  it  is  the  oldest  painting  of  Christ's  bap- 
tism known.  Many  high  authorities  assign  it  to  the  close  of  the  second  or  the  open- 
ing of  the  third  century,  amongst  them  De  Rossi.  The  Saviour  is  leaving  the  Jor- 
dan after  his  imn:ersion,  and  John  takes  him  by  the  hand  to  welcome  him  to  the 
bank.  Neither  the  head  of  John  nor  that  of  Christ  is  adorned  by  the  nimbus,  which 
was  not  adopted  into  Christian  art  from  pagan  art  to  indicate  sanctity  and  authority 
till  the  fifth  century.  But  the  leaf  in  the  mouth  of  the  dove,  which  denotes  the 
Holy  Spirit,  indicates  that  he  brings  a  message  of  peace  from  heaven  in  honor  of 
Christ's  baptism.  A  passage  from  Tertullian  throws  light  upon  this  figure :  '  As 
after  the  waters  of  the  deluge,  in  which  the  old  iniquity  w'as  purged  away,  as  after 
that  baptism  (so  to  call  it)  of  the  old  world,  a  dove  sent  out  of  the  ark  and  returning 
with  the  olive-leaf  was  the  herald  to  announce  to  the  earth  peace  and  the  cessation 
of  the  wrath  of  heaven  ;  so,  by  a  similar  disposition  with  reference  to  matters 
spiritual,  the  Dove  of  the  Holy  Spirit  sent   from  heaven  files  to  the  earth,  to  our 


BAPTISMAL  PICTURES.  259 

flesh,  as  it  comes  out  of  the  bath  of  rcguneration  after  its  old  sins,  and  bi-in<^s  to  us 
the  peace  of  God.'     (De.  Bap.,  c.  vii.) 


^» 

-''H 

NO.  4.— JESUS  BAPTIZED  IN  THE  JORDAN. 


No.  5  presents  a  youth  ankle-deep  in  water,  the  administrator  holding  a  roll  in 
one  hand,  and  resting  the  other  on  the  candidate's  head  to  plunge  him  in  the  water. 
The  roll  in  his  left  hand  indicates  his  authority  or  commission  to  baptize,  as  one  '  sent 


from  God  ;'  niid  also  shows  that  the  painter  liad  John  in  his  'mind's  eye,'  even  if 
he  fell  into  a  double  anachronism  first  as  to  the  extreme  youth  of  Christ,  and  then 
in  substituting  the  Roman  toga  for  the  Jewish  tunic ;  showing  both  liis  Roman  taste 


260  VIUUSTIAN  WONOdllAPJfY. 

and  tlie  poverty  of  his  artistic  genius  by  copying  the  (hnpri y  of  liis  every-day  life. 
The  Ursian  Mosaic  at  Eavenna  clotlies  John  in  a  robe  of  f-ijuilar  fullness  in  which 
the  folds  hang  differently,  the  toga  being  capable  of  endless  adjustments  as  seen  in 
classic  statuary.  But  is  this  painting  from  '  the  Chamber  of  the  Sacraments,'  in  the 
Catacomb  of  Callixtus,  a  baptism  of  Christ?  The  Arian  Mosaic  of  St.  Maria,  in 
Cosmedin,  is  intended  for  Christ  without  doubt,  in  which  he  looks  almost  boyish,  as 
also  in  this  fresco.  The  ablest  writers  call  attention  to  this  fact,  as  according  with  the 
general  methods  which  treat  of  him  in  all  departments  of  early  Christian  art. 
Didron,  in  his  great  work  on  '  Christian  Iconography,'  treats  at  large  Tipou  the 
juvenility  of  Christ's  figure  in  all  early  Christian  art,  but  especially  of  this  curious 
feature  in  the  earliest  Catacomb  pictures,  which  constantly  i-epresent  him  as  a  youth 
from  twelve  to  fifteen.  He  remarks:  'That  the  figui-e  of  Clirist,  wliii-h  had  at  first 
been  youthful,  becomes  older  from  century  to  century,  in  pro]  nut  ion  as  tlie  age  of 
Christianity  itself  progresses.  That  of  the  Virgin,  on  the  contrai-y,  becomes  nioi'e 
youthful  with  every  succeeding  century.'  P.  249.  This  method  came  neither  from 
mistake  nor  ignorance ;  but  was  chosen  as  the  best  mode  known  to  express  the  meek, 
lowly  and  teachable  in  Jesus.  Lord  Lindsay  says :  '  He  is  represented  as  an 
abstraction  ;  as  the  genius,  so  to  speak,  of  Christianity  ;  a  beardless  youth,  to  signify 
the  everlasting  prime  of  eternity.'  The  nude  figure  stands  in  the  water  only  slightly 
above  the  ankles ;  but  his  undress,  as  well  as  the  expanse  of  the  water,  are  in  them- 
selves symbols  of  his  immersion  without  regard  to  the  depth  of  the  sheet ;  for  why 
should  the  artist  place  him  in  water  at  all,  especially  unclothed,  in  order  to  ])our 
water  on  his  head'^  The  youth  is  standing  at  his  full  height,  and  Garrucci  writes 
of  this  picture  :  '  The  candidate  has  only  his  feet  in  the  water.  The  water,  then,  in 
which  one  must  be  immersed,  is  not,  in  fact,  literally  represented,  but  indicated  by 
sign.'     (VI,  v,  p.  95.) 

Nos.  6  and  7  from  the  Catacomb  of  Callixtus  relate  to  the  same  subject ;  6 
being  taken  fi-om  Garrucci,  and  7  from  De  Rossi.  They  are  symbolical  and  strik- 
ingly illustrate  the  painter's  conception  of  baptism.  These  frescoes  are  on  separate 
walls  of  the  same  ci-ypt,  and  Prof.  Mommsen  treating  tliem  as  one  continuous  picture, 
says  with  great  clearness  : 

'  We  see  on  the  first  wall  a  man  striking  the  rock  with  his  staff ;  from  the 
spring  thus  opened  a  fisherman  catches  a  fish  on  a  hook.  Farther  on  the  same 
spring  serves  as  a  baptismal  font,  out  of  which  tiie  man  baptizes  the  boy  standing 
before  him,  laying  his  hand  on  his  head.  AVithout  doubt,  Christ  is  here  conceived 
of  as  the  rock,  as  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians :  "  They  drank  of  that  spiritual 
rock  that  followed  them,  and  that  rock  was  Christ ;  "  and  the  man  who  strikes  the 
rock  is  more  likely  Petei-,  who  is  often  designated  the  new  Moses,  than  Moses  him- 
self. It  is  not  necessary  to  speak  of  the  fisherman,  Peter,  who  was  called  to  be  a 
fisher  of  men.'  Here  we  have  that  f.ivorite  symbol  of  the  fathers,  which  applies  tlie 
figure  of  the  fish  to  Christians  as  well  as  to  Clirist,  as  TertuUiau  :  '  We  smaller  fiohes. 


ALLRGORTCAL   PICTURES.  261 

after  tlic  example  of  our  Fisli,  are  born  in  the  waters;'  and  of  Melito,  sceoiul  eeiit- 
ury,  '  fishes  are  tlic  holy  ones  of  God.'  Hilary,  Augustine  and  Optatus  in  the  fourth 
century  do  the  same,  the  latter  calling  the  baptismal  waters  '■piscina,^  a  fish-pond. 
By  introducing  the  angler  into  the  picture,  the  idea  is  conveyed  that  another  con- 
version has  taken  place,  and  so  the  newly-immersed  candidate  is  another  fish  caught, 
a  disciple  of  Christ  drawn  out  of  the  waters  of  baptism  which  flow  from  Christ 
the  smitten  rock  ;  a  purely  allegorical  idea  in  exact  keeping  with  the  religious  lit- 
erature of  the  times  in  which  the  painter  lived. 


NO.  0. — SUCCESSFUL   GOSPEL   PREACHING. 


«^ 

\XJ\Pa\. 

Mm 

-CONVERSION  .INI)    BAPTISM. 


Here  are  clearly  three  distinct  and  purely  allegorical  ideas:  a  wide  expanse  of 
baptismal  water  issuing  from  a  rock  and  shown  to  be  '  living '  water  from  the  fact 
that  it  contains  large  fish ;  a  Gospel  minister  represented  by  the  fisherman  with  his 
hook  and  line,  first  acting  as  a  '  fisher  of  men '  and  then  baptizing  the  disciple 
drawn  to  Christ ;  after  that  comes  the  perfected  baptism  in  the  '  laying  on  of  the 
hand '  when  the  process  of  conversion  is  finished  and  attested.  What,  then,  arc  we 
to  understand  by  the  profuse,  fire-like  jets  which  fall  around  the  candidate  as  he 
stands  in  the  water  nearly  np  to  the  knees?  With  a  singular  infatuation  this 
fresco  has  been  eagerly  seized  upon  as  the  one  drawing  of  antiquity  proving  the 


262  NO   AFFUSION  UERE. 

modern  doctrine  of  afEusion  witli  water  as  baptism,  either  added  to  immersion  or  sub- 
stituted for  it ;  but  used  cliiefly  to  justify  this  substitution,  directly  in  the  face  of  all 
Church  history  and  literature,  for  the  first  thousand  years  after  Christ.  Clearly  his 
body  has  just  been  raised  from  the  water,  and  this  spray  shoots  above  the  head  of 
the  candidate  to  the  height  of  about  one-fourth  of  his  person,  then  falls  on  one  side 
to  a  line  with  his  thigh  and  on  the  other  down  to  the  water.  It  is  the  only  picture 
of  an  ancient  baptism  in  which  such  a  spray  is  found ;  and  the  question  to  be  de- 
termined is,  whether  the  artist  intcndetl  it  as  a  syuil)ol  or  a  realism,  while  much 
else  in  the  scene  is  allegory.  It  cannot  he  mistaken  for  a  nimbus  nor  yet  for 
an  aureole,  although  it  compasses  the  whole  person  excepting  a  part  of  one  leg. 
Certainly  the  law  of  gravitation  determines  that  it  cannot  be  intended  for  water 
dripping  from  the  body  after  immersion,  for  it  flies  upward  more  than  the  length 
of  the  head  and  neck  together  above  the  head.  Nor  can  it  be  water  or  oil,  or  any 
other  liquid  whatever  falling  from  the  baptizer's  hand  or  from  a  vessel,  as  his  hand 
rests  flatly  and  firmly  on  the  youth's  head.  Aft'usion  or  aspersion  of  water  are  en- 
tirely out  of  the  question  here,  because  the  spi-ay  has  no  natural  or  apparent  source. 
Neither  the  sense  of  sight  nor  a  stretch  of  the  imagination  can  call  it  water  without 
showing  where  it  comes  from.  Let  any  man  try  a  thousand  times  to  produce  such 
a  fillet  of  water  around  any  one  without  the  use  of  the  uplifted  hand,  or  of  some 
vessel  from  which  it  is  poured,  and  he  must  fail  as  often  as  he  tries.  More  than 
this,  the  curves  have  not  the  appearance  of  water.  The  lines  start  up  from  the  middle 
of  the  head  in  an  arched,  forked,  wing-like  form,  which  cannot  be  produced  with 
water  excepting  when  dashed  upward  in  a  body  and  with  great  force.  The 
strokes  of  the  pointed  lines  above  the  head,  the  flamboyant  curve  as  of  flame  and  its 
arching  over  the  shoulders  at  so  great  a  distance  from  them,  do  not  harmonize  with 
the  specific  gravity  of  falling  water.  But  they  look  more  like  jets  of  flame  projected 
upward  and  outward  by  the  natural  force  of  fire,  and  they  convey  the  conception 
which  the  ancient  artists  expressed  of  'cloven  tongues,  like  as  of  fire.'  No.  8, 
taken  from  the  Catacombs  and  photographed  from  Garrucci  (vol.  iii.  pi.  140,  No.  1), 
expresses  the  same  symbolical  idea  in  association  with  the  resting  of  cleft  flames 
upon  the  heads  of  the  Apostles  at  Pentecost. 

The  artist  has  introduced  the  Virgin  Mary  in  the  center  of  the  Apostolic  group, 
possibly  because  she  is  mentioned  with  the  'Twelve,'  Acts  i,  14  ;  and  also  to  express 
his  idea  of  her  superiority  to  them,  by  taking  the  place  of  her  Son  at  their  head,  a 
notion  in  keeping  with  the  errors  of  his  day.  The  '  cloven  '  or  divided  appearance 
of  the  fire,  as  well  as  its  fiashing  form,  indicates  the  same  idea  in  these  two  ]iainters 
of  different  dates.  The  blaze-like  curve  in  No.  7  suggests  that  the  author  intended 
that  fresco  to  express  his  idea  of  the  figurative  and  supernatural  baptism  of  fire  in 
union  with  baptism  in  water — a  thought  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  religious  lit- 
erature of  his  times.  We  have  innumerable  instances  in  which  the  Fathers  speak  of 
such  a  baptism  in  association  with    the  baptism  of  water.     Tertullian  tells  us  that 


TnADITTONAT.    BAPTlSyr  OF  FIRE. 


263 


tlie  Valcntiiii;ui.s  adck-d  tliit;  tire  l>ai)tir^iii  to  tlieir  water  baptism.  Smith's  '  Dictionary 
of  Aiiti(|iiities '  not  only  treats  of  a  sect  who  maiiitaine<l  tiio  true  baptism  to  be  that 
of  tlie  Spirit  ami  tire,  but  speaks  of  a  treatise  in  wliich  '  we  read  of  some  who,  by 
wiiat  means  is  not  known,  {)roduced  an  appearance  of  fire  on  the  baptismal  water, 
in  order  to  complete  what  they  thought  necessary  for  Christian  baptism."  A  tra- 
dition existed  on  this  subject  from  Justin  Martyr  downward.  In  his  dialogue  with 
Tryplio  the  Jew,  he  says  that  '  When  Jesus  descended  into  the  water,  a  fire  was  also 


\S   OF   FIRE. 


kindled  in  Jordan."  The  Ebionite  Gospel  reports  that  after  Christ's  baptism : 
'  Immediately  a  great  light  shone  around  upon  the  place.'  In  commenting  upon 
these  passages,  Dr.  Lardner  remarks  :  '  This  account,  therefore,  of  the  fii-e  in  the 
river  Jordan  seems  to  be  only  a  story  which  Justin  had  received  by  tradition.'  Drs. 
Cave  and  Grabe,  as  well  as  Lardner,  think  this  tradition  an  inference  drawn  from 
the  evangelical  account  of  the  opening  heavens.  ^  Add  to  this  the  avowal  of  John 
concerning  the  baptism  of  fire  not  many  days  hence,  and  it  is  easy  to  see  how  the 
traditional  fiery  baptism  associated  itself  with  the  primitive  water  baptism  in   many 


264  VIEWS   OF   CyitlL. 

minds.  Ephrein,  the  great  hjiimist  of  tlio  Syrian  ( 'liiirdi,  fdurth  century,  speaking 
of  Christ's  baptism  says:  'Beliold  the  fire  mid  the  Spirit,  in  the  i-iver  in  wliich  thou 
wast  baptized.'  Is  it  any  more  strange  tliat  an  ancient  jxunter  sliould  embody  this 
emblematic  idea  in  a  picture,  tlian  that  so  grave  a  Father  as  Justin  should  incorpo- 
rate it  into  his  controversy  with  the  noted  Jew  ?  Surely,  there  was  more  common 
sense  in  doing  either,  tliaii  in  the  late  attempt  to  force  this  fresco  into  the  service  of 
aspersion  by  making  it  an  annex  and  interpreter  of  'The  Teaching  of  the  Twelve 
Apostles.' 

That  work  requires  men  to  be  baptized  in  '  running  water.  But  if  thou  hast  «ot 
running  water,  baptize  in  other  water;  and  if  thou  canst  not  in  cold,  then  in  loarm. 
But  if  tliou  hast  neither,  pour  water  upoii  the  liead.'  Here,  however,  tlie  admin- 
istrator has  both  running  water  and  an  abundance  of  it;  and,  therefore,  to  ponr 
water  upon  the  head  wuuld  1)e  in  direct  opposition  to  the  above  injunction.  A 
wide  stream  of  '  living  water '  is  presented,  big  enough  to  produce  a  fish,  in  length 
one  third  of  the  candidate's  full  stature ;  and  so  the  baptizer  is  supposed  to  be 
following  the  instruction  in  the  exceptional  case  by  pouring  water  on  the  head,  and 
that  miraculously  too,  without  the  aid  of  any  vessel  or  the  use  of  either  of  his 
hands  !  Here  is  a  pedobaptist  miracle  in  resurrection  from  the  Catacombs  for  en- 
lightening the  nineteenth  century.  Even  Smith's  '  Dictionary '  forces  this  Callixtine 
fresco  to  bear  testimony  to  affusion  in  baptism  as  an  ancient  practice,  and  cites  as 
a  parallel  case,  that  '  one  common  mode  of  bathing  among  the  ancients  was  the 
pouring  of  water  from  vessels  over  the  body,  as  we  may  see  in  ancient  vase  paint- 
ings.' That  water  w.as  so  used  in  the  ordinary  spray  or  showei"-bath  is  clear 
enough  ;  but  what  has  that  to  do  with  this  picture  ?  Here  is  not  the  representation 
of  the  usual  bath,  but  of  a  Christian  baptism.  Besides,  when  the  '  vase  paintings  ' 
picture  affusion  in  the  common  bath,  they  show  the  vessel  from  which  the  falling 
water  flows,  which  is  the  very  thing  that  this  painting  does  not  show.  It  cannot 
be  enlisted  into  this  modern  service  without  the  greatest  violence  to  the  literature 
of  the  earlier  ages.  Chrysostom  understood  the  baptism  of  fire  metaphoi-ically,  for 
the  gifts  and  graces  of  the  Spirit ;  while  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  understood  it  real- 
istically, as  seen  in  the  form  of  cloven  tongues  at  Pentecost.  ^  The  resemblance  to 
fiery  horns  rising  above  the  head  of  the  baptized  in  No.  7,  and  the  forked  flames 
above  the  heads  of  the  Twelve  in  No.  8,  are  clearly  intended  to  represent  the  same 
symbolical  ideal,  by  similar  arching,  cleft  and  aspiring  curves.  But  the  affusion 
of  water  is  inadmissible  until  it  can  be  shown  where  it  comes  from,  and  how  it 
ascends  far  above  the  head  in  this  cleft  and  arching  Avay  without  visible  agency  or 
projecting  force. 

No.  9  is  a  more  important  painting,  found  over  the  baptistery  in  the  Catacomb 
of  St.  Ponziano,  which  is  ascribed  by  Boldetti  to  the  fifth  or  sixth  century,  but  by 
Parker  to  the  ninth.  It  is  over  an  arched  recess,  at  the  bottom  of  which  is  a  well 
or  fountain,  said  to  have  been  used  for  baptism  by  the  early  Christians  in  the  times 


NO.  9,  — BAPTISTEKY    IX    CATACOMB    OF    ST.    FOXZIA 


nAPTrsTEnr.—sT.  PONzrAxo.  268 

of  persecution.  In  tlie  upper  p;ut  C'lirist  is  represented  as  standing  up  to  the  waist 
in  the  Jordan.  Tlic  IIolv  Dove  witli  rays  from  his  beak  is  over  his  head,  fish 
are  swinmiing  in  the  water,  and  a  hart  or  stag  is  looking  intently  into  the  stream. 
John  is  standing  on  the  bank  reaching  forward  with  his  hand  on  Christ's  head. 
Another  figure  stands  on  the  opposite  side  in  a  white  garment ;  the  three  figures 
have  the  nimbus.  The  lower  part  of  tlie  representation  is  under  the  arch;  on  tlie 
wall  is  a  jeweled  cross  with  the  A  and  il  lianging  from  its  arms  to  indicate  that 
Christ  is  the  Beginning  and  the  Ending  of  faith,  and  the  two  candlesticks  standing 
upon  them  are  designed  to  set  forth  the  Divine  and  human  nature  of  our  Lord. 
The  symbolism  here  is  on  a  large  scale,  for  the  artist  evidently  intended  not  only  to 
give  us  an  ideal  baptismal  scene  in  the  immersion  of  Jesus,  but  to  associate  with  it 
such  a  body  of  divinity  as  would  show  the  great  doctrines  on  which  baptism  rests, 
and  its  necessary  outcome  from  them ;  so  that  the  emblematic  and  the  realistic 
are  copiously  blended.  The  jeweled  cross  is  very  significant,  being  set  witli  gems, 
leaves  and  flowers.  This  the  ancients  called  The  Cross  of  Glory,  while  they  called 
the  plain  wood  The  Cross  of  Shame,  to  mark  the  degradation  to  which  the  Bap- 
tized Crucified  submitted  for  our  sins.  The  two  flames  from  the  candlesticks  on 
the  transverse  beam  are  designed  to  show  the  wealth  and  fullness  of  illumination 
which  the  atonement  throws  upon  baptism,  and  the  light  needed  by  those  who  are 
buried  beneath  its  waters.  Then,  the  cross  itself  descends  into  the  water  to  exhibit 
the  connection  of  the  atonement  by  Christ's  death  with  the  ordinance.  The  clear 
and  still  fountain  beneath  is  the  believer's  liquid  grave,  where  he  is  to  be  buried 
'into  the  likeness  of  Christ's  death.' 

Portions  of  the  upper  picture  arc  purely  imaginative,  as  the  angel  on  the  riglit 
shore  from  Christ  resting  on  a  cloud  and  holding  our  Lord's  robe.  Then,  the  hart 
looking  earnestly  into  the  water  symbolizes  the  thirst  of  the  believing  soul  for  the 
waters  of  baptism.  This  idea  is  probably  borrowed  from  Jerome's  comment  on  the 
first  verse  of  Psalm  xlii :  'As  the  hart  pants  after  the  water-brooks,  so  does  my 
soul  pant  for  thee,  O  God.'  Tlie  nimbus  thrown  around  the  head  of  John,  Jesus 
and  tlie  angel,  and  the  luminous  irradiancy  around  the  Holy  Dove,  distinguish  them 
as  sacred  personages.  Thus,  in  this  remarkable  picture,  the  immersion  of  Jesus 
and  the  deep  baptistery  provided  for  those  who  cling  to  his  cross  are  but  membei-s 
of  a  great  system  of  truth  which  the  artist  intended  to  preach  ;  his  primary  purpose 
being  to  show  forth  Christ's  redeeming  work  and  the  results  flowing  from  it  by 
faith  and  obedience,  as  seen  in  baptismal  burial  and  resurrection  with  him.  The 
baptistery  is  supplied  by  a  natural  spring,  and  is,  according  to  Ricci,  from  four  to 
five  feet  deep ;  Canon  Venable  says,  with  a  descent  of  ten  steps.  Since  writing  the 
above.  Dr.  Dodge  calls  attention  to  Bellermann's  description  of  a  baptistery  in  the 
Catacombs  at  Naples :  '  There  is  a  niche  in  the  wall  under  the  middle  door,  eight 
feet  high,  five  and  a  half  feet  broad,  in  which  one  still  sees  a  cross  with  four  equal 
arms  painted  red,  and  a  Greek  inscription,  wliieh  means  "Jesus  Christ  conquers." 


266 


MOSAIC   AT  RAVENNA. 


According  to  a  tradition,  tlicn- 
deeply  embedded  in  the  c:ntli, 
of   a   subterranean  Cliurcli."   J' 
b'ke  that  which  we  see  in  tJie 
Eev.  St.  John  Tyrwhitt  in  his: 


)iice  before  this  niche  a  great  baptismal  basin, 
t  une  could  look  on  this  place  as  the  baptistery 
it  i>cems  that  the  cross  was  a  baptismal  one, 
in  ( 'cinutery.     The  inscription  is  remarkable. 

on  •  Christian  Art  and  Symbolism  '  says:  'Tlie 


earliest  crosses,  as  that  called  the  Lateran,  are  l)aptismal  crosses.  .  .  .  The  cross  is  in 
its  first  use  the  symbol  of  baptism  into  the  Lord's  death,  or  death  with  him.'  P.  124. 
No.  10  presents  the  same  svihIk'Hc  >tyle.  It  is  the  noted  Ursian  Mosaic,  taken 
from  the  Baptistery  of  St.  John  at  lia\eniia,  supposed  to  have  been  built  by  Ursus, 
A.  D.  3y0-39(.l,  but  the  mosaic  which  adorns  its  high  dome  is  referred  to  450.    Its  three 

most  striking  symbols  ai-e 
the  lettering  at  the  left 
of  Christ's  shoulder;  the 
anointing  of  Jesus  by  John 
with  oil  or  myrrh  from  a 
vessel ;  and  the  river-god. 
Our  Lord  stands  up  to  the 
waist  in  the  waters  of  the 
.lui'dan,  with  the  nimbus  and 
Holy  Dove  over  his  head. 
John's  right  hand  holds  the 
'ampulla,'  or  anointing  cup, 
over  Christ's  head,but  his  left 
hand  grasps  a  jeweled  cross. 
His  left  knee  is  bent  forward 
and  sustains  what  looks  like  a 
cruet  or  flask,  in  shape  much 
like  the  Oriental  bottle  made 
of  skin.  This  object  partly 
obscuring  John's  knee,  the 
cross  and  Christ's  right  arm,  suggest  the  source  from  whence  he  has  drawn  the  oil  for 
the  anointing.  This  however,  only  provided  it  is  not  a  defect  in  the  mosaic,  which 
is  possible.  Garruci  names  no  blemish  here  in  his  description  of  the  picture,  while 
he  speaks  of  one  in  the  lettering  '  loi'd,'  which  was  originally  '  lordann.'  This  medall- 
ion realistically  confines  the  subject  to  tlie  immersion  of  Jesus  in  the  sacred  river; 
but  the  artist  adds  the  symbols  in  harmony  with  the  practice  of  baptism  in  his 
own  times.  Lundy's  comment  is,  that  John  '  applies  the  unction  with  a  small 
shell.' " 

At  what  time  the  custom  of  anointing  the  bajitized  with  oil  originated  is  not 
known.  Jortin  thinks  that  it  was  unknown  to  Justin  Martyr,  A.  D.  103-lOS.  as  he 
does  not  hint  at  it  in  describing  the    rite  of  baptism.     But  Justin  refers  to  it  in 


IC,  FROM  BAPTISTERY  OF  ST.  JOHN,  RAVENN 


ANOINTING   IN  BAPTISM.  267 

another  place,  saying  :  '  If  ^fary  anointed  the  Lord  witli  inyrrli  before  his  burial, 
and  we  celebrate  the  s^'nibols  of  his  sulTci-iiiiis  and  rcsui'ri'cti.ni  in  baptism,  how  is 
it  that  we  first,  indeed,  anoint  with  oil,  and  tht'ii  cdi  biatini;-  the  aforesaid  symbols 
in  the  pool,  afterward  anoint  with  myrrh  ?""  Tlie  geiu'ral  custom  of  anointing  in 
baptism  probably  came  in  a  little  later,  when  the  wealthy  began  to  embrace  Chris- 
tianity, for  Tertullian  says  mucli  of  this  unction.  We  may  see  the  reason  for  its 
adoption,  for  every-wliere  in  the  Koman  Empire  the  free  use  of  oil  was  deemed 
necessary  to  the  completion  of  a  common  bath.  Tlie  Christians  found  many  fan- 
ciful reasons  for  the  introduction  of  this  practice  in  baptism.  God  anointed  Jesus 
with  the  Holy  Spirit  at  his  baptism — the  very  name  'Christ'  signifies  tlie  anointed ; 
Mary  anointed  his  body  before  his  burial,  with  much  more  in  that  line ;  and  so 
accoi'ding  to  the  best  authorities  they  gave  many  reasons  for  this  '  chrism,'  as  they 
called  it,  both  before  and  after  baptism.  Anointing  betokened  prosperity  and  hap- 
piness, and  so  they  likened  the  Spirit  to  oil  and  his  grace  to  unction ;  and  after 
baptism  they  poured  olive  oil  upon  the  head,  thus,  as  they  said,  anointing  their  con- 
verts with  the  '  oil  of  gladness  above  their  fellows,'  in  token  of  their  consecration 
to  a  holy  life.     Tertullian  writes : 

'We  are,  acccording  to  ancient  custom,  thorongldy  anointed  with  a  blessed 
unction,  as  the  priests  were  wont  to  be  anointed  with  oil  from  a  horn.  And  the 
xmction  running  down  our  flesh  profits  us  spiritually  in  the  same  way  as  the  act  of 
baptism,  itself  carnal,  because  we  are  plunged  in  water,  has  a  spiritual  effect  in 
delivering  us  from  our  sins.  Then  the  hand  is  laid  on  us,  inviting  the  Holy  Spirit, 
through  the  words  of  benediction,  and  over  our  cleansed  and  blessed  bodies,  freely 
descends  from  the  Father  that  most  Holy  Spirit."' 

They  found  many  other  reasons  for  this  practice.  In  the  Grecian  games,  the 
wrestlers  and  runners  anointed  themselves  plentifully  before  they  began  their  con- 
tests. When  their  frame  and  joints  were  pervaded  with  oil,  it  was  supposed 
to  give  them  a  quick  agility  of  action  and  an  easy  grace  of  movement,  and 
so  added  to  their  chances  of  success.  As  Paul  referred  to  the  laws  of  these  con- 
tests, 'so  run  I,  so  fight  I,'  they  borrowed  a  figure  from  the  same,  and  applied  it  to 
the  Christian  athlete,  when  beginning  his  race  and  combat  in  baptism.  Ambrose, 
of  Caliors,  the  supposed  author  of  '  De  Sacramentis,'  says  to  the  immersed  :  '  Thou 
didst  enter.  .  .  .  Thou  was  anointed  as  the  athlete  of  Christ.' "  Dr.  Cave,  (pioting 
Cyril,  remarks : 

'  They  were  cut  off  from  the  wild  olive  and  were  engrafted  into  Christ,  the  true 
olive-tree,  and  made  partakers  of  his  fruits  and  benefits,  or  else  to  show  that  now 
they  were  become  champions  for  Christ  and  had  entered  upon  a  state  of  conflict, 
wherein  they  must  strive  and  contend  with  all  the  snares  of  the  world,  as  the  athlete 
of  old  were  anointed  aijainst  their  soltMiui  iiaincs,  that  thcv  might  be  more  expedite, 
and  that  their  ant;i-,,i,i'sts  ,,,iMl,r  fak,.  |,.->  ii,,l,l  upun  tlicin,  (  )r  rntluT,  jm-lMMy,  to 
denote  their  li.-in-  a.lmilf.l  r..  tlir  -ivat  i.ri\  il.-f>  of  ( 'hri>tianit  v.  n  (-h.-^ni  -viici'a- 
tion,  a  royal  prirMhoMcl,  a  holy  iiatinu  (as  tin-  \\*'<>\\v  styh-s  Cliri.^tiaiiM,  otlicr.  of 
which  anointing  was  an  ancient  symbol,  both  of  being  designated  to  them  and  inter- 


268  ANOmriNO   IN  BAPTTS.W. 

ested  in  them  ;  and  this  acemint  Tcrtiilliaii  favors,  lie  tells  lis  'tis  derived  from  the 
ancient,  that  is,  Jewish  discijiliiie,  where  the  priests  wei"e  wont  to  be  anointed  for 
the  jiriesthood  :  for  some  such  purpose  they  thonirlit  it  fit  that  a  Christian  should  be 
aiioiiitt'd  asa  spii-itiial  kiiiiz;  and  priest,  anil  iliat  no  time  was  irK.re  i)roper  for  it  than 
at  his  haptism.   when  flie  name  of  Christ  was  euiifessed  npuii  him.' « 

This  unction  figured  largely  in  the  ecclesiastical  controversies  and  legislation  of 
after  eentnries;  and  as  early  as  the  fourth,  a  contest  arose  whether  it  should  pre- 
cede or  follow  baptism.  Tertullian's  statements  show  that  it  followed  baptism,  and 
most  of  the  Fathers  contended  lustily  for  the  same  order,  Augustine  being  amongst 
the  most  earnest.  Bunsen  says  that  '  The  unction  followed  immediately  after  the 
immersion.'  This  question  fanned  the  love  for  anointing  into  a  mania,  until  Rabanus, 
Archbishop  of  Mentz,  A.  D.  788-856,  actually  exalted  it  into  a  separate  'sacra- 
ment.' He  did  this  by  doubling  each  ordinance  ;  and  so  he  called  the  bread  and  wine 
two,  and  the  'chrisma  '  another,  apart  from  the  immersion  ;  four  in  all. "  Dr.  Cave, 
citing  Cyril  again,  says  (p.  324)  that  the  ]X'rson  baptized: 

'  "  Was  anointed  the  second  time,  as  S.  Cyril  tells  us  ;  and,  indeed,  whatever  be- 
comes of  the  unction  that  was  before,  'tis  certain  that  that  which  Tertullian  speaks 
of  as  a  part  of  the  ancient  discipline,  was  after  the  person  was  bajjtized."  The 
anointing  took  place  both  before  and  after  the  immersion  ;  and  the  whole  service 
was  finished  by  binding  a  white  linen  cloth,  called  the  "  chrismale,"  around  the  head 
of  the  immersed,  to  retain  the  oil  upon  the  bead  for  a  week  afterward.'  " 

The  author  of  the  Ursian  Mosaic  evidently  wished  to  portray  the  anointing  of 
Jesus  in  connection  with  his  baptism  ;  but  unable  to  depict  the  invisible  unction  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  he  meets  the  necessity  by  putting  the  ordinary  baptismal  unction  into 
the  hand  of  John.  It  entered  not  his  mind  to  emit  a  stream  from  the  beak  of  a  dove,  so 
the  best  agent  that  his  art  could  supply  was  the  anointing  cup  in  John's  hand.  Hence 
he  is  pouring  on  the  oil  above  the  nimbus  and  beneath  the  head  of  the  Dove,  to  indicate 
his  authority  from  God  to  place  his  hand  between  the  second  and  the  third  persons 
in  the  Trinity,  to  the  honor  of  God's  anointed  Son.  This  act  directly  connects  the 
artist's  conception  of  the  river-god  with  the  effect  of  the  anointing.  When  he  did 
this  work  the  universal  teaching  was  that  great  virtue  lodged  in  the  baptismal  oil, 
in  fact,  that  it  was  miracle-working  in  its  effects.  Cyril,  of  Jerusalem,  tells  us  that 
the  holy  oil  in  baptism  destroyed  all  traces  of  sin  and  drove  out  the  evil  one ;  and 
Pacian  insists  that '  the  baptismal  water  washes  away  sin,  the  chrism  gives  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  so  the  regeneration  is  complete.' "  Not  the  least  of  these  effects  is  seen 
in  expelling  all  demons  and  evil  spirits  from  the  water  by  the  oil.  In  conformity 
with  this  idea,  the  artist  has  introduced  the  emblematic  figure  of  the  river-god, 
according  to  the  ancient  form.  He  has  ascended  from  the  stream,  with  a  leafy 
calamus  or  reed  in  his  hand  and  a  wreath  on  his  brow,  in  token  of  dominion  over 
that  river.  He  is  alarmed,  is  looking  away  from  the  holy  anointing  and  bends  for- 
ward, as  if  making  for  the  shore  to  depart  from  a  scene  of  such  sanctity.  No.  11 
gives  us  an  ancient  Roman  bath,  as  is  seen  by  the  elegant  heathen  bass-relief  upon 


nAPT/STE/n'   OF   CONt>TANT[\K. 


it,  wliic'h  liad  bcuii  coiisfcruteil  to   Cliristian   use  bj  placing  upon   the  oil  podestal 
an  image  of  John  the  Baptist,  who  is  invoked  to  serve  as  its  patron  saint. 


ling  the  Cliurcli  of  St. 
this  service  of  unction. 


-OLD   BIPIISM  \ 


IL  I  EDESTAL. 


In  the  baptistery  known  as  that  of  Constantine,  ad 
John  of  Lateral!,  at  Rome,  special  provision  was  made  t'l 
The  circular  basin  of  this  build- 
ing is  three  feet  deep  and  twen- 
ty-five in  diameter.  Both  Anas- 
tasius  and  Daraasus,  in  tlieir 
lives  of  Sylvester,  say  that  in 
their  time  it  was  lined  within 
and  without  by  3,008  pounds 
weight  of  silver ;  and  '  in  the 
middle  of  the  basin  stood  a  col- 
umn of  porphyry,  bearing  on  its 
top  a  golden  phial  full  of  oint- 
ment,' to  be  poured  upon  the 
heads  of  the  newly-immersed 
ones.  Hence  the  mosaic  under  consideration  steps  forth  to  confirm  the  literature  of 
many  centuries,  which  in  its  turn  reflects  light  back  upon  Christian  archaeology. 
The  attempt,  then,  to  force  this  picture  into  the  service  of  modern  affusion  does  the 
greatest  possible  violence  to  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  and  to  the  unbroken 
testimony  of  the  ages.  In  the  absence  of  color  in  a  piece  of  sculpture  or  painting 
where  liquid  is  poured  foi'th,  the  circumstances  and  positive  testimony  taken  to- 
gether must  determine  what  that  liquid  is.  And  in  all  these  cases  these  pictures 
unite  in  showing  it  to  be  oil  and  not  water.  Common  sense  alone  suggests,  nay, 
even  common  decency,  that  no  one  would  take  another  to  a  stream  of  water,  strip 
him  naked  and  lead  him  down  into  it  up  to  the  waist,  for  the  purpose  of  pouring 
water  on  the  head  from  the  hand  or  a  shell  or  a  vessel,  either  before  or  after  the 
honest  iiumersion  of  that  head  in  the  same  element,  much  less  without  such  im- 
mersion at  all.  At  any  rate,  those  who  pour  water  on  the  head  now  and  call  it 
baptism  are  extremely  careful  not  to  go  through  such  a  series  of  useless  acts  to  reach 
that  end.  If  the  primitive  Christians  did,  they  were  not  so  wise  as  the  moderns. 
But  when  they  tell  us  that  oil  was  poured  upon  the  head  in  baptism,  '  as  the  priests 
were  wont  to  be  anointed  with  oil  from  a  horn,'  as  Tertullian  expresses  it,  we  can- 
not only  see  the  reason  for  all  these  steps,  but  for  their  full  expression  in  ancient 
Christian  art. 

This  absurd  claim  renders  itself  simply  ridiculous,  in  the  attempt  to  show  that 
because  clinics  or  sick  persons  in  bed  had  water  poured  upon  them,  which  act 
passed  for  baptism,  any  example  of  this  can  establish  a  universal  rule.  Jesus  was 
not  a  clinic  at  any  time,  much  less  when  John  baptized  him  ;  nor  were  clinics  taken 
to  tliu  Jordan  and  placed  in  its  waters  up  to  the  waist,  that  a   cup  of  water  might 


270 


AlilAN  BAPTlSTKIiV  AT   IIAVKNNA. 


be  poured  upon  their  lieads.  This  pietui'u  ti-uats  uf  the  baptism  of  Jesus ;  and  it 
was  just  as  natural  that  the  painter  should  inv(jke  the  use  of  oil,  tiie  universal  cus- 
tom of  his  day  amongst  Christians  in  baptism,  to  represent  the  anointing  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  as  that  he  should  use  the  cross,  the  flask  and  the  river-god.  But  what 
sane  artist  would  think  of  making  John  lead  our  Kedeemer  nude  into  the  Jordan 
to  pour  a  cup  of  water  on  his  head  ?  He  would  be  deemed  as  flt  for  tlie  lunatic 
asylum  as  the  coming  painter  who  shall  represent  a  current  infant  baptism  in  this  year 
of  grace  1886  by  drawing  John  in  the  Jordan  with  a  naked  babe  in  his  arms,  dropping 
a  particle  of  water  on  its  brow  from  a  cup,  with  a  flask  of  water  on  his  shoulder. 

No.  12  is  found  in  the  dome  of  the  Arian  baptistery  at  Eavenna,  and  is  known  as  St. 
Maria  in  Cosmedin.   It  is  given  by  Father  Garrucci  and  bears  date  a  century  later  than 

figure  10,  namely,  A.  D.  553. 
Here  again,  our  Kedeemer  is 
presented  above  the  loins  in 
the  waters  of  the  Jordan; 
which  river  is  made  a  winding 
trench,  with  a  typical  resem- 
blance to  the  actual  course  of 
that  sacred  stream,  as  if  the 
artist  had  visited  the  spot. 
The  Holy  Dove  has  descended 
directly  above  the  head  of 
Christ  and  hovers  there,  emit- 
ting a  stream  of  unction  from 
his  beak  which  actually  unites 
him  with  the  person  of  our 
Lord.  The  Baptist  is  clothed  in 
a  camel's  skin,  holding  a  bent 
reed  in  his  left  hand,  while  his 
right  rests  ujjon  Christ's  head. 
At  the  right  of  Jesus  is  the  river-god  again,  a  seated  figure  with  long  hair  and  horns ; 
instead  of  the  wreath  on  his  head  we  have  the  leafy  calamus  in  his  hand  to  indicate 
his  royalty ;  his  lower  limbs  are  wrapped  in  an  ample  robe  and  an  urn  stands  at  his 
side.  Abbe  Crossnier  points  to  the  horns  and  urn  as  emblems  of  his  deity  ;  and  his  left 
hand  raised  in  astonishment  seems  to  express  wonder  and  alarm  for  the  holiness  of 
the  scene,  but  especially  has  the  heavenly  unction  startled  him.  Here  we  see  what 
a  century  had  done  for  the  mosaic  art.  By  this  time  the  later  artist  had  devised  a 
better  method  of  symbolical  representation,  so  that  he  disposes  entirely  of  John's 
intervening  cup  between  the  Spirit  and  the  Son,  to  express  the  anointing;  and 
brings  the  Dove  and  the  Lord  into  immediate  union  by  a  realistic  flood  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Dove,  to  set  forth  the  divine  unction.  This  is  in  exact  accord  with  what 


NO.   13. — MOS.MC, 


lEUY,   R.WENNA. 


THE  HOLY  I)OVK  271 

Smith  says  of  another  ancient  practice.  In  article  '  Dove'  he  observes  :  '  A  golden 
or  silver  dove  was  often  suspended  above  the  font  in  early  times.  These  sometimes 
contained  the  anointing  oil  used  in  baptism.'  .  .  .  '  Doves  of  the  precious  metals, 
emblematic  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  were  also  sus^^ended  above  the  font  in  early  churches.' 
,  .  .  '  One  of  the  charges  brouglit  against  Severus  by  the  clergy  of  Autioch  at  the 
Council  of  Constantinople,  A.  D.  536,  vpas  that  he  removed  and  appropriated  to  his 
own  use  the  gold  and  silver  doves  hanging  over  the  sacred  fonts.'  '^  But  the  am- 
pulla was  more  frequently  in  other  shapes  than  that  of  the  dove. 

With  all  these  fiicts  staring  us  in  the  face,  men  have  the  temerity  to  tell  us 
that  in  one  of  these  mosaics  John  is  pouring  out  water  on  the  head  of  tiesus,  and  in 
the  other  tiie  Holy  Dove  is  pouring  out — well,  they  do  not  exactly  know  what,  but 
something  that  teaches  the  doctrine  of  affusion  in  Christian  baptism  !  What  do 
they  mean  by  this?  Do  they  mean  any  thing,  soberly  and  definitely?  Can  they 
mean  that  the  artists  in  these  mosaics  intended  to  teach  that  the  water  baptism  of 
John  administered  to  Jesus  was  incomplete,  until  the  Baptist  in  the  first  case  and 
the  Spirit  in  the  second  superadded  a  water  affusion  likewise  ?  Will  they  give  us 
one  example,  in  the  Bible  or  out  of  it,  in  which  it  has  ever  entered  the  mind  of  man 
that  the  Holy  Dove  has  poured  water  upon  any  man  to  complete  his  water  bap- 
tism or  to  supersede  his  immersion  ?  Certainly  not.  But  this  artist  clearly  did  in- 
tend, by  a  too  literal  and  realistic  manner,  to  attempt  the  reduction  of  an  invisible 
anointing  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  to  the  physical  eye,  and  hence  this  stream  from  the 
mouth  of  the  dove.  The  design  in  both  cases  is  unmistakable.  In  the  Ursian 
Mosaic  the  oil  descends  from  John's  vessel  to  depict  an  anointing  of  the  Spirit  by 
the  use  of  oil  without  a  stream  from  the  Dove,  and  in  the  Arian  Mosaic  the  Dove 
gives  forth  his  own  anointing  essence;  consequently  the  literal  oil  is  dispensed  with, 
showing  that  in  both  cases  unction  is  set  forth  and  not  water.  If  the  reader  will 
examine  No.  8,  he  will  see  that  the  artist  of  the  Pentecostal  scene,  intended 
to  ])resent  Mary  as  receiving  the  Spirit's  anointing  in  the  same  way  precisely.  The 
divided  flame  rests  upon  her  head  as  upon  each  of  the  Apostles,  but  in  addition  the 
Dove  emits  a  stream  from  his  beak,  exactly  like  that  iq  the  Arian  Mosaic.  Did 
the  artist  intend  to  convey  the  thought  that  the  Spirit  was  aspersing  Mary  with 
water  in  baptism  ?  And  yet  there  is  the  same  reason  for  saying  this,  that  there  is 
for  saying  that  the  Arian  artist  intended  the  mosaic  to  carry  the  idea  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  emitted  a  stream  of  water  upon  her  Son  in  baptism.  No,  we  say  with  Lundy, 
in  his  '  Monumental  Christianity  : '  '  The  Dove  is  pouring  down  the  Divine  afflatus 
from  his  beak  on  the  head  of  our  Lord.' 

No.  13  is  a  fragment  of  glass  from  a  broken  cup  found  in  the  Esquiline,  and 
known  by  the  name  on  its  face.  It  depicts  a  newly  baptized  girl.  Those  who  have 
examined  it  say  that  when  held  to  the  light  its  tran.sparency  reveals  her  figure,  with 
her  knee  raised  and  bent  and  her  right  arm  extended,  as  if  preparing  to  leave  the 
baptistery.     A  priest  with  a  halo  around  his  head  stands  at  her  side,  in  a  priestly 


THE   CUP 


.      Di 

uusly  f 


a1.. 


IS  tli. 


A 


te(l  u;Inl)iil;ir  \-rss('l,  niiiversally  known  in 
It  is  huiiy  ill  a  ^arlainl  and  a  li(|uid  tiows 
This  vessel  takes  tliis  name,  says  '  Sniitli's 
Dictionary  of  Christian  An- 
tiquities '  (Art.  '  Ampulla  ')j 
'  probably  from  its  swelling 
out  in  every  direction '  .  .  .  . 
'  A  globular  vessel  for  hold- 
ing liquid  ; '  in  fact,  the  very 
vessel  used  in  the  old  Roman 
bath  and  at  the  ancient  bap- 
tistery for  the  ]>urpose  of 
anointing.  A  hand  rests  upon 
the  girl's  head,  and  a  dove 
hovers  above  her  bearing  a 
branch  of  seven  stems,  to  in- 
dicate the  seven  graces  of 
tlie  Spirit  which  are  now 
hers  ;  the  dove  itself  being  a 
messenger  of  peace,  as  in  the 
Saviour's  baptism  (see  No. 
•1).  Evei-y  item  in  this  frag- 
ment is  full  of  symbol.  The  white  clothing  indicates  the  girl's  future  purity,  chas- 
tity and  faith ;  the  amjnilla  is  hung  in  a  garland  to  denote  that  the  occasion  of  the 
baptism  is  festive ;  it  hangs  near  the  bright,  opening  heavens  without  visible  support ; 
the  dove  is  descending  to  show  that  she  is  a  favorite, '  beloved '  of  God  ;  and  she  stands 
in  the  deep  water  to  denote  her  immersion.  We  are  chiefly  concerned, 
however,  with  the  inverted  ampulla,  its  contents  and  their  use  in  an- 
cient baptism.  The  accompanying  cut,  No.  14,  is  taken  from  the  article 
'  Bath '  ('  Encyc.  Britannica '),  and  is  the  same  vessel  found  in  the  cup  of 
Alba.  It  was  in  common  use  amongst  the  ancient  Christians  at  the 
altar,  for  it  contained  the  wine  as  well  as  the  oil.  When  John  III. 
ordered  the  Lateran  Church  at  Rome  to  supply  altar-plate  for  the  Oratory  of  the 
Martyrs,  with  other  pieces,  he  required  the  ampulla.  Yet  as  'Smith's  Dictionary' 
says: 

'  More  commonly  the  word  denotes  a  vessel  used  for  holding  consecrated  oil  or 
chrism.  Optatus  Milevitanus  tells  us  that  an  "  ampulla  chrismatis,"  thrown  from  a 
window  by  the  Donatists,  i-emained  unbroken.  ...  By  far  the  most  renowned  am- 
pulla of  this  kind  is  that  which  is  said  to  have  been  brought  by  a  dove  from  heaven 
at  the  baptism  of  Clovis,  and  which  was  used  at  the  coronation  of  the  Frank  kings. 
Hincmar,  in  the  service  which  he  drew  up  for  Chai-les  the  Bold  (840),  speaks  of  this 
heaven-descended  chrism  whence  that  which  he  himself  used  was  derived,  as  if  of  a 


THE  AMPULLA. 


THE  LESSONS   OF   THIS    CUP.  273 

thing  well-known.  Fiodoarcl  (10th  century)  tells  us  that  at  the  baptism  of  Clovis, 
the  clerk  wlio  bore  the  chrism  was  prevented  by  the  crowd  from  reaching  his  proper 
station ;  and  tiiat  when  the  moment  for  unction  arrived,  St.  Remi  raised  his  eyes  to 
heaven  and  prayed,  when  a  white  dove  suddenly  Hew  upon  the  rostrum,  bearing  an 
ampulla  filled  with  chrism  from  heaven.'  '^ 

This  vessel  was  often  of  gold,  silver  or  other  metal,  and  was  hung  over  the 
font  as  well  as  the  altar,  as  in  this  Cup  of  Alba.  The  knowledge  of  these  facts  sets 
aside  the  unnatural  and  forced  notion,  that  the  ancient  Christians  took  candidates 
into  deep  water  for  the  purpose  of  pouring  a  little  on  their  heads  in  lieu  of  immer- 
sion ;  and  that  against  their  own  testimony  to  the  contrary  for  thirteen  hundred 
years.  With  this  glass  fragment  before  his  eyes,  a  man's  common  sense  should  tell 
him  that  no  necessity  could  call  for  hanging  an  inverted  vase  in  this  style  over  the 
head  of  a  baptized  person  in  order  to  pour  from  it  a  little  water  on  the  head,  while 
she  stands  in  very  deep  water,  and  the  baptizing  priest  stands  at  her  side  empty- 
handed.  His  dress  and  nimbus  show  him  to  be  a  sacred  person,  while  his  attitude 
and  outstretched  hand  express  reverence  at  this  falling  unction.  We  have,  indeed, 
records  of  Church  theatricals  in  the  Dark  Ages,  but  few  are  so  ridiculous  as  this 
perfusion  would  be.  Such  a  play  would  not  be  good  pantomime,  but  the  most  sense- 
less of  dumb  shows,  and  witlial  very  full  of  machinery.  While  unction  was  no 
part  of  baptism  as  Christ  ordained  it,  but  was,  as  Bingham  says,  '  an  appendage  to 
baptism,'  yet  it  came  to  be  regarded  as  an  essential  part  of  baptism  ;  and  the  author 
of  the  '  Constitutions'  insists  that  the  anointing  must  be  had  with  oil,  or  ointment,  in 
order  to  participation  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  on  the  part  of  the  immersed. 

A  word  must  be  added,  as  to  the  laying  on  of  the  hand  in  all  these  pictures. 
The  imposition  of  the  hand  is  as  old  as  the  race,  its  signitlcance  resting  on  the  pur- 
pose—that of  healing,  mediation,  investiture  in  office  or  blessing.  Here  it  relates 
to  immersion,  and  of  this  one  act  it  is  symbolic.  Generally  these  pictures  present 
their  finished  subject,  without  the  order  in  which  one  act  consecutively  followed 
another  in  making  up  the  whole.  The  several  parts  are  to  be  taken  in  their  natural 
succession,  as  the  painter  has  given  us  his  finished  ideal.  In  no  other  way  could  he 
give  his  subject  in  repose.  He  cannot  well  give  it  at  an  unfinished  stage  of  the 
baptism,  as  at  the  moment  of  burial  or  when  buried  or  when  rising.  Therefore, 
the  hand  is  laid  on  the  head  either  before  the  candidate  is  bowed  forward  for 
immersion  or  when  it  is  raised  afterward.  In  these  pictures  we  have  both.  Ter- 
tullian's  remark  clears  up  the  whole  matter.  He  says  :  '  A  man  having  been  let  down 
in  water  and  dipped  between  a  few  words  rises  again.  .  .  .  Then  the  hand  is  laid  on 
us,  invoking  and  inviting  the  Holy  Spirit  through  the  Benediction.'  " 

The  accompanying  cuts  give  additional  force  to  this  fact.  That  from  St.  Mark's, 
No.  15,  is  unmistakable,  and  is  evidently  intended  to  give  the  whole  significance  of 
our  baptism  as  well  as  the  facts  of  our  Lord's  baptism.  We  have  John's  ax  laid 
at  the  root  of  the  trees,  and  the  generation  of  Christ's  immersed  followers  repre- 


274 


THE  HAND    ON   TlIK  HEAD. 


sented  by  the  fisli  and  tlie  iu'w-bi.i-ii  i-onvci-t  with  liiin  in  tlie  waters;  both  symbol- 
ical of  the  newly  b(ii-a  to  God,  whatcvn-  their  actual  age.  A  man  of  eighty  just 
brought  to  Christ  is  what  Paul  calls  a  •  new-boi-n  babe  ;'  and  in  the  person  of  a  eon- 
vert  in  the  water,  at  tlie  foot  of  the  angel  who  is  about  to  cover  him  with  a  rol)e, 
we  have  precisely  the  idea  of  Tertullian  :  '  We  snuUler  fishes,  after  the  example  of 
our  Fish,  are  horn  in  the  waters.'  No.  16  is  found  on  the  northern  gate  of  the  Bap- 
tistery of  Parma,  a  bass-relief  sculpture  intended  to  represent  the  baptism  of 
Christ,  as  is  seen  by  the  nimbus  around  the  head  of  the  immersed.  The  waters  of 
the  Jordan  are  thrown  up  into  a  heap,  after  the  style  of  art  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
this  picture  being  attributed  to  the  thirteenth  century. 


^hl9&MJ"Pj5lHV 


71>Tt 


W-- 


M^ 

pi 

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'    ^ 

MARKS    ROME 


In  seven  out  of  the  eight  pictures  used  here,  where  the  baptized  are  standing 
in  the  water,  the  hand  of  the  baptizer  is  laid  upon  the  head ;  the  only  exception 
being  that  of  St.  John,  Ravenna,  where  John  is  anointing  our  Lord.  Even  in  the 
Arian  Mosaic,  where  the  Dove  is  anointing  Christ,  John's  hand  is  laid  on  his  head 
to  indicate  the  finished  immersion.  But  the  highest  authorities  on  these  w^orks  of 
Christian  art  tell  us,  that  the  hand  on  the  head  of  the  person  in  the  water  is  the 
sign  of  immersion.  Beltrasni,  of  Eavenna,  says  of  John's  hand  on  Christ's  head  in 
the  Arian  Mosaic :  '  The  priest  placed  his  hand  fully  upon  the  head  of  the  candidate 
while  in  the  water ;  and  thus  by  three  immersions  and  rapid  emersions  the  baptism 
was  complete."  "  Bottari  states  that  '  The  hand  is  placed  on  the  head  to  indicate 
immersion.' "=  The  'Apostolic  Constitutions'  require  'The  priest  to  lay  his  hand 
upon  the  head  of  the  candidate,  dipping  him  three  times.'  Garrucci  in  his  history 
of  '  Christian  Art '  says :  '  That  the  laying  on  of  the  hand  was  customary  and  of 
special  moment  in  immersion.'  "  Cardinal  Colonna  writes :  '  The  Catechumens, 
without  clothing,  descended  into  the  water  of  the  baptistery,  and  were  there  immersed 
three  times ;  the  priest  accompanying  the  act  w-ith  his  hand,  and  invoking  at  each 
immersion  the  name  of  one  of  the  persons  of  the  Holy  Trinity.'  '*  And  De  Eossi 
warns  us  that  '  We  ought  not  to  confound  the  imposition  of  the  right  hand  with 
which  the  ministrant  accompanies  the  immersion  of  the  candidate  with   wliat  the 


THE   CONCLUSION.  275 

bishop  does  in  tlie  case  of  the  neopliyto,  as  he  emerges  from  the  water,  and  is  clotlicd 
in  white  at  the  confirmation.'  "  Thus,  tliese  and  other  adepts,  not  one  of  tliem  Bap- 
tists, bring  daylight  from  tlie  Catacombs,  bearing  vohintary  and  unbiased  witness 
against  tlieir  own  practice  as  aspersionists. 

There  are  many  more  early  pictures  of  baptism  besides  these,  amongst  them  a 
notable  one  of  a  king  and  queen  in  a  baptistery,  each  wearing  a  royal  crown,  sup- 
posed to  represent  their  majesties  of  Lombardy,  immersed  about  A.  D.  590.  All, 
however,  bear  the  same  line  of  interpretation,  and  all  the  reliable  authorities  declare 
that  their  interpretation  is  found  in  immersion.  Then  these  two  things  are  quite 
as  remarkable  in  confirmation  of  its  correctness,  namely :  1.  That  in  none  of  the 
Catacomb  pictures  is  John  found  pouring  any  thing  on  Christ's  head,  as  his  anoint- 
ing was  ascribed  to  God  directly.  We  have  the  earliest  instance  of  this  in  the  Raven- 
nian  Mosaic  of  A.  D.  450,  when  oil  was  universally  used  ujion  the  baptized.  2.  AVe 
have  no  case  in  the  Catacombs  of  any  one  dipping  a  babe  in  water,  or  of  one  hold- 
ing a  babe  in  the  arms,  pouring  or  sprinkling  water  upon  him.  All  are  adults,  and 
all  are  standing  their  full  height  in  the  water  ;  while  we  have  many  inscriptions  to 
deceased  infants  and  some  pictures  of  children,  amongst  them  that  of  Jesus  bless- 
ing children,  given  in  this  work.  But  in  no  case  is  there  the  least  sign  of  water  in 
connection  with  them  suggesting  baptism.  Even  where  our  Lord  blesses  the  child, 
they  both  stand  on  dry  land,  the  little  one  at  his  side.  This  silence,  under  all  the 
circumstances,  is  suggestive  without  the  weight  of  historical  testimony ;  and  as  a 
negative,  it  hints  broadly  in  confirmation  of  its  opposite  positive. 

It  is  believed  that  while  the  foregoing  suggestions  are  not  intended  to  be  inter- 
pretations of  the  pictures  given,  they  are  in  harmony  with  the  teaching  and  practice 
of  the  earlier  centuries,  as  their  literature  shows  abundantly.  That  this  teaching 
and  practice  varied  from  New  Testament  injunction  and  example  is  not  to  the  point. 
The  crude  and  even  ridiculous  notions  embodied  in  these  pictures  were  seriously 
entertained  by  those  who  executed  them,  and  they  all  go  to  show  that  the  practice 
of  those  ages  was  in  harmony  with  that  of  the  Baptists  of  our  own  times,  in  so  far 
as  that  the  radical  idea  of  baptism  was  that  of  the  burial  of  the  body  in  water. 
None  of  the  archseologists,  historians  or  interpreters  here  cited  are  Baptists,  but 
chiefly  they  are  Catholics  and  antiquarians  of  great  note,  who  have  given  the  result 
of  their  researches  simply  as  antiquarians  and  not  as  biblical  critics  or  theologians. 
Their  testimony  bears  every  mark  of  candor  and  is  entitled  to  great  weight. 


CHAPTER    IX. 


THE    T-WELFTH    CENTURY. 


THIS  was  tlie  iron  i\>j^L\  in  whiuli  tliu  Cliurcli  sk'})t  her  iron  sleep.  Yet  it  was 
a  cardinal  era,  as  when  the  first  spike  of  light  darts  across  an  arctic  skj  to 
break  the  night  and  herald  the  revolutionary  day.  Stagnation  awoke  the  soul  of 
the  age  by  its  very  oppression,  and  it  half  resolved  to  be  free.  The  Crusades  had 
opened  the  sluices  of  vice,  ecclesiasticism  sat  drunk  on  the  throne  of  night,  and  the 
Archbishop  of  Narbonne  said  that  '  St.  Peter's  boat  was  sinking.'  At  this  moment 
Abelard  caught  the  breaking  dawn.  He  represented  the  free  thought  which  the 
Crusaders  had  brought  back  with  them,  and  helped  to  loosen  the  bands  of  tradition 
by  pointing  out  the  contradictions  of  the  Fathers ;  ridiculing  the  current  notion  that 
Christ's  death  was  a  ransom  paid  to  the  devil,  and  warmly  rebuking  immorality  in 
peasant,  priest,  prelate  and  prince.  Admiring  youth  thronged  the  presence  of 
this  brilliant  philosopher,  whether  in  the  wilderness  of  Troyes  or  the  University 
of  Paris.  His  severity  and  originality  stirred  the  opposition  of  the  dull,  the  narrow- 
minded  and  the  vile,  and  Bernard  accused  him  of  heresy.  Bernard  himself 
bewailed  the  depravity  of  the  priests,  but  still  was  a  captive  to  the  superstitions  of 
the  age.  Some  of  the  popes  honestly  sought  to  reform  the  Catholic  Church,  while 
Gregory  VII.  abolished  the  sale  of  holy  offices  and  checked  concubinage  in  the  clergy. 
Another  new  idea  of  the  times  was  to  encourage  the  rise  of  great  cities.  They 
became  indejjendent  friends  of  light  and  supported  better  government.  Those  of 
Xorthern  Italv  and  Southern  France  di'cw  to  them   various  Oi'iental  sects,  many  of 


THE  CATHAIil.  277 

tlieiii  •  iniiv  '  men,  ('()in]iare(l  witli  tliosc  gunei-Mlly  seen  ;  j)r()iiiineiit  ainoiij^st  these 
were  Ciitliarists  from  Bulgaria  and  'i'liraee.  These  strangers  brought  with  them 
many  false  doctrines,  but  they  rejected  popular  vices,  the  authority  of  pope  and 
bishop,  and  studied  the  New  Testament.  The  fairest  civilization  of  the  Middle 
Ages  arose  where  they  flourished.  In  a  certain  and  important  sense  Abelard,  Ber- 
nard and  Gregory,  with  the  Crusaders  and  Cathari,  all  worked  together.  And 
contrary  to  popular  supposition,  Tanchelyn  was  helping  them  by  preaching  in  the 
streets  of  Antwerp  and  Utrecht,  while  Peter  of  Bruis  was  drawing  men  to  Christ 
between  the  Rhone  and  the  Alps.  These  two  were  as  heartily  hated  by  the  priests  as 
they  were  beloved  by  the  i^eople,  and  such  was  the  influence  of  the  man  of  God 
in  Holland  that  for  twelve  years  the  mass  had  not  been  celebrated  in  many  places 
where  he  preached.  Tanchelyn  went  to  Rome  with  much  the  same  result  as  Luther, 
four  centuries  later.  On  his  return  he  was  imprisoned  at  Cologne  by  order  of  the 
archbishop,  but  by  the  aid  of  a  smith,  a  disciple,  he  escaped.  Afterward  he  was 
slain  by  a  treacherous  priest.  He  held  that  tlie  P)ililL"  is  the  only  guide,  Christ  the 
only  head  of  the  Church,  with  no  mass  and  no  infant  baptism.  These  doctrines 
survived  him,  were  2:)reached  by  his  successor,  Everwacher,  and  the  after  suscept- 
ibility of  the  Netherlands  to  Baptist  principles  has  some  connection  with  his  early 
sowing.  The  several  sects  of  the  Cathari  hold  a  close  afiinity  to  our  subject,  and 
we  must  now  present  a  cursory  view  of  this  interesting  people. 

The  Cathari  ('the  pure')  have  been  the  subjects  of  much  confusion  in  ecclesi- 
astical history,  largely  in  consequence  of  classing  many  and  widely  difiEerent  sects 
under  that  general  name,  both  amongst  ancient  and  modern  writers,  whether 
Catholic  or  Protestant.  The  latter  have  been  too  ready  to  hail  all  dissidents  from 
Rome  by  that  name  as  welcome  simply  because  they  were  dissenters,  the  Catholics 
as  cheerfulh'  consigning  all  these  to  anathema  for  the  same  reason,  witli  l»ut  little 
distinction.  In  truth,  with  few  exceptions,  all  have  dealt  in  this  wllok■^ale  distri- 
bution, instead  of  examining  each  sect  and  candidly  assigning  it  to  its  true  place  in 
the  long  list  of  sects,  which  have  been  so  designated.  For  the  purposes  of  general 
description,  Schmidt  designates  the  Cathari  as  '  a  dualistic  sect  which  originated  in 
Eastern  Europe,  independently  of  the  Manichasans  aud  Paulicians,  but  from  the 
same  source — an  intermingling  of  European  and  Asiatic  ideas.'  He  thinks  that 
thej'  originated  in  Bulgaria,  from  whence  they  spread  into  Thrace,  where  they  were 
known  as  Bogomiles,  then  into  Dalmatia  and  Slavonia,  till  merchants  brought  the 
heresy  to  Italy,  and  the  Crusaders  to  France  ;  and  so  Flanders,  Sicily  and  other 
countries  became  thoroughly  infected  therewith.  But  the  sects  into  which  the 
Cathari  soon  split  became  almost  too  numerous  to  mention  here,  each  one  of  them 
retaining  more  or  less  of  the  original  leaven  ;  but  some  being  popularly  so  known 
while  they  had  nothing  whatever  in  common  with  the  original  system,  which  was 
very  pernicious.  To  call  them  all  Cathari  in  that  sense,  therefore,  is  a  simple 
slander  pinned  n\n>\\  them  \>\  theii-  fues. 


278  BO  GO  MILKS. 

The  generally  received  opiniuns  amongst  them  were  far  enough  removed  from 
the  Gospel,  running  all  the  way  from  absolute  dualism,  with  its  fantastic  mythology 
and  its  wild  fancy,  up  to  a  semi-gosjiel  standard  of  morality  and  even  spirituality,  if 
intense  asceticism  can  be  so  called.  They  were  decidedly  anticlerical,  and  yet  their 
organization  was  strictly  aristocratic,  having  one  order  of  teaching  for  the  masses 
and  another  for  tlie  privileged;  all  being  known  respectively  as  '  and /'tores,'' 
^  cndtntcv"  and  'dceti''  Their  views  of  Christ  led  them  to  deny  his  iucar- 
iiatiou  and  resurrection  ;  they  denied  tlie  necessity  of  baptism  proper,  substituting 
for  it  the  imjxisition  of  hands,  wliicii  they  held  to  l)e  the  true  spiritual  baptism ; 
they  also  refused  to  eat  all  kinds  of  procreated  food,  and  discouraged,  if  they  did  not 
disallow,  marriage.  But  at  the  same  time  they  considered  relics,  images,  crosses 
and  even  material  sanctuaries  as  odious  and  the  work  of  Satan,  because  men  had 
come  to  adore  them. 

The  BoGOMiLES  were  a  branch  of  the  Cathari.  Herzog  thinks  that  they  took 
their  name  from  a  Bulgarian  Bisliop  of  the  tenth  century,  that  they  were  an  off- 
shoot from  the  Paulicians,  and  says  that  they  abounded  in  the  Bulgarian  city  of 
Philippopolis.  They  were  condemned  as  heretics  and  suffered  great  persecution. 
Basil,  one  of  their  leaders,  was  l)urnt  in  Constantinople  in  1118,  before  the  gates 
of  St.  Sophia.  The  Paulicians  of  Bulgaria  furnislied  the  Cathari  of  Southern 
Fi'anee.  Gibbon  thinks  that  they  found  their  way  there  eitlier  by  passing  up  the 
Danube  into  Germany  or  through  Venice  in  the  channels  of  commerce,  or  through 
the  imperial  garrisons  sent  by  the  Greek  Emperor  into  Italy.  But  come  as  they 
might,  we  find  them  at  Orleans  A.  D.  1025,  in  tlie  Netherlands  1035  and  in  Turin 
1051.  About  lialf  a  century  later  banishment  from  their  own  country  drove  them 
in  great  numbers  to  the  west,  and  they  appeared  plentifully  at  Treves  and  Soissons, 
in  Champagne  and  Flanders.  Their  teachings  soon  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
priests,  the  peasantry,  and  even  the  nobles.  Their  followers  became  so  numerous 
as  to  demand  condemnation  by  the  Council  of  Toulouse,  1119,  and  that  of  Tours, 
1163.  But  despite  excommunications  and  curses,  they  so  grew  that  in  1167  they 
held  a  council  of  their  own  and  openly  formulated  their  faith  and  ecclesiastical 
order,  which  they  stoutly  held,  against  both  the  Roman  hierarchy  and  the  secular 
power  for  almost  a  century.     Another  branch  of  the  Cathari  is  found  in 

The  Albigenses.  They  arose  in  Southern  France  early  in  the  eleventh 
century  and  were  first  known  as  Publicani ;  but  at  last  took  their  name  from 
the  city  of  Albi,  the  center  of  the  Albigeois  district.  They  were  first  called  Al- 
bigenses hy  Stephen  Borbone,  1225.  It  is  difficult  to  get  at  their  exact  tenets 
and  practices,  but  they  were  generally  numbered  with  the  Catliari,  and  had  many 
things  in  common  with  other  sects  so  known.  They  rejected  the  Eomish  Church, 
and  esteemed  the  New  Testament  above  all  its  traditions  and  ceremonies.  They 
did  not  take  oaths,  nor  believe  in  baptismal  regeneration;  but  they  were  ascetic 
and  pure   in   their  lives  ;   they   also  exalted  celibacy.     They  increased    so   rapidly 


THEIR  SLAV  OUTER.  279 

tliat  tliov  di'ove  tlic  Catliolic  priests  from  tliuir  churclies,  of  wliicli  they  took 
j)ii.ssessioii,  forming  schools  and  congregations  of  their  own.  They  made  the  Cath- 
olic Chnrcli  an  object  of  contempt,  the  nobility  heading  the  movement,  and 
tliey  also  formed  their  own  synod  ;  four  different  Catholic  Councils  condemned 
them,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  Bernard  tried  to  reclaim  them,  and  various  dis- 
putations were  had  with  them  ;  but  in  1180  Cardinal  Henry  commenced  a  crusade 
against  them  with  the  sword.  Much  carnage  followed.  One  crusade  succeeded 
another.  Innocent  III.  offered  the  prelates  and  nobles  all  the  blessings  of  the 
Church  for  the  use  of  their  sword  and  the  possessions  of  the  heretics  as  an  addi- 
tional reward.  Their  own  prince,  Count  Kaymond  VI.,  was  compelled  to  slaughter 
his  subjects,  and  the  popr  suinmuiicd  tlu'  King  of  Northern  France  with  all  his 
nobles  to  the  same  bloody  work.  Half  a  million  of  men  w-ere  gathered,  four  Arch- 
bishops joined  the  invaders  with  twelve  Bishops  and  countless  nobles.  Towns  were 
sacked,  seven  castles  surrendered  to  the  pojjc,  and  five  hundred  villages,  cities  and 
fortresses  fell. 

Barons,  knights,  counts  and  soldiery  Hocked  like  eagles  to  the  prey  fi'om  all 
directions.  Their  superstition  was  fed  by  the  promise  of  two  years'  remission  of 
penance,  and  all  the  indulgences  granted  to  the  invaders  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher; 
and  their  cupidity  was  fired  by  the  tender  of  the  goods  and  lands  of  the  heretics,  as 
well  as  the  right  to  reduce  them  to  Mohammedan  slavery.  They  followed  the  lead 
of  Arnaud,  the  legate  of  the  Holy  See,  bearing  the  cross  and  pilgrims'  staves,  from 
the  adjacent  countries,  French,  German,  Flemish,  Norman.  They  first  attacked 
Beziers,  which  was  strongly  fortified  and  garrisoned ;  but  it  was  taken  by  storm 
and  thirty  thousand  were  slain.  Seven  thousand  had  taken  refuge  iu  the  Church 
of  St.  Magdalene,  and  the  monk  Peter  tells  us  with  the  most  ferocious  coldness 
that  they  '  killed  women  and  children,  old  men,  young  men,  priests,  all  without  dis- 
tinction.' There  were  many  Catholics  iu  the  town,  and  the  '  Holy  Legate '  was  asked 
how  these  should  be  spared,  when  he  commanded  :  '  Kill  them  all,  God  will  know  his 
own  ! '  Lest  a  heretic  should  escape  they  piled  all  iu  an  indiscriminate  heap,  and  the 
Chronicle  of  St.  Denis  gives  the  whole  number  as  sixty  thousand.  After  Beziers 
had  fallen,  July  22,  1209,  Carcassone  was  invested.  There  Count  Roger,  the 
nephew  of  Raymond,  was  inveigled  under  the  pretense  of  safe-conduct  and  a  treat- 
ing for  peace  out  of  the  city  into  the  enemies'  camp  and  by  treachery  was  made  a 
prisoner  as  a  heretic.  When  his  men  found  their  captain  gone  they  retreated  by  a 
private  passage,  the  great  city  fell,  and  its  captain  died  in  a  dungeon,  as  the  pope 
expresses  it,  '  miserably  slain  at  tlie  last.'  The  French  barons  agreed  that  any  for- 
tress which  refused  to  sun-ender  on  demand,  but  resisted,  should  when  captured 
find  every  man  put  to  the  sword  in  cold  blood  by  the  cross-bearers,  that  horror  might 
appall  every  heart  iu  the  land.  Their  own  historian  says :  '  They  could  not  have 
dealt  worse  with  them  than  they  did  ;  they  massacred  them  all,  even  those  who  had 
taken  refuge  in  the  cathedral ;  nothing  could  save  them,  nor  cross,  nor  crucifix,  nor 


280  BAPTIST.S   AT   COLOGNE. 

altars.  Tlio  scoundruls  killed  the  jjriests,  the  women,  the  infants,  not  one,  I  l>elieve, 
escaped.'  Eiglit  hundred  nobles  were  either  hanged  or  hewn  to  pieces,  and  four 
hundred  heretics  were  burnt  in  one  pile. 

The  story  of  this  murdered  people  for  about  half  a  century  is  heart-sickening 
in  the  extreme.  They  held  many  errors  of  the  head,  but  no  ])rince  ever  ruled  over 
grander  subjects.  They  were  far  advanced  in  refinement,  and  were  high-toned  in 
morality.  Their  record  is  the  brightest,  briefest  and  bloodiest  in  the  annals  of  pious, 
persecuting  deviltry.  It  begins  in  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  was  blot- 
ted out  before  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth.  It  is  a  short,  swift  stream  of  gore 
mingling  with  their  mountain  torrents,  but  more  romantic  than  their  Alps.  If  the 
eternal  snow  and  ice  had  not  turned  these  eternally  pale,  the  frozen  steel  of  St. 
Dominic  had  chilled  them  forever,  when  the  pravity  of  his  infernal  machine  made 
them  witnesses  of  a  rushing  destruction,  without  parallel  in  human  villainy. 

Amongst  the  Cathari,  however,  we  find  a  Baptist  body  at  Cologne  and  Bonn. 
Whence  they  came  we  are  not  informed  ;  but  they  appeared  in  1146,  and  Evervin 
gives  a  full  account  of  them  in  M-riting  to  J5ernard,  of  whom  he  seeks  aid  in  their 
su^jpression.  He  says  that  they  had  been  recently  discovered,  and  that  two  of  them 
had  openly  opposed  the  Catholic  clergy  and  laity  in  their  assembly  ;  the  archbishop 
and  nobles  being  present.  The  '  lieretics '  asked  for  a  day  of  disputation,  when 
re-enforced  by  certain  of  their  number  they  would  maintain  their  doctrines  from 
Christ  and  the  Apostles ;  and  unless  they  were  properly  answered  they  would  rather 
die  than  give  up  their  principles.  Upon  this  they  were  seized  and  burnt  to  death. 
Evervin  expresses  his  astonishment  that  they  endured  the  torment  of  the  stake  not 
only  with  patience,  hut  with  joy  ;  and  asks  how  these  members  of  Satan  could  suffer 
with  such  constancy  and  courage  as  M'ere  seldom  found  amongst  the  most  godly. 
He  then  describes  their  heresy. 

They  professed  to  be  the  true  Church,  because  they  followed  Christ  and  pat- 
terned after  the  Apostles  ;  they  sought  no  secular  gain  or  earthly  property,  but  were 
the  poor  in  Christ,  while  the  Eoman  Church  made  itself  rich.  They  accounted 
themselves  as  sheep  amongst  wolves,  fleeing  from  city  to  city,  enduring  persecution 
with  the  ancient  martyrs,  although  they  were  living  laborious,  holy  and  self-deny- 
ing lives.  They  charged  their  persecutors  with  being  false  apostles,  with  adulterating 
the  word  of  God,  with  self-seeking,  and  the  pope  with  corrupting  the  Apostle 
Peter's  chair.  He  says :  '  They  do  not  hold  the  baptism  of  infants,  alleging  that 
passage  of  the  Gospel,  "  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved."  '  They 
rejected  the  intercession  of  saints,  and  they  called  all  observances  in  the  Church 
which  Christ  had  not  established  superstitions.  They  denied  the  doctrine  of  pur- 
gatorial fire  after  death,  and  believed  that  when  men  die  they  go  immediately  to 
heaven  or  to  hell.  He  therefore  beseeches  the  'holy  father'  to  direct  his  pen 
against '  these  wild  beasts,'  and  to  help  him  to  '  resist  these  monsters.'  He  then  says, 
some  of  them  '  Tell  us  that  they  had  great  numbers  of  their  persuasion  scattered 


TUEIR    PKIiSECL'TIOXS.  281 

almost  every-wlu're,  aiul  tluit  anunigst  tlieiu  wuru  iiuuiy  uf  oiii-  clergy  and  iiiouks. 
And  as  for  those  who  were  burnt,  they  in  the  defense  they  made  for  themselves 
told  us  that  this  heresy  had  been  concealed  from  the  time  of  the  martyrs — and  that 
it  had  existed  in  Greece  and  other  countries.'  All  this  he  evidently  believed.  But 
Manichaeism  had  not  been  '  concealed  from  the  time  of  the  martyrs : '  for  his  pre- 
decessors had  openly  contended  with  it  every-where.  This  heresy  M-as  a  discovery 
of  another  sort  to  the  provost  of  Steinfeld. 

This  letter  aroused  Bernard,  who  opened  his  batteries  upon  the  '  wild  beasts '  in 
his  '  Sermons  on  Solomon's  Song.'  He  is  especially  bitter  toward  them  because  they 
despised  infant  baptism ;  is  virulent  because  they  refused  to  take  oaths  and  observed 
secrecy  in  their  Christian  rites ;  and  lays  several  serious  things  to  their  charge, 
although  he  professes  to  know  but  little  about  them.  And  then  his  little  knowledge 
of  them  obliges  him  to  bless  whom  he  would  fain  curse ;  for  he  says :  '  If  you  ask 
them  of  their  faith,  nothing  can  be  more  Christian ;  if  you  observe  their  conversa- 
tion, nothing  can  be  more  blameless ;  and  what  they  speak  they  prove  by  deeds. 
You  may  see  a  man  for  the  testimony  of  his  faith  frequent  the  church,  honor  the 
elders,  offer  his  gift,  make  his  confession,  receive  the  sacrament.  What  more  like  a 
Christian?  As  to  life  and  manners,  he  circumvents  no  man,  over-reaches  no  man, 
and  does  violence  to  no  man.  He  fasts  much  and  eats  not  the  bread  of  idleness,  but 
works  with  his  hands  for  his  support.  The  whole  body,  indeed,  are  rustic  and  illit- 
erate, and  all  whom  I  have  known  of  this  sect  are  very  ignorant.'  And  so  he  '  mar- 
veled,' as  others  in  the  Apostolic  times  had  at  the  same  things. 

'  This  sect,'  says  Herzog,  '  lived  on  in  the  regions  along  the  Rhine,  especially  in 
Cologne  and  Bonn.'  But  it  was  terribly  persecuted.  ...  In  1163  several  of  them 
were  burnt,  after  the  Canon  Echbert  had  tried  in  vain  to  convert  them.  This  monk  was 
sent  to  preach  to  death  all  who  had  escaped  the  stake.  His  sermons  survive  to  this 
day,  and  in  their  dedication  to  Reginald  Archbishop  of  Cologne  he  rehearses  his 
disputes  with  '  these  monsters,'  and  tells  many  things  which  he  had  learned  about 
them,  in  part  by  torture  and  the  threat  of  death.  But  his  statements  do  not  hold 
together.  He  evinces  confusion,  if  not  bewilderment,  in  his  attempt  to  understand 
their  tenets.  Like  most  of  the  Catholic  witnesses,  he  fell  into  the  temptation  of 
tracing  this  particular  heresy  to  some  of  the  old  and  proscribed  '  heretics,'  which 
carried  disgrace  with  it,  and  so  challenged  the  hatred  of  men  and  covered  the  new 
'  heretics '  with  obloquy.  Hence,  in  his  thirteen  sermons,  he  labors  hard  to  fasten 
upon  them  the  faith  and  practices  of  the  Manichseans;  for  with  most  of  his  brethren, 
he  was  afflicted  with  Manichaeism  on  the  brain  whenever  he  scented  heresy.  He 
construes  their  observance  of  the  Supper  into  a  'mere  evasion,'  and  takes  the  word 
of  an  apostate  from  them,  who  says  that  they  denied  the  birth  of  Christ,  his  proper 
human  flesh  and  his  real  death  and  resurrection ;  teaching  that  all  these  were  but 
a  simulation.  He  would  have  us  believe  that  they  renounced  water  baptism  alto- 
gethei',  substituting  therefor  the  Consolamentum ;  and  then  takes  particulai'  pains  to 


UOXK/S/r   PRKA  CIUNO. 


tell  lis  that  tlifir  principal  ruasoii  i'ui 
incapacity  to  receive  it,  aud  so,  that 
cise  of  faith.  He  adds,  that  they  wt 
all  with  Cathari,  'a  sort  of  poo];ik''  ' 


ilciu  iiii;-  liaptir^ni  to  infants,  was  found  in  tlii'ir 
[  ^lluuld  lie  deferred  till  they  came  to  the  exer- 
f  divided  into  several  sects,  yet  he  classes  them 
lioni  lie  prdiii^unees  "very  pernicious  to  the 


Catholic  faith,  which,  like  moths,  thuy  coi'ru|)t  and  destroy.'  Gieseler  shows  that 
they  rejected  infant  baptism, because  baptism  should  be  administered  only  to  believers.' 
This  zealous  monk  betrays  the  entire  animus  of  his  denunciation  of  these  Cologne 
Baptists,  when  he  says  of  them  that  they  sustained  their  positions  by  the  authority 
of  Scripture.  '  They  are  armed  with  the  words  of  the  Holy  Scripture  which  in 
any  way  serin    t..    fin..)-  tlieii^  ,-eiitiiiient>.   nnd   with  tlin^e  win.  kno^\•  how  to  defend 


P"^' 


their  errors,  and  to  oppose  the  Catholic  truth  ;  though  in  reality  they  are  wholly 
ignorant  of  the  true  meaning  couched  in  those  words,  and  which  cannot  be  discov- 
ered without  great  judgment.' 

In  1231  Konrad  of  Marburg,  a  fanatical  Donuniean  monk,  led  a  terrible  per- 
secution against  this  sect,  and  little  is  heard  of  them  in  Germany  afterwai-d.  It  is 
very  likely  that  the  band  of  thirty  martyrs,  of  wdioni  Milner,  Dr.  Henry  and 
William  of  Newbury  speak,  were  of  this  body.  They  tell  us  that  in  1159  thirty 
men  and  women  who  spoke  German  reached  England,  and  for  their  religious  prin- 
ciples and  practices  were  arraigned  before  a  Council  of  clergy  at  O.xford.  They 
were  found  guilty  of  incorrigible  heresy,  and  Henry  II.  ordered  their  foreheads 
branded  with  a  red-hot  iron ;  they  were  to  be  whip])ed  through  the  streets  of  the 
city,  their  clothes  to  be  cut  off  at  their  girdles,  and  then  to  be  turned  into  the 
open  fields,  all  persons   being  forbidilen  to  give  them  shelter  or  relief.     This  was 


THE  PETROnRVsTANS.  283 

111  tlic  deptli  of  winter,  and  every  one  of  tlieiii  peri^lieil  witli  liuiiyer  and  cold. 
Tliese  appear  to  have  been  tlie  first  heretics  deliberately  murdered  in  England,  for 
wliat  Newbury  calls  '  detesting  lioly  baptism '  as  j^-acticed  by  Rome.  The  dates 
and  general  facts  suggest  tliese  as  the  victims  of  German  persecution,  for  Echbert 
says  of  the  Cologne  Baptists:  'They  are  increased  in  great  multitudes  throughout 
all  countries,  to  the  great  danger  of  tlie  Church,  for  their  words  eat  like  a  canker, 
and,  like  a  flying  leprosy,  run  every  way,  infecting  the  precious  nieiubers  of  Christ. 
These  in  our  Germany  we  call  Cathari ;  in  Flanders  they  call  them  Pipiiles ;  in 
French,  Tisserands,  from  the  art  of  weaving,  because  numbers  of  them  are  of  that 
occupation.' 

The  term  Cathari  has  also  been  applied  to  another  thoroughly  Baptist  sect, 
which  arose  in  the  very  dawn  of  the  century :  the  Petrobrusians.  Their  leader 
was  the  great  reformer,  Peter  of  Bruis.  In  order  to  prevent  confusion,  it  may  be 
well  here  to  define  what  is  meant  by  the  term  '  Baptist,'  when  used  to  characterize 
one  of  these  historical  bodies.  A  Pedobaptist  is  one  who  baptizes  babes.  An  Auti- 
pedobaptist  is  one  who  rejects  the  baptism  of  babes.  But  this  does  not  of  neces- 
sity make  him  a  Baptist ;  for  the  Paulicians,  Cathari,  Albigenses,  and  in  fact  the 
modern  Quakers,  all  cast  infant  baptism  aside,  but  administered  no  baptism  at  all. 
Hence  all  these  have  rejected  the  baptism  of  babes  as  a  matter  of  course,  but  we 
cannot,  for  that  reason,  number  them  with  Baptists.  An  '  Anabaptist '  is  one  who 
baptizes  again  for  any  reason.  The  Novatians  and  Donatists  were  '  Anabaptists,' 
and  reimmersed  those  who  came  to  them  from  the  Catholics.  At  the  same  time 
the  Catholics  w-ere  '  Anabaptists,'  when  they  reimmersed  those  who  came  to  them 
from  what  they  called  the  heretical  bodies.  They  were  therefore  Pedobaptists 
and  '  Anabaptists '  at  the  same  time.  But  a  Baptist  proper,  in  modern  parlance,  is 
one  who  rejects  the  baptism  of  babes  under  all  circumstances,  and  who  immerses 
none  but  those  who  personally  confess  Christ  under  any  circumstances ;  and  those 
W'ho  are  thus  properly  immersed  upon  their  faith  in  Christ,  we  have  a  right  to 
claim  in  history  as  Baptists  to  that  extent,  but  no  further. 

For  this  reason  we  cannot  honestly  claim  several  of  the  Cathari  sects  as  Baptists, 
simply  because  volumes  might  be  filled  with  reliable  evidence  to  show  that  they 
hated  infant  baptism  with  downright  hatred.  They  opposed  it  with  all  their  might 
and  even  ridiculed  it  as  an  unmeaning  ceremony,  which  they  classed  with  images, 
prayer  for  the  dead,  purgatory  and  such  other  gear.  Often,  indeed,  they  were 
obliged  to  have  their  babes  immersed  by  the  Roman  priests,  because  the  civil  as 
well  as  the  ecclesiastical  law  of  the  land  in  which  they  lived  laid  them  under  griev- 
ous penalties  for  refusing.  But  as  a  moral  institution  they  treated  it  with  con- 
tempt, as  thousands  who  are  not  Baptists  now  do.  Yet  what  were  their  views  of 
the  immersion  of  believers  in  water  ?  Many  of  them  knew  but  little  about  it ;  they 
had  never  seen  a  believer  immersed.  The  baptism  of  babes  enforced  by  the  civil 
power  had  well-nigh  driven  it  from  nominal  Cliristiau  countries,  made  so  by  the 


stroll j^  clutch  of  1 

aw.     Til 

this  was  uiil;iwl'ii 

,1.     !),■,, 

thfiii  into  QiKik( 

■risin,  in 

tlM'v   railed    it,    i 

n    tliu  C 

Bcrihc^  it  tliiis: 

A    QUKER   NOTION. 

■uiijil  not  be  inmiersud  if  they  would,  us  believers;  for 
d  <il'  this  right,  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  law  drove 
ntiiij;  tlie  believer  the  subject  of  a  higher  baptism,  as 
olaiiieiituiii.      And   what   was    that  ^      Erinengard    de- 


'When  thcv  wish  to  iin|)art  the  ( 'onsolaiuelitliin  to  any  ni: r  woman,  he  that 

is  called  Greater  and  ordained,  liaving  waslied  his  hands  and  holding  in  his  iiands 
the  book  of  the  ( oispols,  admonishes  hiin  or  them  who  come  to  reeei\-e  tiie  ( 'iniMih 
amentum  that  they  place  their  entire  faith  in  that  Consolamentum.  And  so.  olaeinu  the 
book  on  their  iieads,  they  repeat  the  Lord's  Prayer  seven  times,  and  tlieii  the  <..i~pel 
of  St.  John,  beginning  with  the  words,  "  In  tlie  lieginniiii:'.'"  and  uuing  a-  fai-  a-  tlie 
passage  which  reads,  "Grace  and  truth  throngli  le,-iis  Cliii^i."  'I'lin>  i~  the  ('i.n-ol- 
amentum  completed.  Do  you  ask  by  what  jiersoiis  it  is  admini.-teied  '.  AVe  answer, 
by  those  among  them  who  are  called  the  ordained.  But  if  none  such  be  present, 
there  be  those  who  among  them  are  called  the  Consolatl  (by  them),  it  is  admin- 
istered, and  if  there  be  no  men  present,  even  women  may  administer  it  to  the  sick. 
They  believe  that  by  it  the  remission  of  every  sin  and  the  cleansing  of  every  stain 
is  accomplished,  without  any  satisfactory  penance  whatever,  if  they  die  immediately 
after.  They  say  even  that  no  one,  save  he  who  has  received  that  Consolamentum 
from  the  Consolati,  can  by  any  work,  not  even  by  martyrdom,  nor  if  he  keep  him- 
self as  much  as  possible  from  all  sins  and  faults,  reach  the  heavenly  kingdom.  And 
they  believe  this  also,  that  if  he  who  administers  the  Consolamentum  should  have 
fallen  into  any  of  the  sins  they  call  criminal,  as,  for  example,  to  eat  an  egg,  or  tish, 
or  cheese,  or  to  slay  a  bird,  or  any  animal  save  reptiles,  or  even  into  any  of  the  sins 
the  Koinan  Church  calls  criminal,  then  the  Consolamentum  docs  the  recipients  no 
good.  Nay,  they  hold  the  recipient  should  again  have  it  administered  by  another, 
if  he  desires  to  be  saved.' 

This  account  is  almndantly  sustained  by  indisputable  evidence.  And  this  so- 
called  'spiritual  baptism  '  was  administered  because  they  cast  aside  material  water 
as  'evil'  or  'corrupt,'  while  the  Romish  Church  immersed  therein.  How  can  we 
count  such  people  as  Baptists,  wliatever  their  views  of  infant  baptism  may  have 
been  ?  So  far  as  the  question  of  baptizing  babes  was  concerned,  they  were  Anti- 
pedobaptists ;  and  so  far  as  immersion  in  water  was  concerned,  the  liomanists  were 
bettei-  Baptists  than  they. 

In  the  Petrobrusians  we  find  a  sect  of  Baptists  for  which  no  apology  is  needed. 
Peter  of  Bruis  seized  the  entire  Biblical  presentation  of  baptism,  and  forced  its 
teaching  home  upon  the  conscience  and  the  life,  by  rejecting  the  immersion  of 
babes  and  insisting  on  the  immersion  of  all  believers  in  Christ,  without  any  admix- 
ture of  Catharistic  nonsense.  He  was  a  converted  priest,  it  is  believed  a  pupil  of 
Abelard,  brought  to  the  Saviour's  feet  by  reading  the  Bible.  There  he  saw  the 
difference  between  the  Christianity  of  his  day  and  of  that  of  the  Apostles ;  and  he 
resolved  to  devote  his  life  to  the  restoration  of  Gospel  Christianitj',  and  began  his 
work  as  early  as  A.  D.  1104.  He  threw  tradition  to  the  winds  with  the  double 
sense  of  Scripture,  and  took  its  literal  interpretation.  With  tiiis  went  the  doctrine 
of  transubstantiation,   holding  the   Supper  as  a  merely  historical  and   monumental 


VETKR    OF  nnUIS.  288 

act.  IK'  held  the  Chiircli  tube  niado  up  of  regenerated  people  only,  counted  the 
bishops  and  priests  as  he  knew  them,  mere  frauds;  and  cast  aside  all  the  ceremo- 
nial mummeries  of  the  Romish  hierarchy.  He  would  not  adore  images,  oflfer  prayer 
to  or  for  the  dead,  nor  do  penance.  He  laughed  at  tlie  stupidity  which  holds  that  a 
child  is  regenerated  when  baptized,  that  he  can  be  a  member  of  Christ's  flock  when 
he  knows  nothing  of  Christ  as  a  Shepherd,  and  demanded  that  all  who  came  to  his 
churches  should  be  immersed  in  water  on  their  own  act  of  faitli.  Pie  had  no  con- 
troversy on  the  subject  of  immersion  with  the  Romish  priests,  for  they  practiced 
nothing  else  as  the  custom  of  their  Church  in  his  day,  nor  for  a  century  afterward ; 
therefore  no  separate  Baptist  body  was  needed  for  that  reason.  His  great  offense 
was  tliat  he  reimmerscd  those  whom  they  had  immersed  as  Ijubcs  when  they  became 
disciples  iif  Christ  and  were  regenerated  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 

The  chief  testimony  that  we  have  of  him  is  from  Peter  the  Venerable,  the 
Abbot  of  Clugny,  and  a  brief  passage  from  Abelard.  This  Peter,  his  deadly 
opponent,  gives  a  full  account  of  his  doctrines  and  tried  to  crush  him  ;  t)nt, 
singularly  enough,  never  breathed  a  syllable  against  his  ])r;icticc  of  iiuniersing, 
for  that  was  Peter's  own  practice,  only  its  subjects  were  babes.  The  venerable 
monk,  'Maxima  Biblioth.'  (xxii,  1035),  defines  the  views  of  the  Petrobrusians 
precisely  as  M-ould  an  able  Baptist  of  to-day,  and  attempts  to  answer  them  with 
the  exact  stock  arguments  of  1886.  He  says :  '  The  first  article  of  the  here- 
tics denies  that  children  below  the  age  of  reason  can  be  saved  by  the  baptism 
of  Christ ;  and  affirms  that  another's  faith  can  do  those  no  good  who  cannot  yet 
exercise  faith  of  their  own,  since,  according  to  them,  it  is  not  another's  but  one's 
own  faith  which,  together  with  baptism,  saves,  because  the  Lord  said,  "  Whosoever 
believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved."  '  He  makes  them  say  in  another  place, 
'  It  is  an  idle  and  vain  thing  to  plunge  candidates  in  water  at  any  age,  when  ye 
can,  indeed,  after  a  human  manner,  wash  the  flesh  from  impurities,  but  can  by  no 
means  purify  the  soul  from  sins.  But  we  await  an  age  capable  of  faith,  and  after  a 
man  is  prepared  to  acknowledge  God  as  his  and  believe  in  him,  we  do  not,  as  you 
slander  us,  rebajitizc,  but  baptize  him  ;  for  no  one  is  to  be  called  baptized  who  is  not 
washed  with  the  baptism  wherewith  sins  are  washed  away.' 

The  Abbot  stood  side  by  side  with  Bernard  in  his  Biblical  scholarship  and 
mental  force.  They  were  the  leading  defenders  of  the  Catholic  faith  in  France, 
and  threw  themselves  into  the  gap  with  all  their  might  to  defend  her  against  these 
simple  Gospel  Baptists.  Instead  of  bowing  to  our  Lord's  words  as  an  obedient 
disciple,  Peter  indulged  in  this  absurd  reasoning :  '  Has  the  whole  world  been  so 
blinded  and  hitherto  involved  in  such  darkness,  that  to  open  their  eyes  and  break 
up  the  long  night  it  should,  after  so  many  fathers,  martyrs,  popes  and  heads  of  all 
the  Churches,  have  to  wait  so  long  for  you,  and  choose  Peter  of  Bruis  and  Henry, 
his  disciple,  as  exceedingly  recent  apostles,  to  correct  the  long  error  ?  If  this  be 
true,  it  is  manifest  how  great  an  absurdity  follows.     For  then  all  Gaul,  Spain,  Ger- 


286  PETUOnnUSIAN  PRINCIPLES. 

many,  Italy,  yea,  all  Europe,  since  fm-  tln-cc-  Iminlred  years,  yea  for  near  five  hundred 
years,  has  had  no  one  baptized  save  in  inl'aiiry,  has  had  no  Christian.  But  if  it 
has  had  no  Christian,  then  it  has  had  iuj  Cliui'cli.  If  no  Church,  then  no  Christ; 
if  no  Christ,  then  assuredly  they  have  all  perished.'  It  seems  never  to  have 
entered  his  head  that  Christ  was  before  and  al>ove  all  the  fathers,  popes  and 
heads  of  the  Churches;  and  that,  therefore,  tlicy  must  all  obey  him  and  take  the 
consequences  of  their  own  disobedience,  be  tiiey  what  they  might,  rather  than 
nullify  his  law. 

The  Petrobrnsians  were  a  thoroughly  antisacerdotal  sect,  whose  hatred  of 
tyranny  threw  off  the  Roman  yoke  of  the  twelfth  century;  a  democratic  body,  in 
distinction  from  tlie  aristocratic  organizations  both  of  the  Catholics  and  the  Albigenses. 
It  ap]3ears  f  i-om  the  assembly  of  the  lattei-  body,  at  Lbmbei-s,  that  they  had  a  pope  who 
had  come  from  far-off  Bulgai-ia,  and  who  carefully  defined  the  bounds  of  their  vari- 
ous Catharist  bishoprics.  In  that  assembly  also  they  had  warm  contests ;  and  the  names 
of  those  are  given  who  were  exalted  to  episcopal  functions  by  the  forms  of  the  Cou- 
solamentum.  We  have  seen  that  their  numbers  were  very  great  as  a  people,  but  the 
members  of  the  Electi  were  comparatively  few.  Iteiner,  who  had  spent  seventeen  years 
amongst  them,  tells  us  that  'the  Credentes  were  innumerable,'  but  that  the  Electi 
of  both  sexes  did  not  exceed  four  thousand.  This  form  of  aristocracy  well  suited 
the  feudal  cast  of  society  in  that  day,  and  may  explain,  in  part,  why  the  rationalistic 
nobles  and  the  hierarchical  priesthood  so  readily  became  Cathari.  But  the  Petro- 
brnsians were  of  the  common  people,  who  sought  the  Saviour  by  simple  direct- 
ness and  not  through  any  saving  intervention.  They  demanded  the  words  of  Clirist 
in  the  New  Testament  for  every  thing,  and  not  the  traditions  of  an  inner  and 
favored  few.  With  a  quaint  tinge  of  chagrin,  something  after  the  fox-and-grapes 
order,  Peter  the  venerable  abbot  hints  that  his  brother,  Peter  of  Bruis,  refused  to 
immerse  infants  because  he  was  too  lazy  to  perform  the  rite ;  as  if  it  were  easier  to 
dip  overgrown  peasants  in  the  Khone  than  tiny  babes  in  the  fonts.  He  thought, 
also,  that  his  beloved  Baptist  brother  burned  the  crosses  because  it  was  easier  to  do 
that  than  to  worship  them  ;  and  that  he  i-ejected  masses  because  he  was  hardly  paid 
enough  for  saying  them. 

The  Petrobrnsians  were  thoroughly  and  deeply  anti-Catholic  in  all  that  con- 
flicted with  the  Gospel.  While  they  were  Puritanical  they  were  not  ascetic.  They 
abolished  all  fasts  and  penances  for  sin  because  Christ  only  can  forgive  sin,  and 
this  he  does  on  a  sinner's  trust  in  his  merits.  They  held  marriage  as  a  high  and  hon- 
orable relation,  not  only  for  Christians  generally,  but  for  the  priests.  They  denied 
that  the  person  of  Christ  could  be  made  a  sacrifice  on  the  altar,  that  the  chair  of 
the  pope  is  the  chair  of  Peter,  and  that  one  bishop  had  power  to  consecrate  another. 
They  made  void  the  priesthood  of  Eome,  condemned  its  sacraments  as  superstitious, 
and  demanded  that  baptism  be  administered  only  to  believers.  With  them  a  Church 
did  not  mean  an  architectural  structure,  but  a  regenerated  congregation,  nor  had  con- 


rETEU    OF  niiUIS   nUliST.  287- 

secrated  jjlaces  any  cliarni  for  them  :  for  (iod  could  liear  them  as  wfll  in  the  market- 
place as  in  the  temple,  and  loved  them  as  nuich  in  a  barn  as  before  an  altar.  Their 
success  filled  the  Komish  communion  with  alarm.  Peter  of  Bruis  was  little  supe- 
rior in  learning  to  Peter  of  the  Gos]iel ;  but,  like  his  great  predecessor,  he  was  sin- 
cere, earnest  and  eloquent,  and  the  Lord  wrought  mightily  by  his  hand.  Multitudes 
flocked  in  all  directions  to  hear  him  as  a  man  specially  sent  of  God  to  bring  glad 
tidings  of  great  joy.  Soon  his  word  turned  the  dioceses  of  Aries,  Embrun,  Die 
and  Gap  upside  down.  In  their  enthusiasm  the  people  burned  their  images  and 
crucifixes,  some  Catholic  places  of  worship  were  overturned,  and  many  monks  and 
priests  were  handled  very  severely.  On  a  certain  Good  Friday  the  crowd  brought 
all  their  wooden  crosses  and  made  a  bonfire  of  them,  at  which  they  roasted  and 
ate  meat.     Their  venerable  adversary  thus  describes  their  work : 

'The  people  are  ;'<?-baptized.  the  churches  profaned,  the  altars  overthrown,  the 
crosses  burned,  flesh  is  eaten,  even  on  the  day  of  our  Lord's  passion,  priests  are 
whipped,  monks  are  imprisoned,  and  by  terror  and  torture  they  are  compelled  to 
marry  wives.'  If  this  were  true,  the  whipping  and  imprisonment  of  these  helpless 
Romanists  is  very  uii-Baptistic  ;  and  as  to  the  question  of  compulsory  marriages,  the 
abbot  probably  drew  slightly  on  his  imagination,  as  none  but  the  priests  them- 
selves had  the  legal  power  to  celebrate  marriage ;  to  say  nothing  of  taking  their 
wives  under  the  pressure  of  Baptist  ringleaders  whom  they  banished,  and  who 
were  obliged  to  fly  to  Xarbonne  and  Toulouse  for  their  lives.  In  these  places  Peter 
bravely  preached  for  twenty  years,  and  with  great  success.  Besides,  his  doctrine 
spread  not  oidy  through  Provence  and  Dauphine,  but  much  farther  to  the  east.  At 
last,  however,  in  1126,  while  he  was  preaching  at  St.  Gilles,  he  was  suddenly  arrested 
by  a  violent  mob  and  burned  at  the  stake,  his  eloquent  tongue  being  silenced  in  the 
midst  of  his  triumphs. 

But  the  death  of  Peter  was  not  the  end  of  his  caiise.  Labbe  calls  him  '  the 
parent  of  heretics,'  for  almost  all  who  were  thus  branded  after  his  day  trod  in  his 
steps;  and  especially  all  Baptist  'heretics.'  Even  the  candid  and  celebrated  Dr. 
Wall  says :  '  I  take  this  Peter  Bruis  (or  Bruce,  perhaps,  his  name  was)  and  Henry 
to  be  the  first  antipedobaptist  preachers  that  evei'  set  up  a  Church  or  society  of  men 
holding  that  opinion  against  infant  baptism,  and  rebaptizing  such  as  had  been  bap- 
tized in  infancy.'  ^  When,  like  Elijah,  God  took  Peter  to  heaven  in  a  fiery  chariot, 
be  had  Elisha  ready  to  catch  his  falling  mantle,  in  the  person  of  Henry  of  Lausanne ; 
or,  as  Cluniacensis  much  prefers  to  put  it,  he  was  followed  by  Henry,  '  the  heir  of 
Bruis's  wickedness.'  This  petulant  author  imagined  that  Peter's  principles  had  died 
with  him,  and  like  a  simpleton  writes :  '  I  should  have  thought  that  it  had  been 
those  craggy  Alps,  and  rocks  covered  witli  continual  snow,  that  had  bred  that  savage 
temper  in  the  inhabitants,  and  that  your  land,  being  unlike  to  all  other  lands,  had 
yielded  a  sort  of  people  unlike  to  all  others.' 

But  he  soon  perceived  his  mistake.     Xo  doubt  the  sublime  aspects  of  the  Alps. 


like  all  iiiountaiiious  regions,  were  well  ad;i])te(]  to  start  free  inquiry  in  the  unfettered 
mind,  and  to  inspire  those  distinct  tones  of  religion  which  stimulate  it  to  advanced 
thought.  Their  deep  foundations  excite  to  logical  deduction,  and  their  broad  stretch 
invites  the  reasoning  [xiwei-s  to  tlii-(,)\\'  oil  all  that  hampri'^  and  lidudwinks  them  by 
vulgar  submission  to  anti(juatLMl  authority.  Their  very  lines  and  curves,  cut 
gracefully  against  the  blue  sky,  invite  niaiili(Mid  out  of  itself  to  talk  with  God  in 
strains  of  wonder,  poetry  and  sul>liiiiity ;  until  a  loving  awe  for  hini  steals  over  the 
spirit,  as  his  sunshine  bathes  the  brow  of  the  peak,  and  tlie  soul  is  drawn  under  the 
winning  dominance  of  adoration  and  love.  Tliere  a  man  feels  both  his  littleness  and 
his  freedom,  the  pain  of  being  hemmed  in  by  ob-t ruction,  the  stinging  smart  of 
dictation,  and  the  terrible  delight  of  rising  npwaid  if  he  can  take  no  other  direc- 
tion. Like  the  eagle  which  sails  above  his  hut,  hi>  .-oul  dares  to  ri.se  into  grand  and 
dreadful  sensations  whei-e  his  spii-it  feels  the  majesty  of  its  own  wing;  his  eye 
scrutinizes  the  relations  of  the  man  in  the  valley  to  the  mountains  around  him,  and 
to  the  God  above  him,  and  he  resolves  to  soar  into  a  freedom  as  wide  and  high  as 
the  liberty  of  his  own  nature.  Such  a  mountaineer  is  not  easily  tethered  to  bogs  in 
the  Roman  Campagna,  nor  to  the  vale  of  the  sluggish  Tiber;  but  he  soars  to  the 
sources  of  the  dashing  cascades,  to  read  his  greatness  and  that  of  his  fellow-men  in 
the  wide-open  volume  at  the  footstool  of  Jehovah's  throne. 

Such  a  bold  soul  had  Christ  been  jireparing  in  Henry,  the  next  brave  Baptist 
of  the  Swiss  valleys.  He  had  formerly  been  a  monk  of  Clugny  and  had  joined 
himself  to  his  master,  Peter  of  Bruis,  in  the  midst  of  his  toils ;  and  thus  had  caught 
his  spirit  and  been  imbued  with  his  principles.  Our  venerable  abbot  kindly  tells  us 
that  Henry  added  some  errors  of  his  own  to  those  of  Peter,  a  noble  tribute  to  his  pro- 
gressive mind ;  but  he  fails  to  tell  us  what  they  were.  Most  likely  he  pushed  the 
attributes  of  a  zealous  Reformer  a  little  further  against  current  abuses.  Already  he 
had  reached  the  degree  of  deacon  in  the  Catholic  communion,  when  his  fiery 
eloquence  in  exposing  the  wickedness  of  the  clergy  cut  him  off  from  further  liear- 
ing  amongst  them.  He  then  made  common  cause  with  Peter,  as  Melancthon  did 
with  Luther  and  Whitefield  with  Wesley.  The  Abbot  of  Clugny  denounces  him 
as  an  '  apostate,  who  had  returned  to  the  vomit  of  tlie  flesh  and  the  world,  a  black 
monk  was  he.'  He  was  a  man  of  letters ;  but  his  peculiar  attraction  lay  in  his  con- 
tempt for  the  applauded  traditions  of  the  Fathers  and  in  his  appeal  to  the  neglected 
Bible.     In  Neander's  '  Life  of  Bernard  '  he  says  of  Henry  : 

'  He  had  all  the  attributes  to  deeply  impress  the  jjeople,  great  dignity  in  per- 
sonal appearance,  a  fiery  eye,  a  thundering  voice,  a  lively  step,  a  speech  that  rushed 
forth  impetuously  as  it  flowed  from  his  heart,  and  Bible  passages  were  always  at 
hand  to  support  his  addresses.  Soon  was  spread  abroad  the  report  of  his  holy  life 
and  his  learning.  Young  and  old,  men  and  women,  hastened  to  him  to  confess  their 
sins,  and  said  they  had  never  seen  a  man  of  such  severity  and  friendliness  whose 
words  conld  move  a  heart  of  iron  to  repentance,  whose  life  should  be  a  model  for 
ail  monks  and  priests.'  ^ 


HKxnv  piiK ACHES  m  ^^Ays.  289 

Tic  appeared  in  tlie  _i;arli  (if  a  penitent,  iiis  Innij;  heai'd  liaiif^inff  u])on  his  breast, 
his  feet  bare  even  in  winter,  a  stall'  in  his  iiand  ;  a  very  young  John  tlie  Baptist,  in 
a  living  voice.  In  drawing  liis  picture,  an  enemy  speaks  of  'his  face,  througli  the 
quiclvucss  of  his  eyes,'  as  '  like  a  perilous  sea  ;  tall  of  body,  quick  of  gait,  gliding 
in  his  walk,  quick  of  speech,  of  a  terrible  voice,  a  youth  in  age,  none  more  splendid 
than  he  in  dress.' 

In  1116  this  lithe,  young  Baptist  apostle  of  the  Alps  drew  near  to  the  thriving 
city  of  Mans,  and  sent  two  of  his  disciples  within  the  gates  tu  obtain  permission 
of  Hildebert  the  bishop  to  preach  in  his  diocese.  This  prelate  was  a  disciple  of 
Berengarius,  and  so  looked  with  favor  on  Henry's  efforts  to  purify  the  Church. 
He  was  about  to  depart  for  Rome,  but  instructed  his  archdeacon  to  treat  Henry 
kindly  and  allow  him  to  preach.  The  fame  of  liis  piety  had  reached  the  city  before 
him,  and  the  people  believed  that  he  possessed  a  prophetic  gift.  He  entered  Mans, 
and  while  tlie  bishop  was  visiting  Rome  the  people  received  him  with  delight ;  the 
priests  of  the  lower  order  sat  at  his  feet,  almost  bathing  them  with  teais,  while 
most  of  the  higher  clergy  protested  against  him  and  stood  aloof.  A  platform  or 
pulpit  was  specially  erected  for  him,  from  which  he  might  address  the  jjcople. 
He  made  marriage  a  chief  matter  in  his  sermons.  He  would  free  it  from  unnatui-al 
restrictions,  would  celebrate  it  in  early  life  and  make  it  indissoluble.  He  would 
not  accept  the  repentance  of  an  unchaste  woman  until  she  had  burned  her  hair 
and  her  garments  in  public.  He  condemned  extravagant  attire  and  marriage  for 
money.  '  Indeed,'  says  his  enemy,  '  he  was  marvelously  eloquent,'  a  remark  which 
couches  his  matter  as  well  as  his  manner.  While  the  priests  wept  over  his  ex- 
posure of  their  corruptions,  the  people  were  enraged  at  the  priests.  They  refused 
to  sell  any  thing  to  them,  threatened  their  servants  with  violence,  and  their  safety 
was  secured  only  by  the  shield  of  public  authority.  The  clergy  came  to  dispute 
with  Henry,  but  the  people  handled  them  roughly  and  they  fled  for  safety.  Cha- 
grined at  their  defeat,  they  united  in  a  letter  forbidding  him  to  preach,  but  the 
people  protected  him  and  he  went  on  boldly. 

When  the  bishop  returned  the  people  treated  his  religious  acts  with  contempt 
and  said  :  '  We  do  not  want  your  benedictions.  You  may  bless  the  dirt.  We  have 
a  father  and  a  priest  who  surpasses  you  in  dignity,  holy  living  and  understanding. 
Your  clergy  avoid  him  as  if  he  were  a  blasphemer,  because  with  the  spirit  of  a 
prophet  he  is  uncovering  their  vices,  and  out  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  is  condemning 
their  errors  and  excesses.'  The  bishop  had  an  interview  with  Henry,  but  dared 
not  tolerate  the  stanch  reformer  any  longer.  Henry,  therefore,  retired  to  Poitiers 
and  other  southern  provinces  of  France,  where  he  continued  to  labor  with  great 
success,  in  some  cases  whole  congregations  leaving  the  Catholics  and  joining  his 
standard.  The  people  gave  him  a  ready  hearing,  for  the  Catharists  and  Peter  had 
prepared  his  way.  He  had  met  Peter  in  the  Diocese  of  N"arbonne  and  received 
from  him  the  direction  of  the  rising  sect.     Ten  years  after  the  martyrdom  of  Peter 


290  TTU-:   KFVKCT   OF   /ffs   PIlKACnrNG. 

liu  labored  in  the  I'ogions  nl'  <;a>coiiv.  in  the  suiitli-west  of  France,  and  made  a  deep 
impression.  In  1134,  howcviT,  lie  was  iii'j-csfcd  hv  tlic  Bisliop  of  Aries  and  brought 
before  the  Council  of  Pisa,  held  by  linniccnt  11..  and  condemned  to  confinement 
in  the  monastery  of  Clairvaux,  of  whicli  I'.ci-nard,  rlic  cliief  opposer  of  the  Petro- 
brusians,  was  abbot.  He  soon  escaped,  liuwuvcr.  and  was  found  preaching  in 
Toulouse  and  the  mountain  regions  I'onnd  aliniit  under  the  protection  of  Ildephons, 
a  powerful  noble  who  had  Ijecome  his  dix/ipjc.  Tlis  ministry  was  so  iniiuential 
that  Bernard,  in  his  tour  of  visitation.  fMund  •chnrclics  without  congregations,  the 
people  without  priests,  the  jiricsts  without  due  hoiKir,  the  mass  and  other  sacra- 
ments neglected,  and  the  fast  days  unobserved.'  lie  comjjlains  that 'the  way  of 
the  children  of  Christians  is  closed,  the  grace  of  baptism  is  i-efused  them,  and  they 
are  hindered  from  coming  to  heaven;  although  the  Savioui-.  with  fathei'ly  love, 
calls  them,  saying,  "Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto  nic"  "  The  venerable 
abbot  looked  u])on  their  baptism  as  salvation,  and  to  hini  their  exclusion  from  the 
inunersion  which  he  administered  was  exclusion  from  Pai-adise.  The  loving  Lamb 
of  God  had  redeemed  them;  but  because  IJernard  could  not  hear  his  voice  calling 
them  through  the  baptistery  of  a,  corrupt  Chuivh.  he  was  tormented  with  the 
thought  that  surely  they  innst  perish.  To  be  sure,  tliat  ('hurcli  was  powerless  to 
admit  them  into  heaven  l)y  its  lilessing.  or  to  shut  them  out  liy  its  curse.  So  he, 
with  his  brethren,  put  them  to  the  sword,  with  their  ])arents;  and  all  the  time, 
while  the  Wood  of  innocents  was  following  its  keen  edge,  Jesus  was  rising 
from  his  tin-one  to  receive  their  panting  spirits  to  his  bosom  as  fast  as  they  were 
slain.  Bernard  was  fretting  his  soul  with  the  thought  that  they  were  '  forltidden  to 
come  '  because  they  were  not  brought  through  his  appointed  way,  so  he  made  their 
shrill  wail  echo  up  and  down  the  Alpine  valleys,  while  they  passed  through  the 
darker  vale  of  death  to  him  who  redeemed  his  little  ones  with  his  own  precious 
blood. 

At  the  time  when  the  land  swarmed  with  Henry's  followers.  Pope  Eugenius 
III.  determined  to  supj^ress  him  and  his  work,  and  for  this  purpose  employed 
Bernard,  Cardinal  Alberic  and  others.  l!ui-nai-il  held  a  phenomenal  influence  over 
the  masses  on  account  of  his  pure  life  and  rej)uted  miracles ;  and  crowds  flocked 
to  hear  him  preach  as  if  he  were  an  angel  of  God.  He  proposed  at  once  to  ]irove 
the  divinity  of  his  mission  by  miracles.  'Let  this  be  a  proof,'  said  he,  'that  our 
doctrine  is  true  and  that  of  the  heretics  false,  if  your  sick  are  healed  by  eating  the 
bread  which  I  have  blessed.'  But  he  could  not  always  hold  the  people.  At  Vivi- 
defolium  they  left  tlie  church,  and  when  he  followed  and  addressed  them  in  the 
street  they  interrupted  him  with  Scripture  passages  until  his  voice  was  drowned. 
On  his  return  he  wrote  a  letter,  in  which  he  congi-atulated  himself  on  gaining 
something  by  his  labors,  but  ui-ged  the  people  to  finish  the  M^ork  of  extermination 
which  he  had  begun.  '  Follow  and  seize  them,  and  determine  not  to  rest  until  the 
sects  have  been  di-iven  out  of  your  territory,  for  it  is  not  safe  to  sleep  in  the  vicinity 


AliXOLD    OP  BRESCIA 


of  seriHMits.'  Under  such  instructions  the  bishops  succeeded  in  recapturing  Henry, 
when  the  Pope's  legate  cited  him  and  his  disciples  to  answer  at  his  tribunal.  His 
followers  fled,  and  in  1148  Henry  was  brought  before  the  Council  of  Rheims,  at 
which  Pope  Eugenius  III.  presided.  He  was  condemned  as  a  heretic  to  perpetual 
confinement  and  hard  fare  in  a  neighboring  monastery,  where  he  soon  died.  But 
the  work  which  Peter  and  he  had  done  was  so  great  that  wlien  tlicy  were  dead  it 
survived  them.  We  have  seen 
that  Tanchelyn  had  planted  the 
same  seed  in  Cologne  which  they 
had  planted  in  France ;  and  we 
are  reaping  the  harvest  to-day. 

One  of  the  great  movements 
of  the  century  brings  before  us 
the  immortal  Italian,  Arnold. 
He  was  born  at  Brescia,  in  the 
North  of  Italy,  about  A.  D.  1105, 
and  was  an  educated  monk,  a 
disciple  of  Abelard  ;  having  list- 
ened to  his  lectures,  with  a  crowd 
of  other  young  men,  in  his  school 
of  the  '  Paraclete '  and  been  indel- 
ibly impressed  thereby.    God  had 

endowed    him    with    rare   gifts.  ,  i 

He  possessed  great  fervor,  purity  *'  H 

and  serenity,  with  a  remarkable 

flow    of    eloquence;     these    he  aknom.,  ot  uKthuv. 

united  to  most  graceful  and  attractive  manners  and  charming  convei-sational 
powers.  As  a  preacher,  he  filled  Lombardy  with  resistance  to  the  pride  and  pre- 
tensions of  the  priesthood.  He  was  the  purest,  most  severe  and  bold  personifica- 
tion of  republican  democracy,  both  laical  and  ecclesiastical,  of  the  century.^  At  that 
time  Feudalism  had  wrought  such  desolation  that  there  was  a  reaction  in  Italian 
aspirations  to  resist  empire  and  the  papacy.  These  were  the  two  grand  Italian  ideals  of 
his  day,  and  he  determined  upon  the  resurrection  of  the  Roman  commonwealth  and 
the  destruction  of  the  temporal  power  of  the  pope.  Under  the  stirring  appeals  of 
his  deep  convictions  and  impassioned  eloquence  the  popular  cry  was  raised  :  '  The 
people  and  liberty,'  and  he  became  as  much  its  incarnation  as  Mazzini  and  Gari- 
baldi in  modem  times.  As  the  apostle  of  religious  liberty,  he  contended  for  a  full 
dissolution  of  the  union  between  Church  and  State,  and  fired  the  cities  to  seek 
perfect  freedom  from  both  pope  and  empire  by  establishing  a  republic.  As  a 
patriot,  he  looked  upon  these  civil  enemies  only  with  contempt,  and  summoned 
Italy  to  shake  them  off.     As  a  Christian,  he  was   an  antisacramentarian,  desiring  to 


292  rUK   nof'TIlINFS   OF  ARXOLf). 

brinu'  tlic  Clnircli  li:ick  to  tlic  New  Tcstainciit  stamliinl  ;  <<i\  ii>  (iihlioii  expresses  it, 
lie  iMililly  threw  llinl^elf  iiih.h  ihr  ,l,.,-hiniti..n  ,,f  ( 'Ini^t.  •  M,v  kiii-(l.,:ii  i>  iL.tof 
tliis  w.irld;  He  would  not  u.se  the  ^woi'd,  Iml  iiiaiiilainiMl  liis  cause  by  moral  seiiti- 
iiK'iit  ;  anil  yet  formed  the  dariiii;- jilan  of  jilantini;-  tlir  .-tamlanl  of  civil  and  religions 
liberty  ill  the  city  of  Rome  itself,  for  flie  ]iur|Hise  of  restoriiio-  tlie  old  rights  of  the 
Senate  and  the  iieo|ile.  liis  pure  moi'als  and  child-like  sense  of  justice  started  the 
whole  land. 

From  about  ll;;o  lie  preached  with  such  j.ower  that  by  IbiH  the  Lateraii 
Council  sentenced  him  to  banislinient ;  and  to  escaj.e  death  he  iled  to  the  Swiss 
Canton  of  Zurich.  Anioiiu.^r  the  nionntains  of  Switzerland  he  found  shelter  with 
many  Lombards  who  had  lied  from  the  hatred  of  their  own  countrymen.  In 
Zurich  he  Inildly  maintained  ■  that  eveiw  city  ^liciild  constitute  an  independent  state, 
in  whose  go\-eriiment  no  bi^lioji  oUi;lit  to  liaxe  the  right  to  interfere,  that  the 
Ohurcli  should  imt  own  any  secular  dominion,  and  that  the  priests  should  be  satis- 
tied  til  eiijiiy  the  tithes  of  nature,  remaining  excluded  from  every  temporal 
autlmrity."  He  was  imt  allowed,  however,  to  remain  quietly  in  his  asylum,  but  W'as 
drivi'u  from  ]>lace  to  jilace  with  a,  ])rice  niioii  his  head.  At  last,  goaded  principally 
by  liernard  and  the  pope,  he  determined  to  attack  Rome  lioldly  and  openly ;  and 
did  so  with  great  effect.  In  the  public,  streets  he  ]iroclaimed  to  the  multitude  that 
the  sword  and  .scepter  are  intrusted  to  the  civil  ma-i-trate  ;  that  abbots,  bishops 
and  the  popes  must  renounce  their  State  or  their  .salvation  ;  and  that  all  their  tem- 
poral honors  are  unlawful.  The  Komans  rose  in  a  body  to  assei't  their  inalienable 
rights  as  citizens  and  Christians,  to  confine  the  pope  to  spiritual  matters,  to  put 
his  ecclesiastics  under  the  civil  power,  and  to  establish  a  laical  government  with 
the  Senate  at  its  head.  Rome  was  thrown  into  insurrection ;  all  Europe  felt  his 
power,  and  the  eyes  of  Christendom  w-ere  turned  to  the  Eternal  City.  After  a 
desperate  contest  against  three  several  popes,  which  cost  Lucian  his  life,  a  new  con- 
stitution was  framed  and  the  sanction  of  Adrian  IV.  was  demanded  to  its  provisions. 
The  pope  fled  for  his  life,  his  temporal  power  was  abolished  and  a  new  government 
was  established  in  ll-l;3,  wliich  maintaineil  the  struggle  with  varyhig  .fortunes  for 
about  ten  years.  The  violence  of  the  peojile,  however,  prevented  final  success. 
They  rose  in  insurrection,  demolished  the  houses  and  seized  the  property  of  the 
papal  party,  while  Arnold  was  conservative  and  touched  nothing.  Nevertheless, 
his  holy  apostolate  planted  the  seeds  of  that  ivpublicanism  which  controls  the  Italy, 
Switzerland  and  France  of  to-day. 

Bernard  seems  to  have  hated  him  with  a  singular  intensity,  and  called  him  a 
conspirator  against  Jesus  Christ.  Pope  Eugenius  III.  put  Rome  under  interdict 
(1154),  an  act  which  deprived  it  of  all  its  religious  privileges ;  the  Emperor  Barba- 
rossa  marched  against  it  with  a  large  army,  and  after  a  contest  of  about  eleven 
years  this  daring  reformer  was  obliged  to  surrender.  In  1155  he  was  hanged,  his 
body  burned  to  ashes  and   his  dust  thrown   into   the   Tiber,  lest  tlie  people  should 


ARNOLD'S  MONUMENT.  293 

collfct  :uul  venerate  it  as  a  precious  relic.  Thus  perished  tliis  great  patriot  and 
martyr  tu  tlie  holy  doctrine  of  soul-liberty.  But  Italy  will  ever  hold  his  name  in 
hallowed  remembrance.  Down  to  A.  1).  1861  a  simple  slab  commemorated  his 
noble  deeds,  then  a  modest  statue  took  its  place.  But  in  186i-G5  the  Communal  and 
Provincial  Councils  of  Brescia  each  voted  a  sum  of  30,000  lire  (Ital.)  for  a  splendid 
niominHMit  to  his  honor.  The  city  of  Zurich  made  a  large  contribution,  and 
from  other  sources,  the  sum  soon  amounted  to  150,000  lire  (Ital.),  about  $30,000. 
The  ablest  artists  of  Northern  Italy  competed  for  the  prize  model,  which  was 
awarded  to  M.  Tabacchi.  The  base  is  done  after  the  design  of  the  great  architect, 
Tagliaferri,  who  has  succeeded  admirably  in  reproducing  the  old  Lombard  style  of 
architecture  of  Arnold's  time.  It  is  of  various  colored  marbles  hewn  from  the  rocks 
of  Brescia.  The  statue  and  the  four  bass-reliefs  were  cast  in  the  ai'tistic  foundery 
of  Nelli  of  Rome.  The  statue  itself  is  of  bronze  and  is  four  meters  (13  feet  4  inches) 
high.  Arnold  is  represented  in  a  preaching  attitude;  his  gigantic  figure  being 
that  of  a  monk  in  a  long  rohe  with  most  graceful  folds.  His  long,  nervous  arms 
extend  from  the  wide  sleeves,  his  wonderful  face  is  serene,  but  inspired  for 
address ;  and  the  simplicity  of  the  whole  conception  is  worthy  of  the  greatness 
of  the  man.  The  first  alto-relievo  represents  him  expounding  his  doctrines  to  the 
Brescians,  holding  in  his  hand  the  Book  of  Truth;  in  the  second  he  is  on  trial,  de- 
fending himself  before  his  judges  against  the  accusations  of  his  foes ;  in  the  third 
he  stands  preaching  in  the  Forum,  surrounded  by  shields,  broken  columns  and  cap- 
itals, among  which  is  also  the  Arch  of  Titus ;  the  fourth  presents  him  on  the  scaffold 
with  his  hands  tied  behind  liis  back,  the  judge  at  his  side  about  to  read  his  sentence, 
and  a  funeral  pile  ready  for  lighting  behind  him.  The  scene  is  terrible,  but  he 
stands  in  calm  majesty,  his  eyes  steadily  fixed  before  him.  This  beautiful  work  of 
art  was  dedicated  to  him  as  the  forerunner  of  Italian  liberty  in  the  nineteenth  cent- 
ury, and  was  officially  unveiled  at  Brescia  August  14,  1882.  Most  eloquent 
orations  were  delivered,  while  redeemed  Italy  looked  on,  by  the  patriot  Rosa  and 
Zanardelli,  '  Minister  of  Grace  and  Justice '  for  that  year. 

Although  the  great  distinctive  feature  in  which  Arnold  most  sympathized  with 
Baptists  relates  to  his  unbending  opposition  to  any  union  whatever  of  Church  and 
State,  he  appears  to  have  symbolized  with  them  in  some  other  respects.  Dr.  WaXl 
says  that  the  Lateran  Council  of  1139  condemned  him  for  rejecting  infant  bap- 
tism, and  he  thinks  that  he  was  '  a  follower  of  Bruis  '  in  this  respect.''  If  so,  then  . 
the  Council  which  condemned  the  Petrobrusians  condemned  him.  Bernard  accuses 
him  and  his  followers  of  deriding  infant  baptism.  Evervine  not  only  complains 
of  the  same  thing,  but  says  that  they  administered  baptism  only  to  believers. 
Gibbon  also  states  that  Arnold's  'ideas  of  baptism  and  the  Eucharist  were  loosely 
censured  ;  but  a  political  heresy  was  the  source  of  his  fame  and  his  niistbrtunes.' 


CHAPTER    X. 

THE       WALDENSIANS. 

THE  cut  on  page  2\)5  einltodies  the  sevoj-al  "Waldensian  symbols,  and  portrays  at  a 
glance  their  struggles  and  triumphs.  The  first  is  a  candle  lighted  in  the  night, 
with  the  motto :  '  Light  Shines  in  Darkness.'  The  flame  is  enkindled  by  one  of  the 
seven  stars,  which  is  fed  by  light  from  above.  The  second  is  a  burning  bush  uncon- 
sumed,  to  show  that  their  fiery  persecutions  left  them  undestroyed.  The  third  is  a  lily 
growing  amongst  thorns,  yet  iinchoked  and  rising  above  them — the  sign  of  delicate 
weakness  calmly  rejoicing  over  annoying  difiiculties.  The  fourth  is  the  anvil  of 
truth,  beaten  by  the  hammers  of  its  foes ;  Church  and  State,  foi-eign  and  home 
enemies  try  to  split  it,  but  break  their  own  hammers.  The  fifth  is  the  serene  "Wal- 
densian, standing  bolt  iipright ;  he  despises  the  bishop's  miter,  crook  and  crosier, 
with  the  pope's  tiara  and  ro.sary,  and  tramples  them  under  foot. 

"Walter  Mapes,  an  Englishman  of  tlie  twelfth  century  and  a  favorite  of 
Henry  II.,  was  sent  on  a  mission  to  the  papal  court,  and  first  met  the  "Waldensians 
at  the  Lateran  Council,  A.  I).  1179.  He  calls  them  '  Yaklesii,  from  theii-  primate, 
"Waldo,'  Peter  Waldo,  whose  name  answers  closely  to  the  English  name  Wood. 
There  is  fair  ground  for  the  belief  that  an  Evangelical  people  lived  in  the  isolated 
Cottian  Alps  before  the  twelfth  century,  but  the  evidence  is  too  scanty  and  frag- 
mentary to  be  used  with  confidence  for  historical  purposes.  Some  Waldensian  writ- 
ers think  that  they  can  trace  their  origin  back  to  the  days  of  Constantine  and  even 
to  the  Apostles,  but  Dieckhoff  and  Herzog  have  shown  that  this  claim  will  not 
bear  critical  investigation.  The  ablest  modern  historians  do  not  find  them  beyond 
the  great  reformer  Waldo,  an  ideal  figure  of  whom,  in  merchant's  dress,  now  stands 
in  the  great  Luther  monument  at  Worms. 

This  man  of  God  was  born  at  Yaux,  in  Dauphine,  on  the  Rhone,  and  became 
a  rich  merchant  at  Lyons,  where  he  lived  in  a  street  known  for  generations  after  his 
banishment  as  '  Cursed  Street.'  The  sudden  death  of  a  friend,  who  fell  by  his  side 
at  a  feast,  led  him  to  consecrate  himself  to  Christ,  A.  I).  1160.  While  his  heart 
was  touched  by  pondering  upon  the  vanity  of  earthly  things,  he  joined  a  crowd  in 
the  street  who  were  listening  to  the  song  of  a  troubadour,  M'liose  theme  was  the 
blessed  death  of  St.  Alexis.  He  first  took  the  singer  home  with  him,  and  then 
visited  a  learned  divine  to  ask  more  about  the  way  to  heaven,  who  replied  :  '  There 
are  many  roads  to  heaven.'  But  Peter  asked  him,  '  Which  is  the  surest? '  and  was 
answered,  'If  thou  wilt  be  perfect,  go  sell  all  that  thou  hast  and  give  to  the  poor.' 


A    lUBLE   Fftli    THE   PEOPLE. 


Tliat  (lav  he  made  tlie  (iuspel  his  only  rule  and  literally  obeyed  the  injunction.  He 
paid  his  creditors,  gave  his  house,  field  and  vineyard  to  his  wife,  provided  for  his 
dau<>-hters,  and  tlien  spent  three  days  in  the  week  relieving  the  wants  of  the  poor 
in  the  public  square.  Many  thought  him  insauu,  but  he  said:  'I  am  not  mad,  as 
you  suppose,  I  am  aveng- 
ing myself  of  my  enemies 
(his  wealth),  who  have  re- 
duced me  to  such  servitude 
as  made  me  more  mindful 
of  them  than  of  God.' 

He  also  put  his  nmncy 
to  a  use  uncommon  in 
those  days.  lie  employed 
Stephen  of  Ansa  and  Ber- 
nard Ydross  to  translati 
the  Gospels  from  the  Latii 
Vulgate  of  Jerome  into  tin 
Romance  dialect  for  the 
common  people,  as  well  as 
the  most  inspiring  passages 
from  the  Christian  Fa 
tlu'rs.  Then,  tilled  with 
the  love  of  Christ,  he 
took  preaching  tonrs  and 
sent  his  converts  on  the 
same  errand.  These  thret 
acts  were  proplietic  of  tliL, 
whole  Waldensian  career 
the  volnntary  poverty  nt 
its  preachers  ;  the  free  nsi 
of  the  Bible;  the  right 
of  laymen  to  preach  tht 
Gospel.  No  other  layman 
except  AVilliam  the  Con 
queror,  Peter's  contempo- 
rary, had  ventured  on  such 
work,  and  no  sect  had  yet 
commenced  its  existence  \\ 
step  which  soon  aroused  oppo&itioi 
Peter  did  not  at  first  call 
munion,  nor  did  lie  contenqjlate 


populai  ti  ui-liti 


tlic  Xe\\   Testament ,  a  bol 


ucstion 

anv 

doctrine  of   the    Ivn 

nsh 

com- 

It  ion   fi 

)m   it 

.   his  simple  purpose 

be 

ng  to 

296  WALDENSIANS  NOT  IIEIIETICS. 

win  men  to  a  lioly  lite.  Hence,  lie  aiid  liis  tollowers  were  not  treated  as  'here- 
tics ; '  but  the  Bishop  of  Lyons  demanded  why  they  jsreached  and  exjjounded  the 
Scriptures  without  Church  authority^  Tl"'}'  replied,  according  to  Stephen  of  Bor- 
bone  :  '  We  ought  to  obey  God  rather  than  man.  ('In-ist  commanded  his  discijjles 
to  ]jreach.'  They  said  but  little  at  this  time  aliuut  the  .superstitions  and  corruptions 
of  the  Catliolies.  Tliis  they  left  to  the  fidelity  of  those  in  that  communion,  who, 
like  themselves,  wished  to  see  the  spiritual  life  of  that  body  revived.  Amongst 
these,  Peter  Vidal  said :  '  The  pope  and  his  false  doctors  have  put  the  Holy  Church 
in  such  distress,  that  God  himself  is  incensed  at  it.  Thanks  to  their  sins  and  follies, 
the  heretics  have  arisen ;  for  when  they  give  the  example  of  iniquity,  it  is  hard  to  find 
any  who  will  abstain.'  And  Pierre  Cardinal  exclaimed  :  '  The  priests  grasp  on  every 
hand,  and  are  reckless  of  the  sorrow  they  cause.  The  whole  world  is  theirs,  they 
make  themselves  its  masters.  Usur])ers  toward  some,  generous  toward  otliers,  they 
employ  indulgences  and  use  deceit^  they  give  absolutions  and  they  make  good  cheer. 
Now  they  have  recourse  to  prayers,  and  now  pui'sue  their  ends  by  murders.  Some 
they  seduce  with  God,  the  rest  with  the  devil.'  The  crime  of  Waldo  and  his  follow- 
ers was  that  they  were  'schismatics,'  because  they  established  a  new  apostolate,  and 
usurped  the  office  of  preaching  without  papal  authority.  The  I'eal  trouble  was 
that  the  common  people  would  listen  no  Imiocr  to  the  greedy,  lazy  and  immoral 
priests,  who  addressed  them  in  an  unknown  tongue  and  ground  them  down  with  tithes. 
These  self-sacrificing,  new  teachers  brought  them  the  Gospel  in  their  mother  dialect, 
claimed  no  authority  over  them,  preached  Bible  truth  without  money  or  price,  and 
recommended  the  whole  by  godly  lives.  Whether  they  intended  to  undermine  the 
hierarchy  or  not,  the  priesthood  saw  the  peril,  took  the  alarm,  and  plied  its  eccle- 
siastical authority  to  save  its  existence. 

Unable  to  persuade  and  powerless  to  compel  them  to  stop,  the  Bishop  excom- 
municated them  A.  D.  1176  for  preaching  without  his  authority.  Instead  of 
accepting  this  excision,  they  appealed  for  redress  to  Pope  Alexander  III.,  and 
because  he  wanted  them  to  remain  in  the  Church  he  laid  the  matter  before  the 
Lateran  Council  at  Rome  in  1179.  He  praiseil  Peter  for  his  ^•ow  of  poverty, 
embraced  him,  and  would  have  permitted  him  to  preach,  provided  that  he  main- 
tained the  faith  of  the  Fathers  Ambrose,  Augustine,  Gregory  and  Jerome.  For 
this  forbearance  Waldo  was  indebted  to  Cardinal  Pulha ;  and  thus  encouraged  he 
sent  two  of  his  disciples  to  the  council  to  secure  fuller  recognition,  as  he  was  not 
satisfied  with  the  right  of  preaching  himself.  The  pope  turned  these  over  to  Walter 
Mapes  for  examination,  who  says  of  them :  '  There  were  brought  to  me  the  two 
Waldenses,  m'Iio  seemed  to  be  the  chief  of  their  sect,  to  dispute  with  me,  and  shut 
my  mouth  as  one  who  spoke  evil.  I  confess  I  sat  in  fear  lest  in  so  great  a  Council 
the  privilege  of  speaking  might  be  denied  me,  seeing  that  it  was  at  the  request  of 
sinners.'  But  he  soon  overcame  his  fear,  with  good  zest  began  to  make  light  of  the 
simple  preachers,  and  even  ridiculed  them  before  the  Council  because  they  avowed 


LAY  rnEACHrxa.  297 

that  ("lirist  liad  sent  tlicin  to  preach  and  clotlied  tlieiii  with  power  by  the  Holy 
Spirit.  He,  however,  betrayed  trepidation,  for  he  said  :  '  If  we  let  them  in,  we  shall 
be  driven  forth  ourselves.'  They  were  virtually  condemned,  for  they  were  granted 
permission  to  preach  only  on  condition  that  the  local  priest  requested  it,  a  thing 
that  he  was  slow  to  ask.  The  reason  given  for  this  prohibition  was :  '  That  the  Roman 
Church  cannot  endure  your  preaching.'  Tliis  enforced  silence  made  them  all  the 
bolder:  'Did  not  Christ  send  us?'  said  they,  '  why  should  his  Church  hinder  us  ] ' 
And  they  went  every-where  preaching  the  Word. 

This, of  course, could  not  be  endured, and  in  lis:!  s-t  a  special  council  was  held 
at  Verona  by  Pope  Lucius  III.,  in  the  presence  of  the  Emperor  IJarbarossa,  '  to 
bind  in  the  chain  of  perpetual  anathenui  those  who  presumed  to  preach,  publicly 
or  privately,  without  the  authority  of  the  bishop.'  Though  excommum'cated, 
tliev  were  held  as  less  perverse  than  nther  disowned  ones,  their  sentence  stating 
that  they  presumed  to  preach  witlimit  any  '  authoi-ity  received  either  from  the 
Apostolic  See  or  from  the  bishops  v(  their  respective;  dioceses.'  This  ban  did  not 
class  them  with  the  Catharists,  with  whom  tliey  had  no  [)ai-t ;  and  often  when  the 
priests  had  controversies  with  these,  they  appealed  to  the  Waldeusians  with  tlieii' 
ready  store  of  Scriptural  truth  to  help  them.  Even  as  late  as  1190  the  Arehliishoj) 
of  Narbonne  held  a  colloquy  with  them  to  win  them  back.  Their  first  great  con- 
test, then,  concerned  the  right  of  lay  preaching  and  not  doctrine.  Pope  Innocent, 
their  great  enemy,  expressly  says,  long  afterward,  that  they  '  would  usurp  the  office 
of  preaching'  as  an  innovation.  On  the  ground  of  doctrine,  they  were  not  ob- 
noxious to  Rome  at  that  time.  Yet  when  Lucius  anathematized  them  they  were 
obliged  to  fly  in  every  direction.  Waldo,  with  one  band  of  his  disciples,  fled  to 
the  rugged  fastnesses  of  the  Cottian  Alps,  the  dividing  line  between  Dauphine  in 
Southern  France  and  Piedmont  in  Northern  Italy.  These  first  settled  in  Dauphine, 
on  the  French  side,  but  soon  crossed  the  border  to  the  Italian.  They  labored,  how- 
ever, in  both  fields,  and  the  great  body  of  the  people  soon  embraced  their  doctrines. 

Piedmont  had  five  valleys,  but  the  mountain  tract  on  the  southern  side  had 
only  three.  In  these  gorges,  caverns,  passes  and  dizzy  peaks,  their  descendant! 
still  survive,  after  a  period  of  seven  hundred  years.  Their  first  real  settlements 
were  in  the  thinly  populated  and  half  cultivated  valleys  of  Angrogna  and  Saii 
Martino,  where  the  Romans  erected  an  arch,  calling  it  the  'Gate  of  Italy.'  The 
house  of  the  Count  Lucerna,  the  ruler  of  the  land,  had  on  its  escutcheon  the  words : 
'  The  light  shines  in  darkness,'  which  became  the  Waldensian  motto.  Their  gi-eatest 
ti'iumphs  were  in  Italy,  in  the  Duchy  of  Savoy,  on  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Cot- 
tians;  and  their  secondary  were  on  the  western,  under  the  scepter  of  France.  This 
Count  may  have  favored  the  new  settlers,  but  the  Benedictine  monks,  who  had  a 
monastery  and  lands  in  Savoy,  were  greatly  alarmed  at  the  inroad  of  this  flock  of 
emigrants.  In  time,  however,  the  Dukes  of  Savoy  assailed  them,  but  the  Kings 
of  France  were  too  much  engaged  to  trouble  these  godly  mountaineers,  and  so  they 


298  WALnf<:.\SIAN  DISPERSION. 

foiiiid  refuge  under  one  govcninicnt  wlicn  tlio  other  persecuted  them,  flight  being 
their  only  safeguard.  For  tliis  iv;iM,n.  in  part,  the  liistory  of  the  Italian  Walden- 
sians  is  far  more  complicated  than  that  of  tlie  Fi-ench,  and  more  full  of  adventure 
by  invasion,  defense,  defeat,  suffering  and  triumph.  For  a  time  their  very 
obscurity  protected  them  against  the  cur.ses  of  Eome.  After  a  wliiJe.  AValdo  turned 
to  the  North,  Imt  his  fei'neious  perseeuturs  drnve  him  into  l!oheinia,  where  it 
seems  likely  that,  as  an  ,,M  man,  he  linished  hi.,  work  in  jieaee  and  fell  asleep 
in  Jesus. 

The  anathema  of  Lucian,  A.  D.  1183-84,  was  foll<.wed  in  ll'._i2  by  a  demand 
from  the  Bishop  of  "I'lii'in  that  all  who  found  a  Waldeiisian  should  bring  him  to 
his  court  bound  with  fitters  to  he  piiiiisln'd,  and  his  Micco^or  followed  in  liis  steps. 
But  constant  persecution  sharpened  their  appetite  for  the  truth  and  they  soon  began 
to  fall  into  so-called  'heresy.'  Gradually  they  claimed  the  right  of  private  judg- 
ment in  the  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures,  and  came  to  oppose  some  doctrines 
and  practices  of  the  ( 'hun-li  of  IiDme  touching  the  ])(.iwer  of  the  clergy,  the  sacra- 
ments and  ecclesiasti<'al  authority.  They  resented  the  yoke  of  the  pope  and  the 
bishops;  asserted  the  riglit  (if  laymen,  and  even  of  women,  to  preach;  avowed 
that  the  wickeilness  of  the  priest  neutralized  the  elfeet  of  the  ordinances;  declared 
that  confession  might  he  made  to  a  good  layman,  and  tliat  absolution  from  him  was 
effective.  They,  also,  Hke  tlie  ( 'atliarists,  denied  tln'  ol,lation  of  the  ma,-s.  all  oaths,  war, 
begging  and  capital  punishment ;  while  a  few  of  theni  went  so  far  as  to  deny  infant 
baptism.  It  is  of  this  class  that  Du  Pin  says,  they  regarded  '  The  washings  of  infants ' 
as  '  of  no  avail  to  them  ;  the  sureties  do  not  understand  what  they  say  to  the  priest.' 

Persecution  soon  scattered  small  bodies  of  them  in  every  direction.  Individuals 
wandered  where  they  could,  and  little  companies  took  refuge  in  various  countries, 
soon  becoming  the  founders  of  small  comtnunities — who,  for  convenience,  we  may 
call  the  Waldensians  of  the  Dispersion.  Sometimes  these  bands  merged  into 
other  sects,  or  they  grew  up  a  sejaarate  peojjle,  constantly  developing  new  views ;  and 
at  last  they  became  much  more  radical  protestants  against  Home  than  the  original 
Romance  Waldensians.  Failure  to  make  this  distinction  clear,  and  even  sharp,  will 
lead  us  to  confound  one  Waldensian  sect  with  another,  and  to  mix  their  doctrines 
and  practices  in  a  medley  of  confusion ;  for  scarcely  two  sections  of  them  believed 
and  practiced  the  same  things  throughout.  Nor  did  any  one  class  of  Waldensians 
hold  the  same  doctrines  and  follow  the  same  rites  at  all  times.  When  we  lose  sight 
of  these  changes  and  variations  we  fall  both  into  confusion  and  contradiction  con- 
cerning this  whole  people.  Those  of  the  Dispersion  had  so  increased  to  the  West 
as  far  as  Spain,  in  1192,  that  Alphonso,  King  of  Aragon,  issued  a  decree  expelling 
them  from  liis  realm,  and  they  were  treated  nowhere  else  with  greater  severity. 
Edict  after  edict,  the  last  gSnerally  the  worst,  drove  them  out.  The  M^-ath  of  God 
and  the  charge  of  treason  were  launched  upon  all  who  shielded  a  Waldensian,  gave 
him  food,  heai-d  him  ]ii-cacli,  or  ti-eatcd  him   kindly.     The  king  commanded  :  '  Let 


FOUND   IN  SPAIN  AND   METX.  299 

this  our  edict  ho.  read  on  tlie  Sabljutii  In-  the  clergy  in  all  cities,  forts  and  villages  of 
our  kingdom,  and  be  enforceil  liy  our  vicars,  bailiffs  and  judges.  Any  person,  noble 
or  not,  who  shall  tinil  a  Waldensian  anywhere  in  our  kingdom,  after  three  days' 
notice  has  been  given  to  leave,  may  injure  him  in  any  way,  that  will  not  mutilate 
his  body  or  take  his  life,  without  fear  of  punishment,  but  rather  with  the  assurance 
of  receiving  our  favor.  We  grant  the  AValdensians  till  All  Saints'  Uay  to  leave  or 
begin  to  leave  the  land,  or  expose  thcniselvos  to  the  risk  of  being  plundered  and 
scourged.'  In  the  face  of  this  edict,  which  was  renewed  by  Alphonso's  son,  Peter  II., 
the  Waldensians  continued  to  spread  even  as  far  as  Seville.  Peter's  son,  James  I., 
1227,  at  Pope  Gregory's  request,  established  an  Inquisition  which  caused  the  flight 
of  many  into  Castile.  They  were  tracked  to  its  valleys,  thrust  into  prison  and 
severely  punished;  but  not  one  yielded,  and  the  king  himself  carried  wood  to  the 
pile  and  set  fire  to  the  martyrs.  Thereafter  any  one  who  heard  the  "Waldensians 
preach,  knelt  with  them  in  prayer,  gave  them  a  kiss  or  called  them  'good  men,'  was 
suspected  and  punished. ' 

Another  body  of  the  Dispersed  Waldensians  was  found  at  ifetz,  in  Northern 
France,  as  early  as  1199,  when  the  bishop  of  that  city  informed  Pope  Ijmocent  III. 
of  the  trouble  which  they  made  him.  He  sought  the  pope's  advice  in  the  matter, 
telling  him  that  both  in  the  city  and  diocese  a  large  number  of  laymen  and  women 
were  reading  the  Bible  in  the  Gallic  tongue  and  preaching  from  place  to  place. 
Some  of  them  had  come  from  Montpellier,  bringing  translations  with  tlicm  which 
they  used  in  secret  assemblies.  When  the  parish  priests  undertook  to  correct  these 
things  they  spurned  their  interference,  telling  them  plainly  that  the  Bible  was  better 
than  any  thing  that  they  could  give  them.  The  pope's  reply  against  the  little  flock 
said,  that '  Although  the  desire  to  understand  the  Scriptures  and  edify  one  another 
out  of  them  is  not  blamable,  but  rather  commendable ;  still,  he  could  not  favor  the 
secrecy  of  their  meetings.'  He  warned  them  against  Pharisaic  pride,  and  threat- 
ened them  with  discipline  if  they  would  not  hear  his  fatherly  exhortations.  But 
the  '  heretics '  went  on  with  their  Bible  teachings ;  and  a  delegation  of  abbots  came 
from  Rome,  A.  D.  1200,  who  dispersed  the  assemblies,  burned  the  Bibles  and, 
according  to  the  Chi'onicles  of  Albericus,  '  extirpated  the  sect.'  In  order  to  stop 
these  Christ-like  proceedings  of  the  Waldensians,  the  fourth  Lateran  Council,  A.  D. 
1215,  and  the  Council  of  Toulouse,  1229,  forbade  laymen  to  read  the  Bible  either 
in  the  language  of  the  people  or  in  the  Latin,  and  the  Council  of  Tarragona,  1242, 
bound  the  prohibition  on  the  clergy  also. 

The  Waldensians  of  the  Dispersion  became  established  in  various  cities,  as 
Geneva,  Aquileia,  with  others  in  Switzerland  and  Italy ;  and,  in  fact,  they  stretched 
all  the  way  from  Aragou  to  Milan  and  Florence,  and  dotted  Lower  Germany.  The 
Bishop  of  Turin  was  greatly  disturbed  by  some  of  them  about  1209.  He  had  been 
a  Benedictine  Abbot,  and  took  advantage  of  the  passage  of  the  Emperor  Otto  TV., 
on  his  way  to  be  crowned  at  Home,  to  secure  the  right  of  expelling  the   Walden- 


800  STRASBURG—'  IIERErirs-   DITCH: 

sians  who  were  'sowing  tares  in  liis  diocese,'  and  of  expurgating  every  thing  that 
contradicted  the  Catholic  faith.  But  the  Cnuiits  of  l.ucerna  befriended  tliem  and 
secured  the  free  exercise  of  their  rehgion,  in  the  treaty  made  witli  the  Duke  of 
Savoy,  in  1233.     This  protected  them  for  many  years. 

In  1212  a  congregation  of  five  hundred  Waldensians  was  discovered  at  Strasburg. 
At  first  tlic  bishop  of  that  city  sought  to  reason  tlieni  out  of  their  position  against  the 
Cathohc  faith  ;  but  such  was  tlieir  ready  use  of  Serij)ture  that  disputations  always 
inured  to  their  advantage.  Then  he  piuelalined  that  all  of  them  who  would  not 
forsake  their  errors  should  be  i)ut  t(i  ile:itli  by  lire  without  delay.  Many  recanted, 
surrendered  their  books,  and  reported  to  him  that  they  had  three  chief  centers  and 
three  leaders — in  ]\[ilan,  in  Bohemia,  and  on  the  ground  in  Strasburg.  These  lead- 
ers, they  said,  were  not  clothed  with  authority  like  the  pope,  but  owed  their  influ 
enee  to  the  personal  confidence  rejiosed  in  them  by  their  bretln-en.  One  of  theii 
chief  duties  was  to  collect  money  for  the  poor.  Eighty  persons  in  all,  amongst 
whom  were  twenty-three  women  and  twelve  preachers,  would  not  surrender  their 
faith.  John,  the  Strasburg  leader,  answered  in  the  name  of  all.  His  ajjpeal  to 
Scripture  could  not  be  overthrown,  and  when  his  persecutors  would  a]iply  the  test 
of  red-hot  iron  to  see  if  he  were  sent  of  God,  he  replied:  'Thou  shalt  not  tempt 
the  Lord  thy  God.'  'Ah,  he  does  not  want  to  burn  his  fingers,'  scornfully  cried  the 
monks.  '  I  have  the  word  of  God,'  he  answered,  '  and  for  that  I  would  not  only 
burn  my  fingers  but  my  whole  body.'  All  wlio  stood  with  him  were  jnit  to  death, 
Before  their  execution  they  were  charged  with  all  sorts  of  heresy,  to  which  John 
replied  from  the  Serijitures,  mo\ing  the  by-standers  to  tears.  And  when  the  final 
demand  was  made  :  'Will  you  maintain  your  belief?'  he  replied,  '  Yes,  we  will.' 
They  were  then  led,  amid  the  cries  of  kindred  and  friends,  to  the  church-yard,  where 
a  broad  and  deep  ditch  had  been  dug.  Into  this  they  were  driven,  wood  was  piled 
around  them  and  they  perished  in  the  flames.  To  this  day  men  tremble  when  the 
'Heretics'  Ditch'  is  pointed  out  in  Strasburg.  ^ 

We  find  another  body  of  Dispersed  Waldensians,  A.  D.  1231,  in  the  provinces 
of  the  Danube.  They  M-ere  subjected  to  a  terrible  persecution  for  three  years  by 
bloody  Conrad  of  Marburg.  An  extended  account  of  others  is  preserved  in  a  '  Chron- 
icle of  1260,'  by  an  anonymous  writer.  They  lived  in  the  diocese  of  Passau,  which 
was  embraced  in  the  Duchy  of  Austria.  He  gives  the  names  of  forty- two  towns  and 
villages  in  the  diocese,  some  of  them  upon  the  Danube  and  others  close  to  the  borders 
of  Bohemia,  where  Waldensian  congregations  were  found.  The  Jesuit  Gretser, 
in  editing  this  report,  omits  the  honest  explanations  which  it  gives  for  the  spread  of 
the  Dispersed  Waldensians.  The  manuscript  lays  it  to  the  impure  life  of  the  priests, 
to  the  conversion  of  the  sacraments  into  gain,  to  the  multiplication  of  masses,  to  the 
prurient  use  of  the  confessional  and  to  pretended  miracles ;  such  as,  tears  of  blood  flow- 
ing from  a  picture,  the  lighting  of  a  lam]i  from  heaven,  the  exaltation  of  false  relics 
as  those  of  ani^els,  the  sweat  of  Christ,   and  i)assing  off  the  bones  of  oxen  as  those 


FORBIDDEN    liOOK. 


Till-:   P  UK  CIO  us  PEARL.  301 

of  saints.  Givat  fault  is  mImi  louiid  witli  the  adoration  of  tlie  pope  as  (iod  upon 
earth,  greater  than  men  ami  cijual  to  angels,  infallible  and  sinless.  An  additional 
cause  for  public  favor  was  found  in  the  Waldensians  themselves;  for  the  author  says 
that  they  were  content  in  poverty,  avoided  lying,  profanity  and  theft,  and  were  dil- 
igent in  business.  They  were  shoemakers,  weavers  and  other  artisans;  temperate 
in  eating  and  drinking,  and  they  led  godly  lives.  Their  converts  were  nuide 
by  the  Bible  and  religious  books.  They  went  as  peddlei-s  to  a  cottage  or  a  noble- 
man's castle,  offering  fabrics  or  jewelry  for  sale ;  and  when  asked  if  they  had  any 
thing  else,  they  answered  :  '  Yes,  great  rarities ;  I  have  one  precious  stone  through 
which  you  can  sec  God,  and  another  that  kindles  love  to  him  in  the  heart.'  With 
that  these  peddlers  brought  out  the  precious  roll  of  Holy  Writ.  Whittier,  our  gentle 
Quaker  poet,  has  beautifully  pictured  these  heavenly,  traveling  Waldensian  mer- 
chantmen with  g(_iodIy  pearls,  thus : 

'  O,  huly  fair,  I  have  yet  a  gem,  which  a  purer  luster  flings 
Than  the  diamond  flash  of  the  jeweled  crown  on  the  lofty  brow  of  kings; 
A  wonderful  pearl  of  exceeding  price,  wliose  virtue  shall  not  decay, 
Whose  light  shall  be  as  a  spell  to  thee  and  a  blessing  on  thy  way.' 
The  cloud  went  off  from  the  pilgrim's  brow  as  a  small,  meager  book, 
Unchased  with  gold  or  gem  of  cost,  from  his  folding  robe  he  took. 
'  Here,  lady  fair,  is  the  pearl  of  price,  may  it  prove  as  much  to  tliee. 
Nay,  keep  thy  gold,  I  ask  it  not,  for  the  word  of  God  is  free.' 

Still  another  reason  for  their  increase  is  found  in  that  they  were  loyal  to  their 
prince  and  country.  About  this  time  a  violent  contest  between  Pope  Innocent  IV. 
and  the  Emperor  Frederick  II.  compelled  every  Austrian  to  choose  between  his  civil 
and  his  ecclesiastical  allegiance.  As  Bishop  Rudiger  took  sides  with  the  Emperor  and 
smote  the  papal  legate  with  his  fist,  love  for  the  pope  was  turned  into  hate  in  many 
hearts.  In  these  political  convulsions,  when  the  Inquisition  and  the  pope  were  set 
at  naught,  every  papal  interdict  brought  a  Waldensian  jubilee  and  the  sect  spread 
rapidly.  Frederick  the  Warlike,  Duke  of  Austria,  who  died  in  1246,  unlike  the 
Emperor,  had  shown  favor  to  the  Catholics  by  laying  violent  hands  on  the  Waldensians. 

But  no  class  of  the  Dispersed  Waldensians  call  for  more  imjiortant  notice  than 
those  of  Lombardy.  Those  %vho  settled  in  and  about  Milan  were  known  as  the 
'  Poor  Italians,'  and  were  a  mixture  with  dissenters  already  on  the  ground.  Our 
interest  in  them  is  increased  from  the  fact  that  many  of  the  Waldensians  of  Lom- 
bardy were*  really  the  followers  of  Arnold  of  Brescia,  of  whom  we  have  spoken. 
For  as  the  followers  of  Waldo  were  scattered  abroad  after  his  death,  so  the  Arnold- 
ists  were  driven  every-where  after  the  martyrdom  of  their  leader.  These,  with  the 
'  Humble  Men,'  so  called,  of  Lombardy,  multiplied  '  like  fishes,'  and  grew  in  favor 
with  the  magistrates  of  Milan,  who  gave  them  a  piece  of  ground  for  a  meeting- 
house, and  allowed  them  to  rebuild  it  after  the  archbishop  had  destroyed  their  first 
structure.     Those  who  were  merged  into  this  body  were  numbered  with  the  Wal- 


302  WALUENSIANS   Oy   ISAI'TISM. 

densians  of  Lombardy.  In  1S77  Pi-ciicr  jiuMished  at  Mimieli  wliat  is  possibh^  the 
oldest  Waldensian  dix-muL'iit  i-xtant.  wliicli  tlimws  some  liglit  on  tlietii.  It  gives  a 
colloquy  between  six  delegatus  of  the  original  lioniance  and  as  many  of  the  Lombard 
Waldensians.  These  lield  a  conference  on  their  general  affairs  at  Bergamo,  May, 
1218 ;  and  this  account  thereof  was  sent  a  few  years  afterward  by  the  Lombardy 
brethren  to  the  party  in  Germany. 

All  classes  of  Waldensians  held  some  things  in  common  amongst  themselves, 
also  with  the  Petrobrusians  and  with  certain  of  the  Catharists.  Yet  generally 
they  are  confounded  with  each  other,  for  they  arc  all  supposed  to  have  been  alike; 
and  so  we  fail  to  rcacli  their  diffei'cnces.  For  example,  the  Council  of  Toulouse 
and  the  second  and  third  Lateran  Councils  launched  decrees  against  those  who  rejected 
infant  baptism,  Catharists  and  others,  some  sujjpose  including  the  AValdensians. 
But  that  of  Toulouse,  1119,  and  the  second  Lateran,  1139,  were  held  before  the 
"Waldensians  existed  ;  as  according  to  all  modern  history  they  originated  with  Peter 
Waldo  in  IIGO.  Again,  the  third  Lateran,  1179,  as  well  as  tliese  pi'eceding  councils, 
condemned  the  Cathari,  but  not  the  Waldensians.  Dr.  AVall  thinks  that  the  Bap- 
tists of  Cologne,  1092,  came  from  Dauphine,  where  Peter  of  Bruis  had  preached  ; 
and  if  he  is  correct,  then  they  were  numbered  with  the  Cathari  and  condemned  by 
the  same  councils.  Mistakes  have  arisen  touching  the  views  of  the  Ri.imance  Wal- 
densians on  infant  baptism,  from  wrong  translations  and  uses  of  the  '  Antichrist,' 
the 'Noble  Lesson,'  the  '  Minor  Catechism,'  and  the  'Twelfth  Article'  with  the 
forged  date  of  1120.  If  they  opposed  infant  baptism  it  is  unaccountable  that  their 
literature,  running  through  four  centuries,  gives  no  formal  argument  against  it, 
and  no  accompanying  demand  for  the  baptism  of  believers  only.  And  further, 
their  enemy  Pope  Innocent  in  his  letter  No.  143  says,  '  That  the  Waldenses  err  in 
the  iiiith,  or  depart  from  sound  doctrine,  thou  hast  not  expressed  to  us.'  Yet  at 
that  moment  no  departure  from  the  faith  of  the  Catholics  was  more  frightful  than 
the  doctrine  that  infants  would  be  saved  if  they  died  unbaptized ;  and  they  enforced 
this  doctrine  by  the  most  terrible  decrees  of  their  councils,  but  not  by  name,  against 
the  Waldensians.  On  the  other  side,  too,  this  subject  is  full  of  perplexity.  For  if 
the  Komance  Waldensians  actually  practiced  infant  baptism  from  the  first,  it  is 
very  singular  that  they  have  left  no  argument  for  its  authority,  no  trace  of  its  de- 
fense, and  no  ritual  for  its  observance,  in  all  their  early  literature,  while  they 
positively  rejected  the  Consolamentum. 

When  we  attempt  to  supplement  their  own  testimony  by  that  of  their  con- 
temporaries, we  unfortunately  find  little  to  relieve  this  perplexity.  Almost  all 
Koraan  Catholic  writers  agree  with  Cardinal  Hosius,  who  says :  '  The  Waldenses 
rejected  infant  baptism.'  Addis  and  Arnold  declare  of  them  :  '  As  to  baptism,  they 
said  that  the  washing  of  infants  was  of  no  avail  to  them.'^  This  impression  is 
deepened  by  the  fact  that  Farel,  Q^Icolampadius  and  others,  at  the  time  of  the 
Reformation,    made    strenuous    efforts    to    convince    the    Waldensians    of    Eastern 


THSTIMONY   OP  ENEMIES.  303 

Daupliim''  and  Savov  df  the  rigliteousiK'ss  of  infant  !)a]itisni  ;  as  if  the  more 
zealous  of  tliein  still  rejected  that  doctrine.  Di-.  Keller  thinks  that  they  com- 
monly practiced  adult  baptism  and  allowed  theii'  eliildren  to  be  baptized,  saying: 
'Since  the  Waldenses  have  always  fundamentally  (on  fundamental  principles)  held 
fast  to  baptism  on  faith,  where  they  neglected  it  they  did  so  under  the  pressure 
of  the  constrained  position  in  which  they  found  themselves.'^  Certain  it  is  that 
tlieir  enemies,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  the  earliest  account  of  their  faith 
and  practice,  use  strong  language  on  this  subject.  But  they  fail  to  tell  us  clearly 
of  what  Waldensian  branch  they  speak,  while  sometimes  the  fair  inference  is  that 
they  s]ieak  of  the  Romance  and  at  other  times  of  the  Dispersed  bodies,  as  those  of 
the  lUiine  auil  other  parts  of  (ierniany.     Take  the  foll.iwing  examples: 

I.  Ermengard,  about  A.  D.  1192,  says:  'They  pretend  that  this  sacrament 
cannot  be  conferred  except  upon  those  who  demand  it  with  their  own  lips ;  hence 
they  infer  the  other  error,  that  baptism  does  not  profit  infants  who  receive  it.' ' 

II.  Alanus,  who  died  A.  D.  1203,  appears  to  include  the  Waldensians  amongst 
those  who  reject  infant  baptism,  and  yet  it  is  not  positive  that  he  does;  although 
he  is  writing  against  them.  He  represents  those  whom  he  denounces  as  saying 
that  '  baptism  avails  nothing  before  years  of  discretion  are  reached.  Infants  are  not 
profited  by  it,  because  they  do  not  believe.  Hence  a  candidate  is  usually  asked 
whether  he  believes  in  God,  the  Father  Omnipotent.  Baptism  profits  an  unheliever 
as  little  as  it  does  an  infant.  Why  should  those  be  baptized  who  caimot  be 
instructed  ? '  ® 

III.  Stephen  of  Borbone  says,  A.  D.  1225  :  '  One  argument  of  their  error  is, 
that  baptism  does  not  profit  little  children  to  their  salvation,  who  have  neither  the 
motive  nor  the  act  of  faith,  as  it  is  said  in  the  latter  part  of  Mark,  he  who  will  not 
believe  will  be  condemned.' ' 

lY.  Pseudo  Eeinerius,  A.  D.  1230-1250  :  '  Concerning  baptism,  they  say,  the 
Catechism  is  of  no  value.  Again,  that  the  washing  that  is  given  to  infants  is  of  no 
value.  Again,  that  the  sponsors  do  not  undeistamt  what  they  answer  to  the  priest. 
They  do  not  regard  compaternity '  (/.  c,  the  i-elati.in  ,jf  sponsors).' 

V.  Moneta,  the  Dominican,  who  winte  lielnic  A.  D.,  1240:  'They  maintain 
the  nullity  of  the  baptism  of  infants,  and  atfirm  that  no  one  can  be  saved  before  at- 
taining the  age  of  reason.''  Hahn.  in  quoting  Moneta,  makes  him  say:  'These 
heretics  charge  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  baptizes  first  and  teaches  after- 
ward, while  the  Church  of  Christ  taught  at  first  before  baptizing ;  also,  that  Christ 
and  his  Apostles  never  baptized  awy  one  without  faith  and  reason.' 

VI.  One  of  the  Austrian  Inquisitors,  A.  D.  1260:  'Concerning  baptism,  some 
err  in  saying  that  little  eliildien  are  not  saved  by  baptism, for  the  Lord  says,  he  that 
believeth  and  is  bajiti/ed  AiA\  he  saved.  Now,  a  child  does  not  yet  believe,  conse- 
quently is  not  saved.'  i  lly  lia})tisni,  he  must  mean.)  'Some  of  them  baptize  over  again, 
others  lay  on  hands  without  baptism.' '" 

VII.  David  of  Augsburg,  A.  D.  1256-1272  :  '  They  say  that  a  man  is  then  truly, 
for  the  first  time,  baptized,  when  he  is  brought  into  their  heresy.  But  some  say 
that  baptism  does  not  profit  little  children,  because  they  are  never  able  actually  to 
believe.' " 

It  may  be  that  some  of  these  writers  did  not  intend  these  remarks  to  apply  to 
the  Waldensians  alone,  or  if  so,  to  all  of  them  without  exception.  Some  of  the  early 
members  of  the  sect  may  have  earnestly  rejected  infant  baptism,  while  it  is  certain 


304  SOMI':    WALDENSIAN  IIAPTISTS. 

that  uiaiiy  of  the  Dispersed  did  and  ])racticed  only  tiio  l«iptism  of  believers.  Clearly 
those  of  the  Eomauce  class,  who  united  with  the  Eeformers  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
held  few  Baptist  sentiments  which  made  either  party  hesitate  at  the  union.  The  em- 
bassy sent  to  Bucer  and  (Ecolampadius,  in  1531,  shows  how  these  communities  stood 
with  Eome  on  that  subject.  They  really  came  to  learn  of  the  Eeformers  what  their 
contest  with  Eome  meant ;  for  they  did  not  understand  the  full  difference  between 
the  contestants,  and  wished  to  be  instructed.  A  great  Council  of  the  "Waldensians 
was  hell!  at  Angrogiia,  in  Savoy,  1532,  to  which  the  Swiss  Protestants  sent  Farel 
and  ()li\etaii,  ami  then  a  new  departure  was  taken.  Henceforth  the  Piediuontese 
"Waldensians  were  joined  to  the  Swiss  Protestant  Pedobaptists ;  although  a  minority 
of  the  Council  refused  to  be  bound  by  its  decision,  though  not  on  purely  Baptist 
grounds.  One  of  the  weaknesses  of  the  Swiss  Protestants  has  always  been  that  they 
have  spent  their  strength  in  asserting  that  Pedobaptism  is  valid ;  as  if  they  had 
derived  the  first  practical  benefit  from  it  in  their  struggle  with  Eome  ;  and  as  if  this 
hugging  of  a  limb  of  popei'y  were  really  necessary  to  an  efficient  protest  against 
the  other  errors  of  that  dark  system.  At  the  time  that  this  union  took  place  the 
Eeformers  were  bitterly  persecuting  the  so-called  Anabaptists,  even  unto  death,  for 
rejecting  infant  baptism. 

There  was,  however,  a  remarkable  association  between  the  Waldensians  of  the 
Dispersion  and  the  Baptists  in  the  sixteenth  century,  both  in  doctrine  and  practice. 
Mosheini  and  Liniliorch  mark  this  likeness,  the  latter  saying  :  '  To  speak  candidly 
what  I  think,  vi'  all  the  modern  sects  of  Christians,  the  Dutch  Baptists  most  resem- 
ble both  the  Albigenses  and  Waldenses.'  '^  Indeed,  in  some  cases,  the  Baptists  evi- 
dently sprang  from  the  Waldensians,  and  every-where  in  that  century  pushed  resist- 
ance of  infant  baptism  to  the  front ;  so  that  it  was  made  the  chief  ground  of  their 
martyrdom  by  both  Protestants  and  Catholics.  Goebel,  in  his  '  History  of  Christian 
Life  in  the  Ehine  Provinces,'  says  that  wherever  in  Germany,  before  the  Eeformation, 
there  were  large  bodies  of  Waldensians,  there,  during  the  Eeformation,  large  bodies 
of  '  Anabaptists  '  sprang  up.  At  that  time  this  people  alarmed  all  Europe.  Every 
Church  and  State  stood  in  awe  of  their  increase,  and  this  panic  united  all  their  foes 
in  the  ignoble  bonds  of  bloody  persecution.  While  some  Protestants  denied  the 
doctrine  of  baptismal  regeneration,  not  believing  that  unbaptized  children,  dying, 
perished  ;  yet  they  were  as  firmly  resolved  to  burn  all  who  cast  infant  baptism  aside, 
as  were  those  who  lodged  the  salvation  of  babes  in  their  baptism. 

On  one  point  more  the  Waldensians  of  the  Dispersion  were  one  with  the  Anti- 
pedobaptists.  They  insisted  upon  a  regenerate  Church  membership  marked  by  bap- 
tism upon  their  personal  faith  ;  while  in  later  times,  at  least,  most  of  the  Eomance 
Waldensians  became  Pedobaptists  and  semi-Eomanists  upon  that  point.  The  Bap- 
tists of  to-day  and  the  original  Waldensians  have  much  in  common.  They  sought 
the  restoration  of  Apostolic  Church  life  in  a  true  Christian  character  and  in  a  holy 
Church  membership  ;  they  followed  the  literal  interpretation  of    Scripture  ;  their 


77/AY/i'  ciiritrii  (lovHiiXMEyr.  303 

])ri(>stliood  was  that  of  believers  aiul  not  of  a  liierairhy,  tnen  renewed  in  lieart  and 
life  ;  they  rejected  the  error  of  regeneration  by  baptism  ;  the}'  believed  in  and  prac- 
ticed immersion  onl}',  even  if  their  babes  were  baptized  ;  and  they  made  holiness 
of  heart  and  life  the  point  on  which  every  thing  turned  concerning  the  living  ma- 
terial of  wiiich  the  Church  of  Christ  must  be  composed. 

As  to  the  Church  government  of  the  Waldensians,  it  is  necessary  to  speak  with  great 
caution.  The  Frencli  Waldensians  held  to  the  Episcopal  form  by  three  orders,  bishops, 
priests  and  deacons ;  but  Reinerius  says  of  the  sect  in  general :  '  They  say,  the  bishops, 
clei'gy  and  other  religious  orders  are  no  better  than  the  scribes  and  Pharisees.'  This  re- 
lates to  character,  however,  but  they  did  not  despise  a  true  Christian  ministry  ;  for  the 
same  writer,  who  was  a  resident  of  Lombardy,  says  that  there  they  had  '  elders.'  Yet 
there  is  nothing  to  show  that  they  had  any  order  of  ministers  amongst  them  as  a  uni- 
versal thing;  or  even  regularly  located  pastors,  as  we  should  deem  them.  They 
liad  '  barbs '  or  preachers,  but  on  the  princijjle  of  the  seventy  disciples  whom  Jesus 
sent  forth  two  by  two.  These  were  not  divided  into  orders,  but  into  three  moral 
classes,  from  which  the  mistake  has  arisen  concerning  an  Episcopal  form  of  govern- 
ment. Tlu-y  had  the  preaching  class  of  celibates,  the  contemplative  class  of  celi- 
bates, a  sort  of  monks  and  nuns,  and  the  preaching  class  of  married  men.  Waldo 
and  his  preachers  committed  large  portions  of  the  Bible  to  memory,  and  going  into 
the  highways,  hedges,  streets  and  lanes  of  their  cities  and  villages  they  repeated 
these  passages,  explaining  and  enforcing  them.  Whether  men  and  women  were 
learned  or  illiterate,  they  taught  them  the  gospels  by  heart  ami,  in  tui'ii,  sent  them 
out  to  teach  the  same.  These  went  from  house  to  house  teaching  aiul  i)reacliing 
wherever  they  could  find  hearers.  They  have  'No  fixed  dwelling  place,  but  go 
about  two  by  two,  barefoot,  clad  in  penitent's  raiment,  like  the  Apostles  stripped 
of  all,  following  the  Christ  who  was  stripped  of  all.'  '^  Preger  says  that  all  'Ecclesi- 
astical authority  was  vested  in  the  congregation,  so  that  there  was  no  room  for 
bishops  ; '  and,  of  course,  it  was  their  only  court  of  discipline  and  appeal. '''  In  this 
fraternity  of  preachers,  in  the  absence  of  orders  distinction  was  made  between  them  as 
major  and  minor.  This  arose  from  the  custom  of  sending  them  out  in  twos,  a 
young  man  and  an  older,  that  the  younger  might  learn  from  the  elder.  Reinerius 
represents  them  as  holding  that  all  men  in  Christ's  Church  stand  on  an  exact  parity, 
no  one  being  greater  than  another,  and  that  the  sacrament  of  orders  is  a  nullity. 
The  account  of  the  conference  of  the  twelve  delegates  held  at  Bergamo  shows  as 
much.  The  first  questioTi  which  they  were  called  to  settle  was  occasioned  by  Waldo's 
wish  that  no  one  should  be  put  over  all  the  societies.  They  agreed  to  a  sort  of 
general  superintendency  as  most  conducive  to  peace  and  prosperity  in  all  their 
communities.  The  superintendents  were  to  be  chosen  for  a  definite  period,  or  it 
might  be  for  life. 

It  was  further  determined  that  cither  new  converts  or  tried  friends  might  be 
appointed  as  preachers.  Waldo  had  prejudice  against  the  co-oi)erative  communities 
21 


306  MhJTJIODS;    Oh'   I,AP,()I!. 

tu  wliicli  tliu  Loirilinrdy  Iirrtliivn  licluiii^vd.  fcuriii;;-  tlic  innliie  influence  of  prosperity 
n|i<in  Ihcni.  Tlif  .•(.nimiinitv  M^lcin  rlicy  l;ii<l  ;i>iilc,  ami  a  iter  tliat,  juvat-liers  and  people 

alike  were  allow cil  fu  I'aiai  i cy.     Tlicir  sy.'^teui  of  jjreaching  shaped  itself  after  the 

order  of  an  itineivmcy,  Evcivycai-  thcii-  Karbs  or  preachers  mettoconferalwut  the  gen- 
eral interests  of  their  people,  mnch  a.-  tiie  Society  of  Friends  do  now,  and  to  'station 
the  preachers  '  as  the  Methodist  call  .-innlar  w oi-l^.  This  they  denominated  '  changing 
the  twos; '  for  except  the  intii'ni  and  eld.  tliey  i-eniained  from  but  one  to  three  years 
in  a  plaiM-.  These  ]3reachers  weiv  pour  and  iijade  ]M_i\ci'ty  a  virtue  biith  uf  necessity 
and  clieiec,  and  small  sums  uf  UKUiey  were  i;i\en  to  tljcm  for  their  supijort.  But 
tliey  had  nu  i-ei^ular  salai-y.  and  at  their  ann\ial  meeting  they  divided  money  amongst 
the  pnur  whip  were  not  preaidieis  and  aiiioni;bt  themselves,  as  each  needed.  If  any 
of  these  travelin--  missionaries  had  fallen  into  grievous  sins  through  the  year,  they 
were  expelled.  IF  any  had  (.'oninntted  lighter  faults,  they  were  admonished  and  for- 
given. And  when  all  had  asked  forgiveness  of  each  other,  they  went  out  to  do  the 
work  of  anotliei-  year. 

George  Morel,  one  of  their  jireacliers,  details  all  this  and  more  to  Bncer  and 
CEcolampadius,  A.  D.  l.");'.o,  in  these  words:  'So  also  we  go  forth  once  a  year,  to 
visit  ourj)eopli'  in  tliLir  honic^,  for  they  dwell  in  the  mountains,  in  various  hamlets 
and  villages,  and  we  hear  one  after  another  in  secret  confession.  .  .  .  Our  jjeople 
for  the  most  part  are  a  simple  peasantry,  gaining  their  liveliiiood  liy  agriculture, 
scattered  by  the  frequent  persecutions  in  many  places,  and  separated  from  each 
other  by  great  spaces.  For  from  one  end  to  the  other  is  eight  hundred  miles. 
They  are  every-where  suljjeet  to  the  civil  magistrates  and  the  priests  of  the  unbe- 
lievers. Yet,  by  the  grace  of  (lod,  it  never  or  rarely  happens  that  a  Waldensian 
man  or  woman  is  arrested  or  punished  by  the  said  authorities,  or  that  one  visits 
houses  of  ill  fame."  In  this  passage  the  word  'milh'  (miles)  has  been  mistaken  for 
7iiille  (thousands),  and  some  unknown  writer  has  put  the  figures  8(30,000  into  the 
margin  of  the  manuscript ;  from  which  blunder  all  sorts  of  fabulous  numbers  have 
been  ascribed  to  the  Romance  Waldensians,  while  the  valleys  in  which  they  lived 
could  not  be  made  to  sujjjjort  100,000  people  at  the  most.  When,  therefoi'e,  we 
read  in  Reinerius  and  others  of  Waldensian  'churches,'  we  are  obliged  to  take  the 
phrase  in  a  modified  sense ;  for  in  truth  they  seem  to  have  been  less  of  a  sect,  in  the 
modern  sense  of  the  terra,  than  a  disjointed  series  of  congregations  or  societies  of 
religious  men.  According  to  the  showing  of  Herzog,  these  congregations  were 
not  all  alike  either  amongst  the  Romance  or  the  Dispersed.  They  appear  to  have  had 
no  fixed  ecclesiastical  organization,  for  which  they  each  claimed  Gospel  authority; 
but  they  left  their  plans  free  to  be  nKxlitied  l)y  their  trying  circumstances  to  any  re- 
quired extent.  It  is  tolerably  evident  that  they  were  religious  bodies  without  due 
constitutional  form,  serving  only  the  ends  of  a  godly  brotherhood  in  brotherly  love, 
rather  than  the  purposes  of  strict  supervision,  watehcare  and  extension.  All  can 
see  from  the  circumstances  of  the  case  that  it  would  have  been  extremelv  difficult, 


riiKii;  h'F.r.A  rioxs  ro  home.  so? 

if  not  impossible,  to  keep  uj)  ro'^ulai-  and  visibio  Cliurdi  organizations  with  the 
hiws  of  the  State  sternly  against  tlieni.  They  could  maintain  amongst  themselves 
an  understood  8ei)aration  from  the  Catholic  hierarchy,  but  they  had  not  the  civil 
right  to  avow  an  oprn  niiituiv  willi  Imhuo,  and  to  perfect  an  open  organized 
separation. 

Indeed,  it  is  questionable  whether  they  did  not  consider  themselves  as  a  bodv  of 
lioly  men  still  within  the  Church  of  Eome,  rather  than  as  sejmrate  churches,  in  the 
proper  sense  of  the  word,  something  after  the  Wesleyan  order  of  societies  within  the 
Established  Church  of  England  during  the  life  of  Wesley  and  long  afterward.  That 
Churcli  persecuted  them  bitterly,  and  yet  Wesley  and  his  immediate  followers  went  to 
it  regularly  for  the  ordinances.  There  is  a  singular  confusion  in  the  statement  of  Eein- 
erius  and  others  on  this  point.  They  charge  the  Waldensians  with  arrogance  for  as- 
suming that  they  were  the  only  Church  of  Christ,  and  in  the  same  breath  tliey  charge 
them  with  craft  for  remaining  in  the  Catholic  communion.  For  example,  a  Roman 
Inquisitor  who  claims  that '  he  had  exact  knowledge  of  the  Waldensians,'  says :  '  They 
communicate  and  administer  the  sacraments  in  the  vulgar  tongue.'  And  again :  '  They 
celebrate  the  Eucharist  in  their  household  cujis  and  say  that  the  corporal,  or  cloth 
on  whicii  the  host  is  laid,  is  no  holier  than  the  eloth  of  their  breeches.'  Then, 
with  marked  inconsistency,  Reinerius  makes  these  two  separate  statements,  namely  : 
'  They  do  not  believe  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  to  be  the  true  sacrament,  but 
only  blessed  bread  which,  by  a  figure  only,  is  called  the  body  of  Christ.  .  .  .  This  sac- 
rament they  celebrate  in  their  assemblies,  repeating  the  words  of  the  Gospel  at  their 
table,  and  participating  together,  in  imitation  of  Christ's  Supper.'  Yet  after  that 
he  adds,  either  truly  or  falsely :  '  They  frequent  our  churches,  are  present  at  divine 
service,  offer  at  the  altar,  confess  to  the  priests,  observe  the  Church  fasts,  celeln-ate 
festivals,  reverently  bowing  their  heads,  though  in  the  meantime  they  scoff  at  all 
these  institutions  of  the  Church,  looking  upon  them  as  profane  and  hurtful.'  Last 
of  all  he  makes  this  remarkable  statement  which  seems  to  cover  both  the  others, 
namely  :  that  they  hold  '  a  great  show  of  truth,  for  that  they  live  righteously  before 
men,  and  believe  all  things  well  of  God,  and  all  the  articles  which  are  contained  in 
the  creed,  only  they  blaspheme  and  hate  the  Church  of  Rome.' 

We  must  either  throw  his  testimony  aside  as  one  tissue  of  falsehood,  or  believe 
that  some  of  the  original  Waldensians  did  accept  such  offices  from  the  Romish 
priests,  possiblj^  from  fear.  But  we  cannot  reject  this  evidence,  for  ]\lorel  himself 
states  to  the  Reformers :  'We  abominate  the  masses,  but  we  attend  tijeni,  ami  re- 
ceive the  host  at  the  hands  of  the  Roman  priests.'  This  the  priests  would  not  object 
to,  for  they  did  not  look  upon  them  as  an  ecclesiastical  body,  but  as  religious 
guilds  of  weavers.  Yet  they  cursed  them  again  and  again,  for  between  A.  D. 
1307-1323  the  In<juisition  of  France  passed  six  hundred  and  seven  sentences  against 
heretics,  and  ninety-two  of  them  were  against  the  Waldensians  under  one  name  or 
another.     Besides,  David  of  Augsburg,  A.  D.  125(J-12T2,  declares  that  in  his  day  they 


SOS  TUEIH  LOVE   OF  scnil'TVIll':. 

attended  Miccniifcssioiis,  fasts,  feasts  and  sacraments  ,,r  the  Callh.lie  (Inircli.  And  at 
tlie  time  uf  the  Kefurmati,,!!,  (Ke,.lani|iadiiis  lavs  the  snne  ehar-e  at  their  i\n,,v  :  ■  We 
hear  that  you,  thn.ui^h  tea  i- uf  |jer,-.eenti(.n.  have  (h^nied  and  concealed  yourfaitli  to  tliat 
degree,  tliat  yon  hohl  eommunion  with  rhe  unhelie\  ers,  and  go  to  those  masses  which 
are  only  woi'tliy  of  ahhorrenet'."  lie  then  tells  them  that  they  had  better  suffer  'in 
the  abyss  of  hell  "  than  emlure  against  their  eonseienees  tlie  blasphemies  of  the 
godless.  And,  aeeoi-ilini;-  to  (niillies,  theii-  own  lii>toi-ian,  they  only  gave  up  all  fel- 
lowship with  the  (!atliolics  when  at  the  synod  ,,f  Angrogiia,  A.  D.  1532,  the 
Eeformers  refused  to  unite  with  them  on  any  othei'  condition.  But  the  Bohemian 
Waldensians,  as  late  as  1573,  ,<;ave  as  the  reasiin  why  they  had  never  united  with 
some  of  their  own  "Waklensian  jieople  elsewhere,  that  'for  the  sake  of  peace  they 
attended  the  papal  mass,  which  they  knew  to  be  idolatrous.'  It  is  more  reasonable 
to  apply  this  evidence  as  showing  the  Waldensians  to  be  a  Christian  body  without 
formal  ('iiinch  organization,  than  to  regard  them  as  hypocrites,  as  Reinerius  did,  or 
as  niemln^rs  of  two  antagonist  Churches  at  the  same  time  for  any  reason  whatever. 

A  wonl  may  be  needfid  on  their  pre-eminent  love  of  the  Bible.  Stephen  of 
Borbone  tells  us  of  "Waldo's  eaie  that  it  be  translated  into  the  peculiar  Romance 
dialect.  No  cluiraeteristic  ^^■as  more  marked  in  the  Waldensians  than  their  love  for 
the  sacred  volume,  and  this  lo\e  eomjielled  them  to  share  the  treasure  with  others 
by  translations  into  the  l-'lemish,  (ieianan  and  French.  Neander  says  that  their 
two  characteristics,  ahove  all  others  in  Germany,  wei'e  their  general  distriljution  of 
the  Scriptures  and  the  common  priesthood  of  believers.''  Ilerzog  finds  no  sect 
which  was  so  zealous  for  the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures  as  they.  Others  built 
Church  systems  and  sought  to  make  the  Kible  support  them,  thus  rendering  it  a 
secondary  means ;  but,  says  Ochsenbein,  the  Waldensians  laid  down  the  Bible  as 
the  foundation  and  practically  built  upon  its  truths."^  A  liomish  Inquisitor,  in 
sjjeakiug  of  them,  tells  i;s  :  '  They  can  say  a  great  part  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments by  heart.  They  despise  the  decretals  and  the  sayings  and  expositions  of  holy 
men  and  cleave  only  to  the  te.xt  of  Scripture.  .  .  .  They  contend  that  the  doe- 
trine  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles  is  sufficient  to  salvation  without  any  Church  statutes 
and  ordinances,  and  affirm  that  the  traditions  of  the  Church  are  no  better  than  the 
traditions  of  the  Pharisees,  insisting,  moreover,  that  greater  stress  is  laid  on  the 
observation  of  human  tradition  than  on  the  keeping  of  the  law  of  God.'  Seisselius, 
Archbi-shop  of  Turin,  also  states:  'They  receive  oidy  what  is  written  in  tlie  Old 
and  New  Testaments.'  Last  of  all,  Reinerius  reports  that  '  whatever  is  preached 
that  is  not  substantiated  by  the  text  of  the  Bible  they  esteem  fables ; '  for  which 
reason  Pope  Pius  II.  complains  of  their  holding  that  '  baptism  ought  to  be  admin- 
istered without  the  addition  of  holy  oil,'  a  fact  which  explains  the  further  remark 
of  Reinerius :  '  They  hold  that  none  of  the  ordinances  of  the  Church  which  have 
been  introduced  since  Christ's  ascension  ought  to  be  observed,  as  being  of  no 
value.' 


riiE  sri'i'iui.  309 

It  is  not  likely  that  the  Cathulii-s  were  tir^^t  impelled  to  forbid  the  Llilde  to  the 
people  by  tlie  inaligimiit  purpose  of  shutting  them  up  in  darkness,  but  by  that  ultra 
conservatism  which  dares  not  put  it  into  the  hands  of  the  unlettered  to-day  without 
an  accompanying  ert'ed.  The  public  mind  is  csteeuied  by  many  to  be  unbalanced, 
and  its  bent  must  be  .-Imped  carefully  or  it  will  lie  jierverted.  The  Waldensiaiis 
cast  all  such  rubbish  to  the  wind  believing  that  the  IJibli;  never  corrupted  any  man. 
while  creeds  have  eori'upted  millions.  Hence  we  lind  in  one  of  their  sermons  on 
the  Sower  the  following  tribute  to  the  Holy  Oracles :  'The  word  of  (iod  is  the 
salvation  of  the  souls  of  the  poor,  the  cordial  of  the  languishing,  the  food  of  the 
hungry,  the  consolation  of  the  attticted,  the  excommunication  of  vice,  the  heir  of 
virtue,  the  shame  of  devils,  the  light  of  hearts,  the  way  of  the  traveler.' 

At  the  Conference  of  I'erganu),  the  Lord's  Supper  was  a  subject  of  wide  dif- 
feri'uce,  but  both  .sides  appear  Id  have  interpreted  the  words:  'This  is  my  body,' 
literally,  as  Luther  did.  The  Lombards  would  not  admit,  liow'cver,  with  their 
Romance  brethren,  that  any  one  could  change  the  bread  into  the  body  of  the  Lord, 
but  confined  that  power  to  holy  men.  They  quoted  nuuiy  te.xts  of  Scripture  to  prove 
that  the  sacrifices  of  the  wicked  are  an  abomination  to  the  Lord.  Yet  in  order  to 
provide  for  a  faithful  worshiper  who  was  served  by  an  unfaithful  administrator,  it 
was  asserted  that  (bid  himself  v.'ould  change  the  elements  in  such  a  case  without 
the  aid  of  man.  The  Loudniitls  were  further  asked,  'Why  they  had  given  up  their 
former  practice  of  confession  ^  To  which  they  replied:  'When  I  was  a  child  I 
spake  as  a  child,  but  wdien  I  became  a  man,  I  put  away  childish  things.'  With  con- 
fession, the  Dispersed  Waldensians  put  away  the  childish  practice  of  the  mass,  and 
abandoned  the  dognui  of  the  real  presence  in  the  Supper.  The  great  theologian, 
David,  of  Augsburg,  who  died  A.  D.  1272,  declares  unequivocally  of  the  Bavarian 
Waldensians :  '  They  do  not  believe  that  it  is  really  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ, 
but  oidy  consecrated  bread,  which  is  called  the  body  of  (Jhrist,  figuratively,  as  Christ 
is  also  called  the  '  Hock.'  Herzog  gives  the  following  description  of  the  Supper  as 
certain  of  the  Waldensians  celebrated  that  ordinance : 

'  Every  year  they  met  for  the  observance.  The  presiding  officer  called  the  assem- 
bly to  oixler.  A  goblet  of  unmi.xed  wine  and  a  cake  of  unleavened  bread  were 
placed  upon  a  cloth-covered  table.  The  administrator  exhorted  the  assembly  to 
pray  for  the  forgiveness  of  their  sins,  and  re|)eat  the  Lord's  Prayer  seven  times,  to 
the  honor  of  God  and  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  that  he  would  himself  prepare  the  sacra- 
ment. Then  all  fell  on  their  knees,  and  prayed  the  Lord's  Prayer  .seven  times. 
After  they  had  ari.sen,  the  presiding  officer  made  a  sign  over  the  bread  and  wine, 
broke  the  bread,  distributed  it  among  them,  all  standing.  Li  the  same  manner  he 
served  the  cup.'  " 

Their  views  of  Religious  Liberty  are  easily  gathered.  So  free  did  they  hold  them- 
selves, that  the}'  contemned  excommunication  even  from  the  true  Church  of  Christ 
simply  for  the  holding  of  any  particular  religious  opinions,  and  treated  expulsion  from 
the  Catholics  with  contempt.     They  silenced  their  ministers  for  iunnorality,  but  we 


SlO  rjIEY    CLAIM  RELiaiOVH   FREFAJOM. 

know  iK'xt  to  notliiiii;-  of  dtlicr  |iiiiiisliiiiriits  in  tlieir  lii-<itlierlioiML  As  to  civil  inter- 
ference, Alaniis  sa_vs  that  ' 'I'licv  dciiicil  tlie  ri-lit  tn  ]ieiver\itr  men  for  their  relig- 
ious views  and  practices.'  In  kee]iing  with  this  statement,  their  '  C'antica'  denounces 
the  'clergy  of  the  Church  of  the  nialignants  as  evil  hunters,  who  kill  the  hunted 
after  the  manner  of  hungry  hounds.  Pretending  to  be  spiritual  hunters  they  are 
become  wicked  foxes,  that  slay  with  evil  teeth  the  poor  chickens  of  Christ.  Such 
are  the  homicidal  monks.  .  .  .  Verily,  as  in  the  days  of  Christ,  Annas  and  Caiaphas 
and  the  rest  were  Pharisees,  so,  now,  Pope  Innocent ;  they  would  not  go  into  the  house 
of  Pilate  lest  they  be  detiled,  they  delivered  up  Christ  to  the  secular  arm,  just  as 
tiiey  do  yet.' 

Thus  Gdd  raised  up  this  noble  peojile  in  the  deep  gli.iom  of  the  ages  to  shine  as 
a  light  in  the  dai'k  ]>laces  of  the  earth— a  wliite  lily  in  Alpine  ^ii..ws.  t<.  l)luoni 
amongst  thoi-ns,  thistles  and  weeds.  They  give  this  accnunt  nf  thenisel\-es  in  the 
'  Noble  Lesson  : '  '  The  Scripture  says,  and  we  can  see  it,  that  if  there  is  a  good  man 
who  loves  and  fears  Jesus  Christ,  who  will  not  curse  and  swear  and  lie  and  com- 
mit adultei-y,  and  kill  and  rob,  and  avenge  himself  on  iiis  enemy  ;  they  say  at  once 
he  is  a  Waldensian  and  worthy  of  punishment.'  One  of  tiieir  smaller  Catechisms 
teaches  six  commandments  of  Jesus :  'Thou  shalt  not  be  angry  with  thy  brother, 
nor  look  upon  a  woman  to  lust  after  her,  nor  put  away  thy  wife  except  for  the 
cause  of  adultciy,  nor  swear,  nor  resist  evil,  and  thou  shalt  love  thine  enemy.'  For 
the  maintainance  of  these  things  they  were  hated  and  abused  for  centuries.  In  the 
Alps  they  were  a  simple  and  primitive  community  of  shepherds  and  farmers,  whose 
country  was  naturally  inaccessible  and  barren.  They  passed  through  thirty-six  per- 
secutions which  spared  neither  age  nor  sex. 

The  crusade  of  Simon  of  Moutfort  so  utterly  destroyed  them  that  Sismondi 
says :  '  Simon  stamj^ed  out  not  only  a  people  bnt  a  literature.'  Dominic,  the  father 
of  the  Inquisition,  persecuted  them  with  a  high  hand.  From  A.  D.  1160-1500  their 
fortunes  varied  from  the  greatest  prosperity  to  the  depths  of  misery;  alternating 
from  an  ardent  zeal  against  the  Romish  Church  to  a  cowering  dread  and  a  wretched 
compromise  on  the  part  of  many  with  the  doctrines  of  Rome,  very  similar  to  the  Old 
Catholic  movement  of  our  times.  The  most  dreadful  of  all  their  persecutions  began 
in  1560,  when  many  of  their  villages  were  deserted.  The  old,  the  feeble,  women 
and  children,  fled  to  the  forests,  the  rocks,  the  highest  peaks  of  the  mountains. 
Unti-ained  peasants  were  obliged  to  form  themselves  into  small  brigades.  Tottering 
old  men  and  boys  organized  themselves  into  guards  and  sentinels,  and  accomplished 
immortal  exploits  by  their  skill  and  fortitude  against  veteran  invaders.  Possibly 
it  had  been  better  had  they  earlier  invoked  the  spirit  of  men,  wlio.  in  defense  of 
their  holiest  rights  to  serve  God,  must  measure  swords  with  the  incarnate  fiends  and 
craven  bigots  wlio  dared  to  oppress  them,  on  the  ground  that  to  thrash  a  coward  is 
to  challenge  his  respect.  The  horrible  Inquisition  was  formed  for  the  express 
purpose  of  planting  an  iron  foot  ujion  thetliroat  of  the  most  hallowed  rights  of  man. 


CRUELTIES. 


It  iicvur  was  suppressed  till  organized  force  cliastised  it; 
might  have  cowed  its  dcvilishness  much  sooner,  butli  to  tlie 
This  tribunal  of  infernal  origin  clothed  certain  inttuks  with 
lire  Waldensians  and 
lead  thcni  to  execu- 
tion without  legal 
forms  or  the  rights 
of  trial.  Aiul  that 
power  was  plied  upon 
these  inolfensive  peo- 
ple in  those  extremes 
which  nothing  can 
intlanie  hut  sancti- 
monious infernalism. 
Many  of  them  were 
frozen  to  death,  others 
were  cast  from  high 
precipices  and  dashed 
to  pieces.  Some  were 
driven  into  caverns, 
and  by  tilling  the 
mouths  of  their  caves 
with  fagots  were 
suffocated.  Otlier.- 
were  hanged  in  cold 
blood,  ripped  open 
and  disemboweled, 
pierced  with  prongs, 
drowned,  racked  limb 
from  linil)  till  death 
relieved  them  :  were 
stab! led,  worried  l)y 
dogs,  burned,  or  cru- 
cified with  their  heads 
downward.  Fox  re- 
lates one  case  in  which 
four  hundred  mothers 
who  had  taken  refuge 
entered  hy  a  projecting  crag,  were  smothc 
all  the  time  that  this  gentle  blocd  was  llo 
noceiit  III,  drank    it    in  like   nef-rar  of    1 


and  the  same  treatment 
honor  of  (iod  and  man. 
limitless  iiower  to  tort- 


■V#^^ 


the  Cave  of  Castellnzzo,  some  2,000  feet  above  the  valley, 
th  their  infants  in  their  arms.  And 
that  sani'titied  beauty  known  as  In- 
c.     (,)f  the   Waldensians  and  other 


312  MAUryilDOM   OF  SAOER. 

niunlered  .sheup  of  ('liri.^t,  lie  .siiil  :  'Tiicv  arc  like  Samson's  foxes.  Tliev  ajipear 
to  be  different,  but  tlieir  tails  are  tied  togetlicr.'  The  bluod-tliirst  of  the  Dominicans 
earned  for  them  the  sti<j;-ina  of  'Domini  Canes;  or  the  'Lord's  Dogs.'  Tlie  very 
sentences  wliieli  thev  i)i-(.n(iiinced  in  iiKiekery  uf  trial  and  Justice  were  a  Satanic 
(•()iii|)uiind  cd'  formality  and  heartlessness.  saiietimiiiiy  and  axarice,  obseqniousness 
and  arrogance.  At  the  conelnsi(jn  id'  a  se.-->i(Ui  of  the  Jininisilion,  held  in  Switzer- 
land, 1430,  the  following  decree  was  ])idilis]ied  : 

'  In  the  name  of  God,  Amen.  We,  Brother  Ulricli  of  Torrente,  of  the  Domini- 
can order  at  Lausanne,  and  with  full  apostolic  authority,  Inquisitor  of  heretical  iniq- 
nity.  in  the  diocese  of  Lausanne  ;  and  John  de  Colunipnis,  Licentiate  and  especially 
ajipointed  to  this  work  by  the  venerable  father  in  Christ,  Lord  William  of  Challant, 
Bishop  of  Lausanne,  have  directed  by  the  pure  process  of  the  Inquisition  that  you, 
Peter  Sagei-,  boi'ii  at  Montrich,  now  sixty  years  old,  thirty  years  and  more  ago 
forswore  the  Waldcnsian  heresy  iu  the  city  of  Bern,  but  since  then  have  returned  to 
that  ]ierverse  faith,  as  a  dog  to  his  vomit,  and  held  and  done  many  thing.s  detestable 
and  vile  against  the  most  holy  and  venerable  Roman  Church.  You  have  stubb<irnly 
asserted  tliat  there  is  no  purgatory,  but  only  heaven  and  hell ;  that  ma>M>.  iiirrn-r>- 
sions  and  alms  for  the  souls  of  the  departed  are  of  no  avail;  and  theic  -.nv  many 
other  things  proved  against  you  in  your  trial,  that  show  that  you  have  fallen  back 
into  heresy.  O  grief !  Therefore  after  consideration,  and  investigation,  and  ma- 
ture consideration,  and  weighing  of  evidence  ;  and  after  consulting  the  statutes,  both 
of  divine  and  human  law,  and  arming  ourselves  with  the  revered  sign  of  the  Holy 
Cross,  we  declare :  In  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  Amen  ; — 
That  our  decision  may  proceed  from  the  presence  of  God  and  our  eyes  behold  jus- 
tice, turning  neither  to  "the  right  nor  to  the  left,  but  fixed  only  on  God  and  on  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  we  make  known  as  our  fiiud  sentence  from  this  seat  of  judgment,  that 
you,  Peter  Sager,  are  and  have  been  a  heretic,  treacherously  recreant  to  your 
oath  of  recantation.  As  a  relapsed  heretic,  we  commit  you  to  the  arm  of  the  secu- 
lar power.  However,  we  entreat  the  secular  authorities  to  execute  the  sentence  of 
death  more  mildly  than  the  canonical  statutes  require,  particularly  as  to  the 
mutilation  of  the  members  of  the  body.  We  further  decree,  that  all  and  every 
ju-oiK-rty  that  belongs  to  you,  Peter,  is  confiscated,  and  after  being  divided  into 
three  jiarts,  the  first  part  shall  go  to  the  government,  the  second  to  tlie  officers  of  the 
Inquisition,  and  the  third  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  trial. 

Some  of  the  town  expenses  attending  the  execution  of  Peter  are  found  in  the 
town  records,  as  follows  :  '  Paid  to  Master  Garnaneie  for  burning  Peter  Sager,  20 
shillings  ;  for  cords  and  stake,  10  shillings ;  for  the  pains  of  the  executioner,  28  shil- 
lings ;  special  watchmen  during  the  execution  in  the  city,  17  shillings,  6  pfennigs; 
in  the  citadel,  9  sols  ;  for  the  beadles,  14  shillings.'  The  fuel  must  have  cost  a  large 
amount,  as  twelve  wagon  loads  were  used.  Side  by  side  with  this  fiendish  record 
stand  these  two  charges:     'Twenty-eight  measures  of  wine  for  the  dance  at  the 

court-house,  in  honor  of  the  Count  of  Zil.     ■ ■  cauldron,  in  which  Caspar  Autoine, 

of  Milan,  was  boiled.'  '*     Have  Waldensian  blood  and  purity  ever  been  avenged  ? 


CHAPTER   XI. 

THE    BOHEMIAN     BRETHREN     AND    THE     LOLLARDS. 

IJS  tlie  thirteenth  century  and  onward,  a  few  seers  read  the  sii;-ns  of  the  eoniing 
Kefurniatiun.  Men's  suuls  felt  tlie  need  uf  it,  and  iiupe  lived  on.  They  saw 
that  the  cause  of  Clirist  was  not  dead,  its  vitality  was  but  suspended,  and  every-where 
prophetic  aspiration  looked  for  the  end  of  shameless  pretension  and  scandalous 
morals  in  the  Church.  Three  classes  are  known  as  the  Reformers  before  the  Ref- 
ormation :  the  Theologic  school,  chilled  by  farcical  superstition ;  the  Mystical, 
who  groaned  in  .spirit  after  God;  and  the  Biblical,  whose  faith  in  the  word  of  (iod 
never  faltered.  This  last  school  longed  to  cast  the  Bible  into  the  mass  of  torpid 
profligacy,  as  the  prophet  thiew  salt  into  the  pot  of  death.  John  Tauler,  A.  I). 
1290-1361,  was  the  most  noble  and  noted  of  the  Mystics.  He  was  the  son  of  a 
wealthy  farmer  of  Strasbnrg.  For  eight  years  he  sought  some  one  to  lead  him 
nearer  to  God,  and  at  last  found  his  tutor  in  a  beggar  at  the  gate  of  the  cathedral. 
He  allied  himself  with  those  known  as  'Friends  of  God,'  at  Strasburg  and  C'ologno, 
and  deserves  to  be  ranked  with  Fenelon  for  learning,  piety  and  eloquence.  Of 
his  sermons  Luther  said  to  Spalatin  :  '  If  you  enjoy  solid  theology,  just  like  the 
ancient,  get  Tauler's  sermons;  fori  have  found  no  theology,  whether  in  Latin  or 
in  any  other  tongue,  that  is  more  sound  and  consonant  with  the  Gospel.'  Ho  did 
little,  however,  to  reform  his  times ;  he  enjoyed  inner  fellowship  with  God  and 
trampled  upon  his  own  selfishness,  but  had  no  power  to  work  on  the  dead  level  of 
a  reformer. 

With  the  great  revival  of  letters  the  learned  began  to  appeal  fi-om  the  decrees 
of  the  Church  to  the  text  of  the  Fathers,  from  them  to  the  Latin  \'ulgate.  and 
then  from  that  translation  to  the  Greek  parchments.  But  the  Italian  thinkers 
rested  iu  the  revived  literature:  cliietiy  in  philosophy,  the  charms  of  verse 
and  the  golden  measurement  of  prose.  Some  of  them  were  kings  amongst  men ; 
but  the  restored  classic  form,  diction,  elegance,  imagination,  were  the  scepter  which 
they  waved,  and  its  motions  made  no  stir  of  dry  bones  in  the  open  valley  of  vice. 
Rome  gloried  iu  the  beauties  of  Hellas  rather  than  in  the  beauties  of  holiness,  in  the 
song  and  the  drama  rather  than  in  the  realities  of  saving  truth.  At  times  shame 
aroused  her  humanist  mood  and  she  had  fierce  fits  of  morality,  when  she  thun- 
dered against  licr  own  wickedness,  being  careful  always  not  to  strike  herself  with 
lightning.  She  was  like  the  acolyte,  who  all  his  life  had  been  too  close  to  the 
altar  to  feel  any  reverence  for  its  mysteries.      Old  Greek  thought  was  welcome,  but 


SI 4  .1  F.nrrxE  of  the  word. 

nut  the  Galilean.  I'ut  when  licr  lc:ii-iiiiin-  went  on  pil^-i-iniage  into  the  Ti"insal])ine 
kingdoms  and  t(inchc(l  flic  less  \ol;iiilc  imd  iikh-c  robust  races,  it  was  felt  at  the 
foundations  of  hunnuiity.  Ciurniaii  and  Italian  mind  met  at  Constance  and  Basle; 
the  souls  of  Dante,  Medici  and  Piccolomini  (Pius  II.)  clashed  with  the  controver- 
sialists at  Prague,  Vienna,  Cologne  and  Ileidellierg;  and  while  this  seething  mass 
was  all  alive,  (iiittenhurg  threw  the  lirst  printed  ilihle  into  the  vast  ferment,  and  it 
has  nevei-  been  i|uiet  since.  Fi-uiii  that  dav,  14.").">,  the  Refoi'mation  began  to  set  in 
firmly.  I'liat  nci'v  year  Reuchlin,  the  father  of  Hebrew  learning  in  Germany, 
was  burn,  and  twenty-two  years  later,  Erasmus.  These  were  called  the  'Two  eyes 
of  Germany.'  The  first  was  the  great  forerunner  of  Luther,  and  fought  against 
indulgences  for  a  generation  before  that  nioid<  was  boiii.  lie  dared  to  compare 
the  Vulgate  with  the  Hebrew  and  to  juiint  out  its  errors.  When  rebuked  for 
doing  so  he  said  :  'I  revere  St.  Jei-ome  as  an  angel;  I  respect  De  Lyra  as  a  master; 
but  I  adore  Truth  as  a  God.'  In  that  saying  he  uttered  the  great  tliought  of  the 
Reformation. 

The  first  great  master  who  had  grasped  it  was  the  princely  Yurksiiireman  and 
pure-hearted  pastor  of  Lutterwoi'th.  He  was  the  father  of  the  greatest  idea  of  three 
centuries,  namely  :  The  gift  of  the  Bible  to  England  in  English,  as  the  inheritance 
of  all,  from  the  king  and  queen  duwn  tu  the  pluw-buy  iind  niilk-niaid.  He  read  the 
charter  of  Gud  tu  man  traced  on  the  ]iarehment,  and  while  his  own  lieiirt  burned 
he  quietly  vowed  that  it  was  the  native  I'ight  of  every  Englishman  to  warm  his 
bosom  by  its  reading.  Men  call  this  lowly,  daring  farmer's  son  the  '  Morning  Star 
of  the  Eeformation.'  More  gracefully  may  WicklffE  wear  the  trope  of  Augustine, 
when  he  compares  some  saints  to  the  sun.  He  charmed  by  the  luster  of  his  rising, 
he  strengthened  by  the  reign  of  his  light,  he  filled  the  heavens  with  the  glow  of 
his  decline,  and  after  five  hundred  years  the  moon  and  the  stars  of  the  Reformation 
make  to  him  their  obeisance.  The  inflow  of  French  had  corrupted  the  old  vei-nacular, 
so  that  the  Anglo-Saxon  vei'sion  had  become  obsolete.  Besides,  it  had  become  a 
crime  for  those  who  could  read  the  Scriptures  in  their  mother  tongue  to  do  so.  The 
clergy  themsehes  were  grossly  illiterate,  many  curates  knew  not  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments, nor  euuld  they  understand  one  verse  of  the  Psalter.  Tiie  pope  sent 
his  bull  to  lieaumont  for  his  consecration  as  Bishop  of  Du)'hani ;  and  Andrews,  in 
his  '  History  of  Bi'itain,'  tells  us  that  he  tried  again  and  again  to  spell  out  its  words 
in  jrablic,  but  was  so  puzzled  that  at  last  he  cried  out:  '  By  St.  Louis!  it  could  be 
no  gentleman  who  wrote  this  stuff.'  Edward  III.  entered  his  protest  against  this 
state  of  things,  and  Wickliff  resolved  to  end  it  forever.  At  that  time  a  manu- 
script copy  of  one  page  of  Scripture  was  of  immense  cost  and  printing  was  not 
discovered.  The  annual  allowance  of  a  university  scholar  was  but  fifty  shillings, 
the  wages  of  a  laboring  man  three  half-pence  a  day,  and  two  arches  of  London 
bridge  only  cost  £25,  in  1240;  yet  in  1274  the  Abbot  of  Croxton  paid  for  a  fairly 
written  Bible  in  nine  volumes  the  sum  of  £33  lis.  8d. 


WICKLTFF   THE    TOnhSnrRE.VAX  315 

III  Wickliir,s  .lay  IIr'  contest  l,..t\vec.i  the  ( ■l.uivh  and  tlic  civil  powiT  was  just 
growing  severe,  and  lie  devoted  his  wliole  life  to  a  struggle  with  the  papacy.  Newman 
well  describes  the  conflict :  '  Tiie  State  said  to  the  Church,  "  I  am  the  only  power  that 
can  reform  you;  you  hold  of  me;  your  dignities  and  offices  are  in  my  gift."  The 
Church  said  to  the  State,  "  She  who  wields  the  power  of  smiting  kings  cannot  be 
a  king's  creature ;  and  if  you  attempt  to  reform  lier  you  will  be  planting  the  root 
of  corruption  by  the  same  hand  which  cuts  off  its  branches.'  "  Bull  after  bull  was 
thundered  against  Wickliff  for  one  thing  or  another,  five  of  them  in  one  montli ; 
but  he  quietly  persevered,  preparing  his  Bible  for  the  common  people.  He  took 
the  greatest  pains  to  make  it  plain,  casting  aside  all  foreign  terms  and  scholastic 
words,  using  the  uncouth  language  of  the  people,  so  that  the  most  lowly  and  un- 
lettered could  understand  what  they  read  or  heard.  Knighton,  Canon  of  Leicester, 
his  violent  foe,  saw  his  drift  and  said  :  'Christ  intrusted  his  Gospel  to  the  clergy  and 

doctors   of   the   Cliureli,  t inister  it  to  the  laity  and    weaker  sort.     But   this 

Master  Wickliff,  by  translating  it,  has  made  it  vulgar,  and  laid  it  more  open  to  the 
laity,  and  even  women  who  can  read,  than  it  used  to  be  to  the  most  learned  of  the 
clergy  and  those  of  the  best  understanding;  and  thus  the  gospel  jewel,  the  evan- 
gelical pearl,  is  thrown  about  and  trod  underfoot  of  swine.' 

Wickliff  finished  his  work  in  1380  and  died  at  Lutterworth,  his  body  sleeping 
there  amongst  his  flock,  in  the  chancel  of  the  parish  church.  As  his  Bible  aroused 
the  English  conscience,  the  pope  felt  a  chill ;  he  heard  unearthly  sounds  rattle 
through  the  empty  caverns  of  his  soul,  and  he  mistook  AVicklift's  bones  for  his  Bible. 
The  moldering  skeleton  of  the  sleeping  translator  polluted  the  consecrated  ground 
where  it  slept.  The  Council  of  Constance  condemned  his  Bible  and  his  bones  to 
be  burnt  together.  The  pope  shivered  all  over,  chilled  to  the  marrow,  and  he 
needed  a  tire  to  thaw  him  withal.  So  after  the  godly  preacher  had  slept  quietly  for 
over  thirty  years,  Chicheley,  Archbishop  of  Cantei'bury,  went  down  in  state  to  Lut- 
terworth to  give  new  life  to  the  venerable  rector  and  to  set  him  preaching  again. 
A  great  body  of  solemn  clergy  went  with  him  to  enforce  the  grim  sentence,  and 
somehow  matiaged  to  keep  sti'aight  faces  while  they  went  through  the  pious  farce  of 
dragging  the  ghastly  Yorkshire  frame  from  the  tomb.  The  little  sanctuary  stood 
on  a  hill,  and  when  they  had  sated  their  ghostly  ire  at  the  charnel-house  they  drew 
the  skeleton  to  the  tiny  river  Swift,  consumed  it  with  dry  fagots  and  threw  the 
ashes  into  the  generous  stream.  Every  atom  of  his  dust  rested  on  a  softer,  purer 
bosom  that  day  than  Chicheley  had  ever  known.  Such  a  treasure  had  never  floated 
on  the  laughing  brook  before,  so  it  divided  his  holy  ashes  with  the  Severn  and  the 
sea.  Little  Lutterworth  was  too  small  either  fur  his  Bible  or  his  I)ones,  and  now 
they  are  welcomed  by  the  wide  world. 

Froude  finds  a  resemblance  between  some  of  Wickliff's  views  and  those  of  the 
Baptists,  and  others  have  claimed  him  as  a  Baptist.  But  it  were  more  accurate  to 
say  that  many  who  carried  his  principles  to  their  legitimate  results  became  Baptists. 


SI  6  HIS    THANSIATIOJV. 

His  iouiiihiti.iii  i.i-iiiciples  were:  'That  all  truth  is  cuiitainL-d  in  the  .Scriptures, 
ami  that  ( 'hristV  law  siitticeth  by  itsclt  to  nilu  ( 'lirist's(  'liuri:li ;  that  we  must  receive 
iKitliiiii;-  hut  what  is  iu  the  Scripturu  ;  that  wiiate\er  is  added  to  it  ur  taken  froui  it 
is  hlasphcuKius;  that  no  rite  or  cerciii.uiy  ou-ht  to  be  received  into  the  Church  but 
that  whii-h  is  plainly  coutirnied  by  ( iod's  word;  that  wise  iiicii  leave  that  as  imper- 
tinent which  is  not  plainly  expi'essed ;  that  we  adnut  no  ccjnclusion  that  is  not 
proved  by  Scriptui'e  testimony  ;  and  that  whoevei-  holds  the  contrary  opinions  is  not 
a  Christian,  but  tiatly  the  devil's  champion."  In  his  translation  he  uses  the  words 
'wash,''  '■christen  '  and  'baptise''  in  rci^aid  to  the  initiatory  ordinance.  His  render- 
ing of  Matt,  iii,.^  6,  is.  '  Tlianne  icrusalcni  wi'utc  <uit  to  liym  and  al  indec,  and  al 
thecuntre  abonte  Ionian  :  and  thei  wcnin  waischcii  .d'  hym  in  Ionian  and  knowlcchidcn 
her  synnes.'  Again,  in  verse  11:  'lwaischy<ui  in  watyr.'  Also  Mark  i,  5  :  '  and  thei 
weren  baptisid  ol  hym  in  the  tlum  binlan.' '  lie  always  retains  the  preposition  '  in^ 
and  nevei'  '  idth"  '  in  water,'  '  in  .Ionian,"  even  when  he  speaks  of  Christ's  figurative 
ba2:)tism,  his  o\erwhelminL;-  in  ^lacf  he  yives  the  same  renderili'^,  ilark  x,  .'j!l  :  'Ye 
schulen  be  waischnn  with  the  bajitym,  /"/(  wliichc  I  am  bajitisidc'  The  natural  force 
of  the  word  iji  is  made  doubly  emphatic  by  tlie  use  of  the  word  '  irn.'^/i.'  wash  in; 
showing  that  he  intended  to  convey  the  sense  of  dip;  according  to  (ri-eenfield, 
'It  is  evident,  that  to  wash  the  body  or  ])erson.  without  specifying  any  par- 
ticular jwrt  of  the  body,  must  necessarily  denote  t"  }>,tth,\  which  clcai-ly  imidies  im- 
mersion^ washing  being  tlie  mere  consequence  of  immersion.  This  sense  of  the 
translator  agrees  exactly  with  his  common  pi'actice  and  that  of  his  times. 

Wickliff's  translation  was  to  kindle  tlie  truth  afresh  through  all  Germany,  and 
to  light  the  way  of  Jolin  Hnss  and  Jerome  of  Prague  through  the  flames  of  Con- 
stance. The  Bohemians  came  of  the  Sclavonic  race,  and  were  originally  known  as 
Czechs.  They  conquered  Bohemia  in  the  sixth  century,  and  becoming  Christians 
under  the  labors  of  Methodius,  a  Greek  j.i-icst,  long  remained  members  of  the  Greek 
Church.  They  were  bi-ought  undt'i-  pai)al  supremacy  in  968,  when  their  ritual  was 
abolished,  the  Latin  inqjosed  n[)i_in  them,  and  the  cup  taken  from  the  laity.  Their 
king  was  elective,  and  while  bent  on  preserving  their  constitutional  freedom  against 
the  pretensions  of  Austria,  they  were  restive  under  the  religious  restrictions  of  the 
pope.  Huss  was  of  this  Czech  blood,  and  intensely  national  in  spirit,  therefore 
antipapal,  as  all  Bohemian  Catholics  were.  Insular  England,  also,  had  the  ear  of 
Bohemia  through  Anne,  the  English  queen,  wife  of  Richard  II.,  and  sister  to  their 
own  king.  She  was  the  personal  friend  of  WicklifE,  who  was  one  of  her  husband's 
chaplains.  IIuss  made  his  writings  his  constant  study,  and  wdien  he  not  oul}' 
defended  them  but  demanded  their  free  use  amongst  the  Bohemians,  tW'O  hun- 
dred volumes  of  them  were  publicly  burnt  at  Prague.  Some  Waldensians  in  1385 
had  brought  WicklifE's  works  to  Prague,  and  the  Queen  of  Bohemia  had  helped  Huss 
to  circulate  them.  Various  scandals  helped  to  awake  Bohemia  ;  notably  amongst 
them  tlie  diseoverv    in  an  old  church  at  Wilsnak,  of  three  connunnion  wafers  im- 


TiiK  rAi:()i!iri:s  ami  /.iska.  317 

pregiiated  with  wliat  seeiiied  to  be  hlood.  Tliu  jji-iests  proclaimed  tliat  tliis  was  tlie 
blood  of  Christ,  and  pilgrims  came  Hocking  from  all  the  adjacent  countries,  even  as 
far  as  Norway,  to  be  healed,  before  the  whole  transaction  was  exposed  as  a  fraud. 
When  TIuss  and  Jerome  were  burned  all  Bohemia  was  aroused,  and  in  1415,  four 
hutuhrd  and  fifty-two  nobles  not  only  subscribed  to  their  doctrines,  but  bound  them- 
selves to  protect  the  preaching  of  God's  word  on  their  estates.  For  a  long  time 
these  Eeformers  maintained  the  Bible  as  the  supreme  authority  in  all  matters  of 
doctrine  and  life,  but  when  they  came  to  its  interpretation  they  were  hampered  by 
the  popish  idea  of  uniformity  ;  for  they  could  not  tolerate  each  other's  rights,  and  so 
split  into  two  parties.  One  body  rejected  all  that  was  not  expressly  commanded  in 
Scripture,  the  other  accepted  all  ecclesiastical  practices  which  the  Scriptures  did  not 
expressly  forbid  ;  which  is  in  essence  the  position  of  the  Baptists  and  Pedobaptists 
down  to  this  day.  The  radicals  M-ere  called  Taborites,  from  the  name  of  the 
fortilied  mount  which  tlu'v  held ;  the  conservatives  were  known  as  Calixtines, 
from  calix  (cup)  which  became  their  symbol,  and  the  kingdom  was  thrown  into 
civil  war. 

The  Taborites  followed  Ziska,  a  most  intrepid  leader.  He  was  far  in  advance 
of  Huss  in  his  doctrines,  not  only  pushing  aside  the  traditions  of  the  Church  and 
leaving  every  man  to  interpret  the  Bible  for  himself,  but,  in  1420  his  party  published 
fourteen  articles,  amongst  which  are  these :  That  the  faithful  are  not  to  receive  the 
views  of  the  learned,  unless  they  are  found  in  the  Bible  ;  that'no  decree  of  the  Fathers, 
or  ancient  rite,  or  tradition  of  men  is  to  be  retained,  but  those  whicli  are  found  in 
the  New  Testament ;  that  infants  ought  not  to  be  baptized  with  exorcisms,  and 
that  the  use  of  sponsors  should  be  discontinued.^  Some  members  of  this  body  joined 
the  'Brethren  of  the  Law  of  Christ,'  or  the  'Bohemian  Brethren.' 

Before  speaking  of  these,  a  word  may  not  be  unacceptable  concerning  that  marked 
character,  Ziska.  He  was  a  Bohemian  nobleman,  and  in  1410  lost  an  eye  in  the  war 
between  the  Prussians  and  Lithuanians.  Afterward,  he  became  cliamberlain  to 
King  Wenceslaus.  He  was  a  most  daring  chief,  whether  of  loyal  or  insurgent  forces. 
Sigismund  laid  claim  to  the  Bohemian  crown,  but  Ziska  withstood  him  with  despera- 
tion. At  Kuttenberg,  a  Catholic  city,  where  his  Catholic  enemy  burned,  hanged  and 
beheaded  sixteen  hundred  prisoners  of  war  as  heretics,  he  retaliated  terribly  upon 
the  monks  and  priests ;  and  tio  wonder.  He  lost  his  remaining  eye  by  an  arrow- 
shot  in  a  great  battle  which  defeated  Sigismund,  A.  D.  1420.  But  this  made  no 
difference  with  him  as  a  chieftain.  When  entirely  blind,  his  hot  blood  nuide  him 
the  same  intlomitable  victor.  He  would  take  his  stand  on  an  elevation  in  the  cen- 
ter of  the  battle-field,  with  his  best  officers  all  around  him.  Then  he  borrowed  their 
eyes,  as  he  turned  his  empty  sockets  this  way  and  that.  His  staff  reported  to  him  the 
progress  of  the  fight,  and  he  gave  his  imperious  commands  accordingly.  Almost 
without  fail,  panic  seized  the  Germans,  who  were  utterly  routed  again  and  again. 
At  last,  the  emperor  finding  that  he  could  do  nothing  against  him,  offered  him  the 


3  1  H  77//-;   lUtlFKMIAN  niiKTIIREN. 

goviM-iiiiicnt  of  Biiliomia,  the  njimimiKl  of  Ids  own  armies,  and  a  yearly  tribute,  if 
he  would  acknowledge  liiiii  as  tlie  King  of  Bohemia.  He  spurned  the  tender,  and 
at  tliat  point  died  of  the  |)lagiu^.  He  had  been  the  perfect  terror  botli  of  the  pope 
and  the  enijicror  when  lie  had  but  one  eye,  and  wlien  he  lost  the  second  their  torment 
inci'eased.  This  dauntless,  blind,  old  semi-Baptist,  must  have  been  of  the  sturdy 
type  after  which  the  iron-boned  Roundhead  and  the  steel-nerved  Covenanter  and 
the  adamantine  i'mitan  took  cast.  For,  it  is  said  that  before  he  died,  he  pledged 
his  followers  to  tan  his  skin  for  a  drum-head,  that  the  very  sound  of  his  hardened 
hide  might  strike  teri-or  into  these  bi-azen  foes  of  God  and  man.  This  may  be 
legend,  but  it  is  as  seriously  said  that  they  granted  his  request ;  if  so,  to  the  honor  of 
liis  religious  posterity,  lie  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  can  catch  the  sound  of  that  'drum 
ecclesiastic '  all  round  the  globe  in  this  nineteenth  century. 

The  Boliemian  Brethren  became  numerous,  counting  about  one  fourth  of  the 
people.  Even  a  century  before  IIuss,  King  Ottocar  II.  found  so  many  heretics  in 
his  realm  that  he  ajipliiMl  to  the  pope  to  extirpate  them.  Peregrinus,  A.  D.  1310, 
attempted  to  convert  or  destroy  tliem.  But  Jolm  of  Drasic  released  tlie  prisoners 
from  patriotic  motives  and  abolished  the  incpiisitor's  coui't.  The  ^Yaldensians 
abounded  o\er  the  border  in  Austria,  and  kept  \\y  their  union  with  those  of  Lom- 
bardy.  They  so  developed  in  Bohemia  that  they  supplied  numbers  of  preachers 
for  Northern  Germany,  for  in  the  Acts  of  the  Inquisition  in  Brandenburg  and  Pom- 
erania,  1391,  four  hundred  Waldensians  are  mentioned  by  name.  In  1393-94  it 
brought  one  thousand  Waldensians  under  its  power  in  Thuringia,  Brandenburg, 
Bohemia  and  Moravia.  Endless  numbers  evaded  the  inquisitors,  but  in  1397  one 
hundred  of  them  were  burnt  in  Steyer,  Austria ;  and  in  the  opening  of  the  fifteenth 
century  they  liad  great  influence  in  Bohemia.  Peter  Cheleicky,  named  from  tlie 
village  of  Chelcic  in  Southern  Bohemia,  was  the  forerunner  of  the  '  Brethren.'  He 
was  an  original  and  independent  thinker,  criticised  John  IIuss  freely,  and  would 
take  sides  with  neither  of  the  Hussite  factions.  lie  first  a])]ieai-s  in  ]iul)lic  life  in 
the  Bethlehem  Chapel,  Prague,  1420,  in  a  dispute  with  Jacobellus,  on  the  wrong 
of  appealing  to  arms  in  questions  of  religion,  nor  did  lie  believe  in  war  at  all,  not 
even  in  self-defense.  He  insisted  on  the  new  birth,  and  thought  it  better  to  baptize 
believers  only,  who  could  show  their  faith  by  their  works,  but  did  not  absolutely 
forbid  infant  baptism  ;  still,  he  would  confine  it  to  the  children  of  believing  parents. 
He  says  that  Christ  'Speaks  of  faith  first,  then  of  baptism.  And  as  we  find  this 
doctrine  in  the  Gospel  we  should  keep  it  now.  But  the  priests  err  in  baptizing  the 
great  multitude,  and  no  one  is  found,  neither  old  nor  young,  who  knows  God  and 
believes  his  Scriptures.  Nevertheless,  all  without  discrimination  are  baptized.  But 
we  should  hold  firmly  that  baptism  belongs  to  those  who  know  God  and  believe  in 
his  Scriptures.'  He  complains  that  the  masters  at  Prague  had  made  baptism  as 
common  '  As  a  huckster  who  sits  in  the  market-place  and  sells  plums.' ' 

Palacky  ranks  him  next  to  Huss,  as   the   greatest   thinker  of  Bohemia   in  the 


lUiEriii;i:\  <>f  ciihi.cic.  319 

fiftet'iitli  ci'iituiT,  ;iik1  says  tliat  lie  was  familiar  w  illi  'Walilcnsiati  viows  as  early  as 
1419.  Goll  believes  that  lie  was  one  of  their  body  wjieii  lie  came  to  Prague  from 
his  home  on  the  Austrian  border;  as,  in  his  neighborhood  great  open-air  meetings 
were  held,  with  lay  preachers  and  baptizers.  A  council  held  at  Bourgcs,  A.  D.  1-132 
complains  thus :  '  In  Daupliine  there  is  a  certain  district  included  between  the 
mountains  which  adheres  to  the  errors  of  the  Bohemians,  and  has  imposed  and 
sent  tribute  to  them.'  The  Waldensian  prisoners  beftn-c  ilic  Iiuiiiisiiicni  at  Freiburg, 
1430,  acknowledged  that  some  of  their  apostles  came  tidin  Udlicinia  ;  and  yEneas 
Silvius,  afterward  Pius  IL,  wrote  .Inly,  I4.")l,  that  all  Mcts  liad  migrated  to  Tabor, 
the  chief  being  Waldensians.  *  WIilii  tliuy  (^uganizt'd  in  the  north-east  corner  of 
Bohemia,  tiiey  so  feared  to  take  any  liut  Gospel  steps  that  they  sent  delegates  to 
search  for  the  true  Church  in  any  pai't  of  the  earth,  but  met  their  ideal  nowhere; 
then  they  sent  to  Vienna,  to  confer  witii  Stephen  for  a  formal  union  with  the  Wal- 
densians, but  it  failed.  ^  The  followers  of  Peter  became  a  separate  society,  known 
as  the  '  Brethren  of  Chelcic,'  but  persecution  and  division  nearly  extinguished  them 
in  about  lifty  years,  when  they  revived  under  Lucas,  a  new  leader,  who  was  sent,  with 
another  delegate,  to  visit  Italy.  On  their  way  to  Rome  they  passed  through  Florence, 
and  witnessed  the  burning  of  Savonarola,  May  23, 1498.  These  brethren  found  a  M-el- 
come  amongst  the  hidden  Waldensians  at  Home  and  more  openly  in  Piedmont,  but  it 
was  especially  warm  at  the  latter  place,  where  they  had  much  conference  on  points  of 
faith  and  practice.  The  two  pai'ties  could  not  agree  in  all  things,  but  some  of  tliem 
united  in  a  famous  protest  against  the  Eomish  Church,  in  which  they  say :  '  Anti- 
christ has,  by  cunning,  taken  away  from  the  Lord  Jesus  the  grace  and  trutii  of  true 
hope  by  Christ's  merits,  and  ascribes  this  truth  to  saints,  clergy,  sacraments,  words,  yes, 
to  hell-fire.  Participation  in  the  merit  of  Christ  is  gained  by  faith,  poured  in  by 
the  Holy  Spirit.  The  deception  consists  in  this :  Antichrist  awakens  the  faith  tliat, 
if  one  is  only  baptized  and  receives  the  sacrament,  he  has  received  the  sacrament 
and  the  truth.  Antichrist  attributes  the  reformation  effected  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to 
dead,  external  faith,  and  bajjtizes  infants  in  that  faith,  and  in  the  same  gives  its 
orders  and  other  sacraments.'  AVhat  Erasmus  said  of  some  of  the  Hussites,  appears 
to  have  been  true  of  the  Brethren :  '  They  admit  none  until  they  are  dipped  in 
water.'  So,  Camerarius  tells  us  that  many  who  united  with  the  Brethren  renounced 
the  baptism  of  infants  which  they  had  received  in  the  State  Church,  and  were 
baptized  before  they  came  into  the  new  fellowship. 

Herzog  shows  very  fully  that  at  the  opening  of  the  Reformation,  the  Waldensian 
communities  were  numerous,  not  only  on  the  Cottian  Alps,  but  in  Naples  and 
Provence,  'besides  scattered  congregations  in  Italy,  Switzerland,  France,  and  Ger- 
many.' He  also  says:  'At  various  times  they  appear  to  have  been  numerous  at 
Bern,  Strasburg  and  Passau.  In  the  last-mentioned  place  they  attracted  attention 
by  refusing  to  pay  tithes,  and  by  rejecting  monasticism,  infant  bajAism,  exorcism, 
and  the  sacrament  of  conlirmatioii.     When    the  reformatory   movement  began  in 


S20  MCIih'A.Sf'J   OF   TlIK  lUlKTIIIlKN. 

BoIiCiiii:!.  tlicy  were  naturally  Mtti-nctcd  l)y  it,  and  their  conin'ctioii  with  the  Bohe- 
mian r.rethi'eii  hcraiiic  a  tiii-iiiii.<;-|iniiit  in  their  history.' «  (ioil,  in  his  '  History  of 
the  Bolieiiiiaii  l!i'ctlireii  ■  (i,  ji,  l'.\\.  .-ays  that  their  Tract,  '  lieasons  fur  Separation 
from  Koine,'  '  rejects  infant  haptisni.'  I'hcre  is  scarcely  groimd  for  doubt  that  the 
Brethren  baptized  all  wlm  cainc  to  them  tVom  the  Romanists,  they  also  rejected 
infant  baptism  as  smdi,  and  in  its  ])lace  substituted  this  singular  process,  whicli  they 
called  a  '  iJaptismal  Agreement.'  When  the  child  was  christened,  they  exacted  a 
solemn  promise  of  the  sponsors  to  l)ring  him  up  in  the  faith.  But  when  the  child 
was  gi'own  np,  and  was  able  to  ))rot'ess  his  own  faith  in  Christ,  he  received  a  second 
ba])tism,  entering  into  the  real  baptismal  covenant;  of  wliirh,  Ilerzog  says:  'Really, 
as  Flaccius  protested  to  lioilenstein,  the  second  act  (lamnc(l  tlie  first."  They  would 
not  allow  the  baptism  of  a  dying  child,  but  would  jiray  fur  him  instead.  '  Doubt  as 
to  the  value  of  infant  baptism  is  a  sjiecitic  mark  of  the  Brethren.'^  Lucas  defended 
the  practice  of  repeating  baptism,  both  in  those  who  came  from  the  Catholics  and 
those  amongst  themselves  who  had  not  i-eceived  it  upon  their  personal  faith,  down 
to  1521;  but  after  his  death,  under  Luther's  inlluenee,  the  second  baptism  was 
dropped  and  conlirmation  took  its  place. 

Ab,,ut  A.  1).  15n(l  the  •  I'.rethren'  of  all  se<-ts  in  Boliemia  were  s.,  numerous 
in  city  and  eounti-y,  that  Pope  Alexander  VI.  sent  Donjinican  ni,.id<s  to  preach 
amongst  them  and  hold  eolluipiies,  tu  win  them  back  to  his  fold.  I'.ut  this  failing, 
King  Ladislaus  IL  was  jjersuaded,  in  1503,  to  issue  bloody  edicts  banishing  their 
laymen,  who  refused  to  recant,  and  committing  their  preachers  to  the  flames.  This 
scattered  them  as  the  hoof  of  a  beast  separates  the  roots  of  a  bed  of  camomiles,  but 
it  did  not  crush  them.  On  the  contrary,  they  used  the  most  active  measures  for 
their  own  vindication  and  defense,  especially  through  the  press,  and  the  growing 
intelligence  of  Europe  listened  to  their  manly  story.  This  ^persecution  continued 
long,  its  tortures,  imprisonments,  and  burnings  ending  only  with  the  king's  death, 
March  13,  1516.  Bohemia  has  well  been  called  the  'Cividlc  of  the  Reformation.' 
It  is  difficult  to  ascertain  exactly  when  the  Scrij)tures  \\ere  flrst  rendered  into  its 
native  tongue,  or  by  whom  they  were  translated  from  the  Latin  vulgate.  But  por- 
tions so  translated  were  in  circulation  before  Huss,  and  about  the  time  that  he  be- 
gan to  preach  these  several  jiarts  were  collected  for  the  first  time  ;  after  his  mar- 
tyrdom copies  were  greatly  multipled.  The  greater  part  of  a  Bohemian  Bible  was 
extant  at  the  close  of  the  fourteen  century,  as  it  is  well-known  that  Queen  Aime  of 
England  possessed  a  Bohemian  Bible,  ^neas  Sylvius  remarked  that  '  It  was  a 
shame  to  the  Italian  priests  that  many  of  them  had  never  read  the  New  Testament, 
while  scarcely  a  woman  could  be  found  among  the  Bohemians  (or  Taborites)  who 
could  not  answer  any  questions  respecting  either  the  Old  or  New  Testaments.' 
From  A.  D.  1410  to  1-188,  four  different  recensions  of  the  entire  Scriptures  can  be 
traced,  and  many  more  of  the  New  Testament,  some  being  translated  anew.  It  is 
an  interesting  fact,  that  Guttenberg,  the  inventor  uf  cut  metal  types,  used  them  in 


77/A7A'    IJTHIIATUHE.  321 

priiitiiijj;  thf  earliest  edition  of  tiie  Latin  liibie  (t1ie  :\[azarino),  A.  D.  \\U()^UU:> ;  and 
that  tlie  Boheniian  Bible,  publislied  by  the  Brethren  in  14SS,  was  one  of  the  first  in- 
stances on  record,  wliere  tiie  newlj-invented  art  of  printing  was  applied  to  the  use  of 
tlie  Bible  in  a  living  language.  This  was  fifty  years  before  England  enjoyed 
AVickliff's  Bible  in  print,  and  four  years  before  the  discovery  of  America  by  Colum- 
bus. The  love  of  freedom  and  education  went  hand  in  hand  in  Bohemia,  and  were 
conuiKiii  to  her  whole  people.  Before  A.  D.  1519,  six  printing-presses  were  run- 
ning, three  of  which  were  owned  by  the  Brethren,  whose  authors  issued  si.xty  pro- 
ductions between  A.  D.  1500-1510,  witnesses  to  their  mental  activity.  They  also  pro- 
duced those  hymns  which  have  made  them  immortal.  While  under  fierce  persecu- 
tion, their  families  were  compensated  for  the  loss  of  sermons,  by  tracts,  books  of 
devotion  and  inspiring  liynins. 

This  godly  literature  went  on  increasing  and  preparing  the  world  for  the  Eefor- 
niation.  When  Bohemian  nationality  was  lost  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War  (1()20),  three 
fourths  of  her  population  were  Protestant,  and  the  cultivated  people  of  the  nation 
choosing  to  renounce  their  country  rather  than  their  religion,  sought  their  homes 
where  they  could,  to  the  number  of  seventy  thousand  men,  including  artists, 
clergy,  nobility  and  scholars.  Every  Bohemian  book  was  burnt  on  suspicion  or 
brand  of  heresy,  and  some  individuals  boasted  that  they  had  burnt  sixty  thousand 
cojiies  of  this  sacred  literature.  Such  precious  relics  as  escaped  the  flames  were  shut 
up  in  various  places,  guarded  by  bolts,  chains,  iron  doors  and  gates,  and  labeled 
'  Hell.' 

In  all  that  related  to  love  for  the  Bible  and  religious  liberty,  Savonarola,  the 
confessor  of  Florence,  was  in  sympathy  with  the  Brethren  of  Bohemia.  He  was  a 
Dominican  monk,  A.  D.  1452-1498,  earnest,  devout,  and  so  versed  in  the  Scriptures 
that  he  could  almost  repeat  them  from  memory.  He  was  a  Christian  patriot,  wlio 
vindicated  the  rights  of  the  Florentine  Republic,  and  a  political  leader  in  that  cause. 
He  demanded  the  removal  of  the  pope  and  the  recognition  of  Christ  as  King.  In 
person  he  was  small,  aAvkward  in  his  gestures,  violent  in  his  manner,  and  profuse 
of  imagery  ;  hence  the  vehemence  of  his  preaching  against  the  Medicean  court  and 
the  pope,  whom  he  regarded  as  an  atheist.  Pope  Alexander  VI.,  of  abominable 
memory,  tried  to  silence  him  by  the  offer  to  make  him  a  cardinal.  This  offer  he 
spurned,  with  the  remark  that  he  wished  no  red  hat  but  one  dyed  in  his  own  blood, 
'the  hat  given  to  the  saints.'  Long  practice  at  public  speaking  and  much  study  so 
removed  or  overcame  his  natural  defects  that  he  became  a  consummate  orator, 
who  swayed  the  people  almost  to  fanaticism,  so  that  they  held  regular  burnings  of 
elegant  but  licentious  books  and  works  of  art.  He  was  excommunicated  and  finally 
burnt,  with  two  of  his  disciples. 

The  Lollards  form  an  important  link  in  this  chain  of  events.  The  followers 
of  Wickliff  were  early  known  by  this  name ;  but  some  trace  their  origin  to  Walter 
Lollard,  who   was  burnt  at  Cologne  about  A.  D.  1322.     The  term   was  applied   at 


II   fur  111 

iuistLTiiii;-  to  tlif  sick— it  is  sup- 

a    low  1 

niif,  a,-   at    funerals,  where  they 

Kill     lll(M 

nil-  a  term   (if  reproach,  by  an  in- 

1    h'lniii 

1   (ilariiel),  tares  amongst  wheat. 

the      Lnl 

lanls,   but  whether  his  followers 

tl.eii.    i. 

1   stiyma.   is   uncertain.       Dui-inir 

■rs   (if   it 

iiieraiit   ]ireaehurs,  wlio  preaelied 

heri'vcr 

tliey  could  find  hearers.     Tliey 

avud    au 

:aiiist  theni  in    the   most    vulcrar 

822  THE   LOLLARDS. 

Antwerp  to  a  society  furmeil  there  in  i:i 
posed  from  the  Dutch  hilLn  tu  siiii;-  ii 
soothed  by  slowly  sung  dii-ges.  I!nt  it  : 
genious  twist,  as  if  it  were  derived  frc 
Wickliff  was  regarded  as  the  father  o 
assumed  tliat  name,  or  it  was  pinneii  ti 
his  life-time  Wickliff  sent  out  great  mini 
in  market-places,  moors,  cuinnions,  and 
increased  so  rapidly  that  I'njie  Maitin 
manner,  and  Archbishop  Courtenay  s])ent  tive  months  in  purging  Oxford  Univer- 
sity of  their  presence.  The  underlying  spirit  of  Lollardism  sought  the  right  of 
unfettered  thought,  the  free  interpretation  of  the  Bible  as  the  rule  of  faith,  and  the 
apostolic  simplicity  of  the  ordinances.  During  the  reign  of  Richard  II.,  the  followers 
of  Wickliff  sent  Twelve  Articles  to  Parliament  seeking  certain  social  and  politico-re- 
ligious reforms,  for  they  shared  in  the  political  dissatisfaction  which  swept  over  the 
continent  in  the  fourteenth  century.  It  had  taken  an  exciting  form  in  Italy,  France 
and  Germany ;  in  England,  it  concerned  ecclesiastical  property  and  the  right  of  the 
State  to  confiscate  it ;  the  Lollards  taking  the  negative  of  that  question,  not  believ- 
ing in  the  union  between  the  Church  {iiid  the  State. 

In  seeking  a  thorough  reformation  of  religion,  it  was  necessarily  involved  in 
political  struggles,  for  religion  was  held  at  the  capriee  <;if  jiolitieal  tyranny.  The 
pontiffs  made  pretensions  to  all  tenijioral  as  well  as  spii'ittial  power,  and  kings  were 
sworn  to  obey  them  in  all  things.  Innocent  III.  coolly  instructed  Joiin  of  En- 
gland what  to  do  in  his  kingdom,  and  when  he  disobeyed,  deposed  him,  e.xpelled  him 
from  the  Church,  put  his  kingdom  under  interdict,  absolved  his  subjects  from  their 
allegiance  and  forbade  them  to  obey  him.  Thus  crushed.  May  15,  1213,  John  pub- 
licly took  his  crown  from  his  head  and  gave  it  to  the  pope's  legate,  who,  by  his 
master's  command,  returned  it  in  five  days.  The  nation  wrung  its  great  Bill  of 
Rights,  Magna  Charta,  from  John  A.  D.  1215,  but  the  pope  had  the  impudence  to 
annul  all  its  provisions.  His  bull  reprobated  it  as  a  conspiracy  against  himself,  as 
dangerous  to  the  cross  of  Christ  and  destructive  to  the  regal  rights  of  England. 
He  prohibited  and  annulled  it  in  the  name  of  the  Trinity  and  of  the  Apostles  Peter 
and  Paul,  then  laid  '  the  fetters  of  excomnmnication '  on  the  barons,  placed  '  their 
possessions  under  the  ecclesiastical  interdict,'  and  recpiired  the  bishops  to  proclaim 
his  sentence  with  the  ringing  of  bells  and  the  burning  of  catidles.  Things  went  on 
from  bad  to  worse,  until,  when  Henry  IV.  was  crowned,  the  pope  bound  him  by 
oath  to  obey  him  as  sovereign  lord  in  all  things.  This  insufferable  impertinence 
kept  England  in  a  continual  broil  with  Rome,  and  as  true  Englishmen  the  Lollards 
could  brook  such  outrages  no  longer.  Their  resistance  made  them  objects  of  pon- 
tifical hate.  Walden  and  others  charged  Wickliff"  with  being  one  of  the  seven  heads 
from  the  bottomless  pit,  and  the  adherents  of  Rome  generally  indulged  in  the  same 


/U/)/.)\     rilK   lAtlJ.AUD   MAHTYH. 


323 


black  tirades;  amongst  tlieia  Ariimlcl,  Aivlibi^liop  of  ('auterbiiry,  wliu  cleuounccd 
them  as  '  malignaiits,'  '  putrid '  and  '  rotten,'  till  lie  f rotiied  at  the  mouth.  The  result 
was,  that  from  the  accession  of  Henry  IV.,  1399,  their  blood  flowed  in  a  stream  for 
nearly  two  centuries  with  slight  respite,  chiefly  while  York  and  Lancaster  fought 
the  biotniy  battle  of  the  roses.  Fuller  tonchingly  remarks:  ' The  very  storm  was 
their  shelter.'  Capital  punishment  for  matters  of  opinion  la  religion  was  introduced 
into  the  laws  of  England,  1401,  and  William  Sawtre  was  the  first  Lollard  martyr  under 
that  savage  provision. 

Fuller  says  that  Henry  was  more  cruel  to  the  Lollards  'than  his  predecessors,' 
and  Fox  states  that  he  was  the  first  English  monarch  who  burnt  heretics.  But 
Camden  alludes  to  a  case,  it  is  thought  the  one  recorded  in  the  Chronicle  of  London, 
of  one  of  the  Albigenses  who  was  burnt  in  1210 ;  and  Collier  tells  of  a  deacon  who 
became  a  Jew,  was  degraded  by  a  council  at  O.xford,  1222,  and  burnt  under  Henry  IIL 
This  inhuman  torture  had  long  existed  on  the  Continent,  and  Burnet  attributes  its 
late  introduction  into  England  to 
the  high  temper  of  the  people,  who 
would  not  submit  to  such  severity. 
But  this  consideration  is  not  satis- 
factory, while  the  fact  stands  that 
Parliament  deliberately  enacted  the 
law  for  the  burning  of  heretics, 
making  the  nation  responsible  for 
their  murder,  while  in  other  lands 
the  will  of  the  prince  was  suflicient 
to  burn  heretics  without  stattite 
law.  The  English  sheriffs  were 
forced  to  take  an  oath  to  persecute 
the  Lollards,  and  the  justices  must 
deliver  a  relapsed  heretic  to  be 
burned  within  ten  days  of  his  accu- 
sation.' The  fact  is,  that  the  pope 
dictated  English  law  at  the  shrine,  and  Archbishop  Chicheley  says  openly,  in  his 
Constitution,  1-116,  that  the  taking  of  heretics  '  ought  to  be  our  principal  care.' 
John  Badly,  a  Lollard  and  a  poor  mechanic,  was  brought  before  Archbishop  Arun- 
del, March  1, 1409,  on  the  charge  of  heresy  touching  '  The  Sacrament.'  He  said  that 
he  believed  in  the  omnipotent  God  in  Trinity,  but  if  every  wafer  used  in  the  sacra- 
ment were  Christ's  veritable  body,  soul  and  divinit}',  there  would  be  20,000  gods 
in  England.  Being  condemned  to  death  March  16,  he  was  bound  with  chains,  put 
into  an  empty  barrel  and  burnt  in  Smithfield,  in  the  presence  of  the  Prince  of 
"Wales,  afterward  Henry  Y.,  who  at  the  stake  offered  him  a  yearly  stipend  from  the 
treasury  if  he  would  recant.     Even  where  the  accused  recanted  the  punishment  was 


JOHN   BADLY,    1-109. 


324 


ijinn  coi'.iiAM  r.rnxF.i). 


baibi.on.      John    1  l.miKc 
teiiccd  to  1m    wliipiiul    loi   tl 
Catliuli  il,  and  tui  tliict  tmm 


1(1(1  Ills  \Kws  but  Wdb  sen 
oiii^iti^ition  111  th(^  Noiwich 

A\  (hiudi  it  i>lidtun,  bcciiiiii^ 
(1   <Jiil\    in   (  inscife  undcigai 

IIILIL   SLlfs  t(J 


iiRiits       lli(     1  lulish  Ind  I 

I  idiL,i(.ns  d,sp,,tiMn  ulii.li  bioiulit  tlidn  to 
tliL  (liun\  ot  WKkLiliRss  tint  muidind  it-  b(_st 
snli|(.(ts  toi  (liiniiii^  tliL  -,(i,d  npinnnity  to 
woisliip  (rod  is  tlu  \  would  Eiiiihnd  made 
((It  1111  shidc  ot  opinion  in  tlic  Cliuidi  'Ingb 
tu  isoii  to  tla  (lown  '  sinipl\  coiistiuctive  tiea 
sun  at  tli(.  must,  loi  su  (  died  heie'ij  was  made 
disloyalty  imdei  the  pieteiise  that  the  '  King  of 
Gluiy  was  contemned  undei  the  covei  ut  biead  ' 
In  other  words,  the  denial  of  the  •  Eeal  Presence 
^^  __^^    _    ^^         in    the   sacrament    of   the   altar'   was  made  an 

^M^  - """^V-^^S^^^^i^  (ivert  act  against  the  iiionardi  of  the  realm. 
And  so,  the  chief  aim  uf  king  and  Parliament 
was  legally  to  grill  to  ashes  the  most  patriotic 
people  of  England.  The  .secular  method  of  punishing  treason  was  by  hanging  or  be- 
heading, but  Bale  says  that  at  the  Parliament  at  Leicester  it  was  enacted  (2  Henry 
V.)  tliat  the  Lollards  sliould  be  lianged  for  treason  against  the  kin 
heresy  against  God. 

It  was  in  keeping  with  this  double  h  iiidi  d  tM  inn\  tint  I    id  ( 
Oldcastle)  was  put  to  dt  itli      Ik  was  i  Wt^lslmi  in  ot  <;u  it  ibiht\  n 
Christ,  who  had  been  impi  isoned  m  the  Tow  ci ,  but 
had  escaped  and  was  recaptuied  aftei  being  hunted 
for  four  years,  with  a  pi  ice  upon  his  head      Bishui) 
Bale  says  that:  'Upon  the  diy  appointed,  he  w  is 
brought  out  of  the  Towci   with  his  liihs  boui  1 
behind  him,  having  a  \ei  A    (h((itul  (  >iiiit(  inin  ( 
Then  was  he  laid  upon  i  hiii  IK    is  tin  u^h  Ik.  h  1 1 
been  a  most  heinfuis  ti  iitoi    to  tla   (lown    iiid  s( 
drawn  forth  into  St.  (Tiks\  hdd,  whcic  the)  hid 
set  up  a  new  pair  of  g  illows      As  he  w  is  come  to 
the  place  of  execution,  and  was  taken  from  the 
hurdle,  he  fell  down  devoutly  upon  his  knees,  de-  ^^^^  oldcastle. 

siring    Almighty   God   to  forgive    his    enemies. 

Then  w'as  he  hanged  up  there  by  the  middle  in  chains  of  iron,  and  so  con- 
sumed alive  in  the  fire.'  That  is,  he  was  hanged  over  the  fire  as  a  traitor,  and 
then  burnt  as  a  heretic,  141S.     This  state  of  things  did  not  cease  down  to  the  time  of 


and  burnt  for 


111  (Su  Jdin 
nspci  ition  to 


r.or.r.ARDs  o.v  tnfaxt  iim'tisu.  32S 

Ilniiv  \'II].,  when  tyi-aiiuv  oiiangt'il  liaiids  only  from  tlif  iiopc  to  tliu  inonareh. 
When  tlio  lioiul  of  Aime  Boleyn  fell  upon  the  scaffold,  no  man  ilared  to  proclaim  her 
innocent,  even  on  religions  grounds,  and  the  king  used  the  j)o\ver  which  the  law  left 
in  his  hands  to  persecute  either  Catholic  or  Protestant  as  he  would.  Indeed,  for 
three  hundred  years  uo  great  soul  arose  in  England  who  was  able  to  arrest  the  des- 
potism of  pope  and  sovereign.  Ucligions  freedom  or  bondage  el^bed  or  flowed 
through  the  will  of  the  uiouarch,  and,  in  that  matter,  the  nation  (tuuuted  foi-  little  as 
against  imbecile  pope  or  royal  despot. 

When  a  heretic  was  condemned  tlie  cluirch  hells  tolled,  the  priest  thundered 
and  the  sentence  of  excommunication  was  pronounced.  The  priest  seized  a  lighted 
candle  from  the  altar  and  critil  :  -Just  as  this  candle  is  deprived  of  its  light,  so  let 
him  be  deprived  of  his  soul  in  hell.'  All  the  people  were  obliged  to  say  '  So  be  it ; ' 
then  came  fine,  imprisonment  and  death.  Tnder  Henry  VJIT.  it  was  proposed  to 
consolidate  all  the  penal  laws  against  religion,  when  he  said:  '  Leave  that  to  me.' 
He  and  his  bishops  then  framed  the  •  Six  Article  Act,'  which  decreed  that  if  a  man 
denied  that  the  bread  and  wine  in  the  Supper  were  the  very  Christ,  he  slioidd 
suffer  death  by  burning  and  forfeit  all  his  possessions  to  the  king,  as  in  high 
treason.*"     No  mercy  was  shown  under  any  circumstances. 

The  views  of  the  Lollards  on  infant  baptism  are  not  so  easily  stated,  as  their 
teachings  on  the  Real  Presence  and  their  resistance  to  Church  power.  Possibly 
Dr.  Williams  states  the  case  as  carefully  as  any  one.  He  says  :  '  There  were  also 
among  the  Lollards,  or  early  English  followers  of  Wickliff,  some  who  followed  out 
the  results  of  Wickliff's  principles,  in  the  study  of  the  vernacular  Scriptures  to  the 
conclusion  that  baptism  went  with  faith,  and  that  infants,  not  capable  of  exercising 
the  one,  should  not  receive  the  other.'  He  also  cites  the  fact  which  Eastell  has 
preserved  in  his  Entrees  :  '  A  Latin  writ,  sending  over  to  the  bishop  for  judgment 
according  to  the  canon  law,  three  several  groups  of  Lollards,  who  all  reject  infant 
baptism.'"  Waldcn  dcnounrcd  Wickliff 'for  denying  infant  baptism,  that  heresy 
of  the  Lollards,  of  whom  he  was  so  great  a  ring-leader;'  but  probably  imjusth-. 
Fox  also  complains  that  one  error  of  the  Lollards  was  that  they  denied  that  chil- 
dren are  lost  who  die  before  baptism.  Wickliff  practiced  infant  baptism,  but 
denied  that  babes  were  lost  if  they  died  unbaptized.  Hence,  when  some  of  his 
followers  came  to  separate  their  salvation  from  their  baptism,  they  naturally  held 
it  in  light  esteem,  after  the  order  of  John  Frith,  who  said  :  '  Baptism  bringeth  not 
grace,  but  doth  testify  unto  the  congregation  that  he  which  is  baptized  had  such 
grace  given  him  before.'  The  testimony  is  too  nearly  unanimous  to  be  contra- 
dicted, that  many,  if  not  most,  of  the  Lollards  did  not  practice  infant  baptism, 
while  some  did,  amongst  them  Wickliff  himself.  Knighton  informs  us  that  in  a 
few  years  after  Wickliff's  death  more  than  half  the  people  of  England  became 
Lollards,  and  sowed  a  free  harvest  for  the  liaptists,  but  their  sufferings  were  intol- 
erable. 


326 


nMNITAM   MMITYRED. 


The  most  monstrous 
and  James  I'.ninliam.  T 
daughter  w;is  r.miiu'll.Ml  t 
lionorrd   tatl.cr,      l'rn,-l;,n 


.1  set 


.Ir 


.•hil. 


om. if  Willi; 

.liam,  i:,im;. 

..  i.ik.  whirl 

ig  that  who 

pardon.     C 

•ing  them. 

tvnh.m 


wh. 


onlj,  but  bj  ^vatei  uid  t  nth 
He  \^ab  thtii  fetnttiut  1  to  w  ill 
thepieuhn  hiim^  tliL  stiinou 
his  hand  Vtt(  i  \  i\iii^  i  hut 
lenouncnij)  hi-  il(  mt  iti  n  \Mtli 
1532,  and  joined  the  noble  arm}' 


■ver  brought  a 
owds  of  igno- 
After  his  mar- 
that  daughter, 
with  twenty-four  oth- 
ers bearing  fagots  on 
their  necks,  were  taken 
to  Ayle.sbury  aiid  other 
towns  as  a  sho\\-,  after 
which     their     cheeks 
were  branded  with  red 
hot  irons. 

barrister  of  the  Middle 
Teinjile  and  the  son  of 
a  knight,  was  impris- 
oned by  Sir  Thomas 
More,  who  tied  him  to  a 
tree  and  whipped  him 
with  his  own  hands.  He 
was  sent  to  the  Tower, 
loaded  with  irons,  and 
condemned  to  death 
by  Bishop  Stokesley 
on  chai-ges  of  heresy. 
Amongst  other  things, 
he  said  of  baptism : 
'  We  belong  to  God  by 
adoption,  not  by  water 
IJis  sufteiings  overcame  his  flesh  and  he  recanted. 
l)tfoic  1  ciosft  to  St.  Paul's  barefoot,  to  stand  before 
\\  ith  \  t  i_,ot  on  his  shoulder  and  a  lighted  taper  in 
et  t\\Lnt\  pounds  he  was  released;  but  on  publicly 
(kip  soiio\\,  he  was  burnt  in  Smithfield,  April  30, 
of  martyrs  gathered  from  the  ranks  of  the  Lollards. 


THE  ERA  OF  THE  REFORMATION. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE     SWISS     BAPTISTS. 

A  WORD  here  in;n'  be  necessary  as  to  the  proper  name  of  this  interesting 
people ;  were  tliey  Baptists  or  Anabaptists  ?  They  are  commonly  charac- 
terized as  '  Anabaptists '  by  friends  and  foes ;  yet  this  name  was  especially  offensive 
to  them,  as  it  charged  them  with  y-ebaptizing  those  whom  they  regarded  as  iin- 
baptized  and  because  it  was  intended  as  a  stigma.  By  custom  their  most  friendly 
historians  call  them  '  Anabaptists,'  yet  many  of  their  candid  opponents  speak  of 
them  as  '  Baptists.'  The  Petrobrusians  complained  that  Peter  of  Clugny  '  slandered ' 
thuiii  by  Ciilling  theiu  '  Anabaptists,'  so  did  their  Swiss  and  German  brethren  after 
them.  Tiiu  Lundoii  (Confession,  1646,  protests  that  the  English  Baptists  were 
'commonly  though  unjustly  called  Anabaptists.'  Knollys  resented  this  name,  call- 
ing it '  scandalous ; '  and  Haggar,  1653,  rebukes  Ba.xter  for  its  use.  *  Yoii  do  very 
wickedly  to  call  them  Anabaptists,  thereby  to  cast  odium  upon  us,  .  .  .  why,  I 
pray  you,  are  you  so  wicked  and  malicious  as  to  call  them  Anabaptists  ? '  Black- 
wood, 1645,  complains  of  being  '  nicknamed  Anabaptists.  We  deny  your  title  ;  Ana- 
baptism  signifies  baptism  again  ;  our  consciences  are  fully  satisfied  with  one  baptism, 
provided  it  be  such  as  we  judge  to  be  the  baptism  of  Christ ;  and  if  our  consciences 


328  THE  NAME  BAPTLST. 

jiiilgf  tliat  sjirinkling  we  liad  in  our  infancy  to  be  none  of  Clirist's  baptism,  I  ask 
you  whether  can  we,  in  good  conscience,  rest  satisfied  therewith  ?  We  are,  if  we 
must  needs  be  new  named,  Antipedobaptists,  or  Catapedobaptists,  but  no  Anabaptists.' 
Baptists  now  refuse  to  be  called  '  Anabaptists,'  and  for  the  same  reasons.  Respect 
for  ourselves  and  our  ancestry  demands  tliat  tlie  utfensive  title  be  thrown  aside, 
and  it  is  not  used  in  this  work  excepting  in  quotations.  Neither  we  nor  our  fathers 
can  properly  be  named  Anabaptists,  and  to  use  the  term  is  simply  to  accept  a 
misleading  '  nickname '  pinned  upon  us  in  contempt.  Modern  Baptists  need  the 
admonition  of  Keller,  who  says :  '  Whenever,  at  the  present  time,  the  name  "  Ana- 
baptist" is  mentioned,  the  majority  think  only  of  the  fanatical  sect  which,  under 
the  leadership  of  John  of  Leyden,  established  the  kingdom  of  the  New  Jerusalem 
at  Miinster.  .  .  .  There  were  '•'  Bajjtists "  long  before  the  Miinster  rebellion, 
aud  in  all  the  centuries  that  have  followed,  in  spite  of  the  severest  persecutions, 
there  have  been  parties  which,  as  Baptists  or  "  Mennonites,"  have  secured  a  perma- 
nent position  in  many  lands.  The  extent  of  the  Baptist  movement  in  the  first 
period  of  its  growth,  is  at  present  very  considerably  undervalued  in  cultivated  circles.' 
He  calls  the  Miinster  doings  a  'caricature'  of  Baptist  ideas,  and  adds:  'With  the 
majority  at  the  present  time,  those  views  are  the  ruling  ones  which  three  hundred 
years  ago  were  vanquished  after  a  severe  conflict.  ...  A  more  correct  understand- 
ing of  the  movements,  which,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Keformation  were  thus  in 
collision,  would  be  of  the  greatest  value  for  an  understanding  of  much  of  the 
development  of  to-day  ;  and,  any  way,  it  is  unjust  that  the  nation  (Germany)  should 
fail  to  recognize  some  of  its  most  gifted  men  simply  becax;se  they  are  known  as 
Anabaptists.  In  the  last  decades,  out  of  the  ruins  and  rubbish  left  behind  in  the 
desolation  wrought  by  the  religious  war,  already  many  an  old  work  of  art  of  that 
day  has  again  been  brought  to  light.' '  Let  us  at  least  respect  our  ancestry  enough 
to  join  the  latest  and  best  continental  writers  in  calling  them  Baptists. 

Baptist  Switzerland  did  not  lie  in  the  forest  cantons,  in  the  narrow  valleys 
sheltered  by  pinnacles  which  rend  the  clouds  and  are  crowned  with  eternal  snow. 
It  ran  farther  north  through  the  belt  of  free  cities  on  the  Upper  Rliineland,  on  both 
sides  of  the  river  and  the  frontier.  Ou  the  Swiss  side  it  included  Berne,  Basel, 
Zurich,  St.  Gall  and  Schaffhausen ;  and  on  the  German  side  Strasburg,  Ulm,  Augs- 
burg, with  other  great  centers  of  wealth  and  high  culture.  This  republic  of  letters 
contained  the  best  schools  and  universities  in  the  Republican  Confederation. 
Democratic  ideas  took  root  amongst  patriots  who  had  won  their  independence  over 
the  body  of  Charles  the  Bold  at  the  gate  of  Nantz.  They  first  prized  the  political 
principles  on  which  their  republics  bravely  stood,  but  fouiul  religious  bondage  incom- 
patible with  free  States.  When  neither  bishop  nor  king  linked  them  to  Church  life 
politically,  they  concluded  logically  enough  that  religion  was  no  longer  a  govern- 
mental science.  In  mediaeval  and  aristocratic  Saxony  and  other  monarchies  the 
Church  and  State  formed  one  body,  and  religious  life  was  honey-combed  by  a  legal 


KELLER'S   RESEARCHES.  329 

iiiembership  in  the  Oliiircli  of  newhuni  babes.  Many  asked,  therefore,  wliy  repiibUc- 
anisin  could  not  properly  let  the  coiiunonwealth  of  Israel  alone  {  Hence,  when 
republics  claimed  the  right  to  bind  the  consciences  of  their  citizens  and  counted  all 
criminals  who  resisted  their  mandates,  a  dark  shadow  fell  athwart  the  republican 
escutcheon,  for  that  class.  As  Baptists,  they  discovered  that  the  conscience  of 
each  man  being  free  (iodward,  nations  who  had  (jonquered  the  right  to  take  care 
of  themselves  could  never  be  cramped  back  into  an  enforced  religious  uni- 
formity. 

The  great  Baptist  movement  on  the  Continent  originated  with  no  particular 
man  nor  in  any  one  place.  It  seems  to  have  s])rung  up  in  many  places  at  about  the 
same  time,  and  its  general  growth  was  wonderful,  between  1520  and  1570 — half  a 
century.  Keller  says  :  '  A  contemporary,  who  was  not  a  Baptist,  has  this  testimony 
concerning  the  beginning  of  the  movement:  "The  Anabaptist  movement  was  so 
rapid,  that  the  presence  of  Baptist  views  was  speedily  discoverable  in  all  parts  of  the 
land." '  He  mentions  Switzerland,  Moravia,  the  South  and  North  German  States  and 
Holland,  with  many  principalities,  and  writes :  '  The  more  I  examine  the  documents 
of  that  time,  at  my  command  (as  archivist  of  Miinster),  the  more  I  am  astonished  at 
the  e.xtent  of  the  diffusion  of  Anabaptist  views,  an  extent  of  which  no  other  investi- 
gator has  had  any  knowledge.'  He  speaks  of  their  churches  in  Cologne,  Aachen, 
Wesel  and  Essen,  in  East  Friesland,  the  duchies  of  Bentheim,  Linden,  Oldenburg, 
Lippe  and  the  city  of  Minden.^  He  cites  Frederic  of  Saxony,  the  Duke  of  Liine- 
burg  and  the  Reformer  Rhegius,  to  show  that  from  1530  to  1568,  Saxony  and 
the  Lutheran  cities  were  filled  with  Baptists,  also  the  Westphalian  cities,  Soest,  Lipp- 
Btadt,  Lemgo,  Unna,  Blomberg,  Osnabriick  and  others.  He  says :  '  The  number  of 
Baptists  was  especially  great  both  in  Thuringia  and  iik  Hesse,  as  well  as  in  the 
"Evangelical  cities,"  Bremen,  Hamburg,  Liibeck,  Brunswick,  Hanover,  etc.;'  and 
that '  the  coast  cities  of  the  North  Sea  and  East  Sea,  from  Flandei's  to  Danzig,  were 
filled  with  Anabaptist  views.'  Then  he  finds  them  every-where,  from  the  duchy  of 
Cleve  on  the  Lower  Rhine,  up  that  river  to  the  Alps.  The  sixteenth  century 
opened  with  a  general  awakening  throughout  Europe  to  the  need  of  religious  reform, 
and  this  was  specially  marked  in  Switzerland,  before  Luther.  In  ideal,  the  Swiss 
reformers  longed  to  get  back  to  the  Apostolic  pattern,  to  a  spiritual  Church  free 
from  the  control  of  human  policy,  and  their  aims  took  a  Baptist  bearing.  It  is 
sheer  ignorance  to  represent  the  Swiss  Baptists  as  merely  urging  reform  in  a  de- 
fective baptism.  This  is  a  monstrous  bugbear  to  fi-ighten  superstitious  folk,  who 
count  the  refusal  of  a  spurious  baptism  to  what  they  call  '  covenanted  babes,'  as  an 
affront  to  Christ,  and  all  one  with  'soul-killing.'  They  held  infant  baptism  in  dis- 
credit, not  only  as  a  human  institution,  but  as  a  flagrant  impiety  palming  itself  off 
as  an  institution  of  God,  and  asking  the  State  to  enforce  it  on  pain  of  death,  while 
the  Church  claimed  to  administer  it  by  the  authority  of  the  Trinity!  This  double 
claim  rendered    it  an    abominable   thing  wliiuh    stepped    in  between  them  and  their 


ZWrNGLT  AND    FAIIER. 


cliil.lrcn,  rnM,in-   l,oi 

th    of    their    natural    right 

s.      Looking  upon   it    in  this  liglit,  it 

l)ccniiic  ,111  nlaniiiiii;-  ] 

„.rvrrsion  of  the  wjiole  gr 

iiiusof  a  spiritual  ivlioion,  and  a  pii'ce 

of  wiM  laiiatirisn,  wl 

lich   forestalled  all    right   < 

)f    rli.Mce  ill  either  parent  or  child,  in 

order  to  simigglo  tlif 

hahe   into   tlic   Statc-Clil 

ireh.      To  foH'e  its  baptism  under  tlie 

magisterial  doininati. 

)n    of   pains   and    prnallic; 

s  was  to  bind  the  inbmt  to  a  clerical 

despotism,  wliicli,  il' 

reiicatrd  in  Kngland  or  tl 

le  Lnited  States  to-day,  would  shiver 

their  g(i\ci'iiiiirnts  t< 

,   atoms.      Th.'   sreni.-   ear 

icatui-es  of  these  Swiss  Baptists  have 

been  asiiii|ilc  iiicii.lac 

itv  answaa-ing  the  end  of 

an  liistorical  trick  to  nullify  real  facts 

and  rciidrr  honest  iiu 

•n  hateful. 

When  Zwin-li  t 

o<,k   lead  in  the  Swiss  Ue 

birmation,  lie  demanded  obedience  to 

tlie  word  i>f   (iod    in 

all    Christian   matters,  ai 

id    resohed    to   reject  what    it  did  not 

enjoin.      'When  deliai 

ting  with  J)i-.  Faher,  hefo 

re  six  liundred  ('atholic  dignitaries  at 

Znricli,  1. •.-:!,  lie  lai.l 

down  tins  foundation  pri 

nciple.      Kalier  demanded  who  slmuld 

judge  between  them 

on  the  mattei-s  in  dispute. 

,  and   Zwingli  pointed  to  the  Hebrew. 

Greek   and  Latin    Sei 

iptures,  whieh   lay  before 

■   him.      Instead,   the   d.i<-tor   |.r.. posed 

that  the  issue  should  be  decided  by  the  universities  of  Pai-is.  (',,], ,giie  and  Freiburg. 
Zwingli  replied  tliat  the  nu>n  in  that  ro.,m  could  tell  bettor  what  the  Scriptures 
taught  than  all  the  universities.  'Sh,,w  me,'  he  demanded,  'the  jilace  in  the 
Scripture  where  it  is  written  tliat  we  are  to  invoke  the  saints.'  When  Faber 
defended  that  doctrine  by  the  Councils,  Zwingli  showed  that  as  these  erred,  nothing 
was  binding  but  the  Bible,  and  said  that  lie  would  go  to  tlie  universities  if  they 
accepted  the  Bible  as  the  only  judge.  Di'.  lilancbe  said:  "You  understand  the 
Scriptures  in  one  way,  and  another  in  another.  There  must  be  judges  in  order  to 
decide  who  has  given  the  right  interpretation."  lint  Zwingli  refused  to  give  any 
man  a  place  above  the  Scriptures.  Many  of  his  heaivrs  had  strong  Baptist  tenden- 
cies and  took  in  this  radical  doctrine.  Educated  by  s.i  skillful  a  general,  they 
turned  his  own  weapons  upon  him  when  they  took  issue  with  him  em  otlier  subjects; 
and  lie  was  powerless,  being  obliged  to  apj)eal  to  the  sword  drawn  from  the 
Catholic  armory,  lie  was  the  most  advanced  of  all  the  rebirmers  l.iililically,  but 
the  moment  that  he  fell  into  controversy  with  his  own  Baptist  diseijiles.  he  broke 
with  his  fundamental  principle  and  made  the  magistrates  of  Zurich  the  decisive 
judges  in  the  dispute. 

The  Baptists  said:  On  all  such  (pie.stions  the  Bible  is  autocratic ;  apply  it 
honestly,  under  the  divine  right  of  private  judgment,  without  trammel,  and  we  will 
follow  it ;  but  we  refuse  to  take  the  interpretations  of  it  which  the  magistrates  give 
us,  for  God  has  not  made  them  our  interpreters  in  such  matters.  This  compelled 
Zwingli  to  fall  back  squarely  on  the  Romish  ground,  and  in  turn  to  comjiel  tlu^ni  to 
follow  the  Council.  Then  came  the  iirst  break  between  him  and  them,  on  infant 
baptism.  At  that  moment  he  was  so  nearly  with  them  on  that  subject,  that  he  was  will- 
ing to  delay  the  baptism  of  infants  '  until  they  arrived  at  years  of  discretion.'^  He  said 
in  152.5  :  '  The  error  that  it  would  be  better  to  baptize  children  when  they  had  come 


TIIK  ZVRiril  BAPTISTS.  331 

to  years  of  niuUT.--t;ui(linir.  simzchI  iiic  tno  a  few  years  ago;'  giving  as  liis  reason  that 
'There  is  no  clear  utterance  in  the  ^iew  Testament  tliat  commands  the  baptism  of 
cliildren.'  Keller  attests  that,  'Luther  at  the  outset  designated  Zwingli  and  his  fol- 
lowers as  the  party  associates  of  those  who  held  views  in  reference  to  infant  baptism, 
that  were  diifereut  from  his  own.'''  "We  can  e;isily  see,'  says  Hase,  'why  the 
Baptists  were  not  satislied  with  the  excuses  nf  the  Swiss  reformers;'^  and  as  easily 
we  can  see  why  Zwingli  complained :  '  The  Pai)ist8  call  us  heretics,  and  the 
Anabaptists  call  us  half-papists.'  Sometimes  he  encouraged  the  practice,  some- 
times not,  always  denying  tlie  regenerating  efficacy  of  baptism ;  but  finally  he 
concluded  to  continue  infant  baptism  on  the  ground  that  if  it  ceased  the  people 
would  clamor  for  circumcision,  as  they  must  have  a  bond  of  visible  union.  CEco- 
lampadius  had  said  :  '  We  have  never  dared  to  teach  infant  baptism  as  a  command, 
but  rather  as  an  instinct  of  charity.'"  Like  him,  Zwingli  feared  a  division  in  the 
Reformed  ranks  and  resorted  to  these  expedients  to  prevent  this,  until  Fedobaptist 
pressure  forced  him  to  turn  over  the  question  to  the  civil  power.  As  Dr.  Dorner 
says :  '  He  saw  that  the  setting  aside  of  iiifiint  baptism  was  the  same  as  setting  aside 
the  national  Church,  exchanging  a  hitherto  national  reformation  of  the  Chui'ch  for 
one  more  or  less  Donatist.  For,  if  infant  baptism  were  given  up,  because  faith 
was  not  yet,  there  only  remained  as  the  right  time  for  it  the  moment  when  living 
faith  and  regeneration  were  certain.  And  then  baptism  would  become  the  sign  of 
fcllinvship  of  the  regenerate,  the  saints,  who  bind  tliemselves  together  as  atoms  out 
of  the  world.' ' 

The  Baptists  of  Zurich  began  to  assail  infant  baptism  in  1523,  one  of  their 
pastors  calling  it  a  useless  thing.  '  One  might  as  well  baptize  a  cow  or  a  calf,'  he 
said.  Then  Grebel  writes :  '  Those  who  understand  the  teaching  of  the  Scriptures 
in  reference  to  baptism  refuse  to  allow  their  children  to  be  baptized.'  Eeublin 
rejected  the  practice  and  held  a  public  discussion  with  the  pastors  of  Zurich,  the 
only  result  of  which  was,  that  the  Council  arrested  two  men  of  liis  congregation 
and  three  from  the  village  of  Zollikon  near  by  for  refusing  to  bring  their  children  for 
baptism,  fining  them  each  one  silver  mark  and  thrusting  them  into  prison.'  When 
the  Council  demanded  why  they  refused,  they  answered  that  Christ  required  them 
to  believe  before  they  could  be  baptized;  and  they  stood  there  firmly.^  Zwingli 
had  published  a  tract  on  the  subject  which  fanned  the  excitement,  and  the  Coun- 
cil had  appointed  a  public  discussion.  Grebel  asked  that  the  debate  be  in  writing, 
with  the  Bible  as  the  only  source  of  appeal,  and  Zwingli  agreed  to  this,  but 
the  Council  refused.  Yet  when  they  met  in  the  Council  Hall,  January  17,  1525, 
and  his  disputants  held  him  to  this  Bible  restraint,  he  ungenerously  charged  them 
with  dictating  that  he  should  preach  nothing  but  what  suited  them ;  and  he  became 
so  excited  as  to  draw  forth  the  counter-charge  of  violently  stopping  their  mouths 
by  interruption,  screaming  and  long  address.'"  Zwingli  presented  the  current 
Fedobaptist  arguments  of  his  time,  and  the  brave  Council,  as  in  duty  bound. 


Z  WING  LPS   RKSPONSIBILITT. 


dr<-l;irfcl    liiiii   tlic   victnr.      With   t-cjiial   o-nivi 

it\-  they  ( 

lecreed 

the 

next   da^ 

,•  that  all 

sh.iuM   have  their  childivii  ha|.ti/.r.l  witliiii  a 

week   nv  1 

l,e   hani; 

slied. 

and  tliat 

a  chris- 

tcililli;-  tout    at    ZnlHkoii.   which     ha.l   hern    dcM 

nuli>hed. 

>h.,ul. 

1    lie 

repaired. 

,     These 

forceful   arguments   were   repeated  ahiiost   di 

dly,   and 

.HI  .lai 

iii:try 

21    the 

('ouncil 

came  to   New  Testament    example,  after  tlie 

Jewish 

unler.  : 

md    ' 

St  rait  ly 

(charged ' 

the  Baptists  to  keep  silent  on  this  subject ;  w^ 

hieh  was 

ah.. lit  ; 

IS  liard  a  thinj 

i  as  they 

could  ever  do.     Of  course  this  made  ZwIul 

di's    trim 

nj)h    gi 

jud,  : 

ind    the 

Baptist 

preachers  were  ordered  out  of  the  country 

within  a 

week, 

as  a 

punishment  for 

allowing  him  to  become  victorious  and  for  thi 

•  sMl   n{  n 

■ndering  themselves  1 

larmless. 

All  left  but  Castelberger,  who  was  ill  and  ; 

illowed  t( 

J  remain  for ; 

a  month,  but  they 

charged  that  he  must  not  hold  any  meetings,  and  so  put  Zwingli  to  the  needless  trouble 
of  vanquishing  him  over  again.  The  Baptist  babes,  however,  were  not  brought  to 
baptism,  and  on  February  1  the  Council  ordered  tlie  disobedient  arrested  and  each 
child  baptized  as  soon  as  it  was  born.  Mantz  and  Blaurock,  with  twenty-four  parents 
of  Ziilliknii,  were  hrciught  tu  trial  within  a  week.  After  sentence  to  pay  the  cost  of 
their  imjirisonmeiit  and  a  tine  id'  l.tnio  gulden,  all  were  released  except  two. 
Mantz  claimed  the  riglit  to  baptize  all  wlm  came  to  him,  but  was  threatened  with 
the  Tower  if  he  rejieated  the  crime,  and  Blaurock  was  to  swear  allegiance  to  the 
authorities  in  this  matter.  The  fair  conclusion  is  that  they  both  flouted  the 
magistrates;  for  suon  after,  at  a  great  Baptist  meeting  at  Znlljkon,  Blaurock  spent 
the  whole  day  in  preaching  and  baptizing.  When  this  sad  news  reached  Zurich 
the  Council  fined  those  who  liad  been  baptized,  and  tln-eatened  with  banishment 
all  who  should  be  thereafter.  Some  few  recanted,  but  most  of  them  refused  to 
submit.  Zwingli  was  not  dictator  in  Zurich,  but  he  cannot  be  relieved  of  responsi- 
bility in  this  matter.  The  Coimcil,  consisting  of  two  hundred,  had  entire  eccle- 
siastical power  over  the  city  and  canton.  He  appealed  to  it  again  and  again  for 
religions  decisions,  and  approved  its  doings;  in  fact  he  was  its  guide.  I'et  it 
organized  itself  into  a  Protestant  Tnrpiisition,  robbed  Christ's  disciples  of  their 
freedom,  tortured  them,  confiscated  their  property  and  put  them  to  death,  and  he 
approved  its  acts.  lie  believeil  that  the  officers  of  State  were  responsible  for  the 
religion  of  the  people  and  lielped  them  to  make  Swiss  Protestantism  as  intolerant 
as  Eomanism.  Hess  puts  this  point  clearly:  'Zwingli  said  public  order  demanded 
the  severity  he  exercised,  but  his  decrees  were  in  the  face  of  the  proclamation  which 
the  Eeformers  had  made  of  religious  liberty.' "  His  theory  was  exactly  that  of 
the  Catholics,  and  he  invoked  the  edge  of  the  sword  as  effectually  as  the  pope.  His 
dream  was  power,  and  under  the  pretext  of  removing  what  he  called  a  canker  of 
heresy,  he  wielded  physical  violence.'^  In  his  sixty-seven  theses  against  Rome  he 
said  :  '  No  compulsion  should  be  employed  in  the  case  of  such  as  do  not  acknowl- 
edge their  error,  unless  by  their  seditious  conduct  tliey  disturb  the  peace  of  others.' 
But  these  Zurich  Baptists  were  never  in  sedition.  They  simply  worshiped  Christ 
in  their  own  houses    or   in   the   forests   and    gorges,   and   the  nearest   they  came  to 


riiOTKsTAST   ritVEl.TY   I SKXrlSMil.E.  S33 

stHlitimi  was  to  insist  tiuit  tiie  iiiagistrates  had  no  ri,:;iit  fmiii  (i(.(i  to  pcM'suciitc  tlioiii 
for  doing  so. 

All  sorts  of  lame  and  tliiusv  jilcas  liavc  Ihhmi  cn-atcd  to  covit  these  barbarities, 
but  their  blood  stains  '  will  not  out/  These  Protestant  In(juisitors  well  knew  that 
when  their  own  religious  opinions  subjeetcd  tluni  (o  civil  tribunals,  they  resented 
such  interference.  Their  enthusiasm  had  only  been  lired  and  their  convictions 
deepened  by  whippings,  rackings  and  burnings.  Yet  they  tried  the  same  severity 
upon  the  Baptists  which  the  Catholics  had  tried  on  them.  And  that,  too,  under  the 
plea  that  while  it  was  wicked  for  Catholics  to  torture  them,  it  was  but  an  act  of 
saving  love  i'or  Protestants  to  drown  Baptists  in  murderous  waters.  Zealous  repub- 
licans themselves,  they  comfortably  forgot  that  th(>ir  l>aptist  fellow-countrymen 
had  a  touch  of  William  Tell  and  liberty  about  them  ;  and  so  they  proved  thcii'  own 
love  of  freedom  by  treating  their  fellow'-patriots  as  harshly  as  possible.  The  com- 
mon hypocritical  apology,  that  a  charitable  veil  must  be  drawn  over  such  murderous 
proceedings  because  of  the  darkness  of  the  age  in  which  they  lived,  is  little  better 
than  a  crime.  They  had  the  most  thorough  knowledge  of  the  art  of  gentleness 
toward  themselves,  dark  as  was  the  age,  and  the  gentleness  of  those  w'lioni  they 
legally  murdered  stood  in  incarnate  rebuke  before  them  ;  hence  it  was  but  one  step 
to  the  Golden  Rule  of  Jesus,  had  they  not  been  better  pleased  to  use  tlie  iron  rod. 
Common  justice  pushes  this  mendacious  pretense  aside,  and  finds  a  true  verdict 
against  them  as  narrow,  fanatical  and  wicked.  True,  the  brutal  laws  of  Frederick  II. 
were  still  in  force,  but  they  professed  to  be  loving  disciples  of  God's  Lamb  and 
not  Thugs  under  the  emperor ;  and  no  law  of  his  could  compel  them  to  slaughter 
their  fellow-disciples  for  Jesus'  sake.  We  may  hoodwink  ourselves  as  we  please, 
and  gloss  over  their  acts  as  we  may,  but  this  Reformed  Inquisition  has  painted  its 
own  portrait  black  and  it  cannot  be  bleached  white.  Its  Draconian  holiness  throws 
all  honest  forbearance  into  spasms.  It  is  worthy  of  the  Pharisaic  and  Saddueean 
Sanhedrin,  but  is  a  disgrace  to  the  light  and  sweetness  of  the  Son  of  Man,  whom 
they  slew. 

In  truth,  Zwingli  had  his  hands  full.  His  opponents  had  as  clear  heads  and 
stout  hearts  as  himself,  their  education  was  as  broad,  and  they  stood  sei-enely 
fortified  by  the  word  of  God.  When  Ilubmeyer  raised  the  issue  of  infant  baptism 
with  him,  l.")2n,  he  wavered,  as  we  have  seen  ;  and  afterward  when  his  Baptist 
friend  reminded  him  of  this  in  his  published  work  on  baptism,  and  pressed  him  for 
scriptural  authority,  he  replied:  'The  New  Testament  does  not  command  tlie 
baptism  of  infants,  neither  does  it  forbid  it ;  therefore  we  nnist  look  to  the  Old 
Testament  for  an  analogy  which  will  clear  up  the  matter.'"  Dr.  Rule,  no  lenient 
apologist  of  Baptists,  says :  '  The  Council  of  Zurich  had  been  called  on  by  Zwingli 
to  decide  what  the  citizens  should  receive  as  true  doctrine,  and  at  once  gave  evi- 
dence of  their  incompetence  by  expelling  a  devoted  Christian,  who,  being  an 
unprotected  outcast,  was   made  the  first   martyr  of  the   Reformation  in  these  can 


334  r  ON  HAD  auKnicL. 

tciiis.'"  As  far  :is  appoarp.  lie  !i|i])n.vc(l  all  tlic  cruelties  of  that  tyraiiiiieaUKHlv 
witlHMit  a,  \v(inl  uf  iviiioiistraiiee,  altlMMi-li  lie  lii-(iii,i;lit  every  trivial  siil>ject  to  tlieir 
notice— throwing  the  Manie  ii])()n  the  Ixiptists  themselves  after  the  usual  .shift,  '  they 
deserved  wliat  they  got.'  Playing  fast  and  loose  with  the  New  Te.stanieiit  liiuiself, 
and  baptizing  children  in  obedience  to  the  'silence'  of  the  New  Testament,  still 
he  (lemanded  ,.f  tlie  llaptists  a  positive  injunction  of  (Christ  for  baptizing  on  a 
.•(,iiressi,„i  ,,r  him  tiiose  wlio  had  been  christened  as  babes.  So  he  .■ould  stand  coolly 
by  and  see  the  Baptists  di-o\viied,  but  .surely  n<it  because  the  New  Testament  wa.s 
.silent  on  the  subject  of  di'owiiiiig  Itaptists.  If  its  silence  gave  consent  to  the  ba])- 
tism  of  infants,  certainly  it  did  not  ivnder  the  legal  murder  of  Baptists  holy.  Well 
might  he  admit  that  '  nothing  cost  him  so  much  sweat  as  his  controversy  with  the 
Baptists.'  '5 

Who  were  these  Swiss  Baptists,  whom  the  Reformed  Inquisition  bandied 
so  savagely  '\  One  of  them  was  Conkad  Gkehel,  who  early  in  the  lieforma- 
tion  was  Zwingli's  most  adndred  and  admiring  friend.  Born  about  1500,  his 
father  was  a  noted  member  of  the  Zuricli  Council.  He  educated  Conrad  in  the 
universities  of  Vienna  and  Paris.  Like  Augustine,  liis  son  was  ju-oud,  moved 
in  high  society  and  led  a  godless  life  when  young.  In  1521,  Basel  invited 
him  to  high  litei'ary  work,  and  on  returning  to  his  native  city  Zwingli  l)ecame 
his  iKistor,  discovered  his  grt'at  intellectual  jiower  and  Ik  came  closely  identi- 
fied with  him.  In  a  letter  to  Myconiiis,  August  26,  1522,  he  says  of  G rebel : 
'He  is  a  most  candid  and  learned  youth.'  But  the  next  year  they  began  to  draw 
apart  on  the  true  character  of  a,  (Jospel  Church  and  broke  completely.'*'  He  told 
Zwingli:  'The  Scriptures  teach  that  all  cbildi-cn,  who  have  not  arrived  at  the 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  are  saved  by  the  sufferings  of  Christ.'  He  held  infant 
baptism  to  be  a  sin,  by  attributing  to  itself  what  only  belonged  to  the  cross  of  Christ. 
Again  he  said :  That  l)y  faitli  in  the  blood  of  Christ  only  can  sin  be  waslied  away, 
'  So  that  the  water  does  not  confirm  and  increase  the  faith,  as  the  Wittenberg 
theologians  say,  nor  does  it  save.  .  .  .  Let  us  form  a  community  of  true  believers, 
for  it  is  to  them  alone  that  the  promise  belongs,  and  let  us  establish  a  Church  with- 
out sin  ;'  clearly  meaiung  not  an  immaculate  body,  but  a  congregation  of  regenerate 
men,  rejecting  the  practice  wdiich  made  all  in  the  State  members  of  the  Church  by 
infant  baptism.  This  Zwingli  did  not  want,  but  wanted  a  State-Church,  and  objected, 
that  it  was  not  possible  '  to  make  a  heaven  upon  earth,  for  Christ  taught  us  to  let 
the  tares  grow  with  the  wheat  till  the  harvest,  when  the  angels  would  separate  them.' 
Grebel  cared  less  about  keeping  the  angels  busy  than  he  did  for  obedience  to  Christ, 
but  failed  to  bring  Zwingli  to  his  views.  He  had  no  political  controversy  with  his 
countrymen,  excepting  on  the  question  of  religious  liberty,  but  devoted  himself  to 
missionary  work  in  the  villages  on  Lake  Zurich."  The  peasants  there  were  in  revolt  and 
the  Pedobaptist  pastors  rose  with  them,  but  he  kept  aloof,  preaching  only  the  Gospel. 
The  great  Baptist  Church  at  Ilinwyl  was  estalilished  by  him,  with  many  others.  ^' 


I<'i:i.IX   MANTZ.  335 

Fklix  Mantz  \v:is  a  nohl.>  Swiss  baptist  Ica.liT.  a  native  ..f  Ziiric'li.  Ilis  fatlier 
was  a  canon  of  tiie  eatiiedral  and  iravo  liini  a  lihc'rai  udncation.  He  was  a  tiiuroiigli 
Hebrew  scholar,  was  the  tirin  friend  of  Zwingli,  and  luid  In-eii  witii  Iiini  from  tiie 
tirst.  He  began  to  question  tlie  scri})tiiral  cliaracter  of  a  State-Church  and  infant 
Iwptisni  in  1522.  In  a  scholarly  manner  lie  endeavored  to  draw  Zwingli  to  this  Gos- 
pel ground,  but  he  broke  at  once  with  Mantz,  who  began  to  preach  in  the  fields, 
forests  and  his  mother's  house,  translating  his  text  from  the  Hebrew,  and  expound- 
ing his  translations.  For  this  '  and  the  rebaptism  of  adults  '  he  was  arrested  at 
Cliur  and  driven  from  the  city,  but  returned  under  the  threat  of  the  autliorities  to 
take  his  life.  As  he  was  from  Zurich,  he  was  shortly  after  sent  there  for  punish- 
ment, and  lay  in  prison  for  a  long  time.  There  he  went  through  all  sorts  of  dispu- 
tations and  sufferings,  for  he  lived  on  bread  and  water.  His  release  was  offered  if 
he  would  stop  baptizing,  and  finally  he  escaped  with  twenty  others,  hoping,  as  one 
expressed  it, '  That  they  could  safely  reach  the  Red  Jews  across  the  ocean,' — the  Amer- 
ican Indians,  then  recently  discovered,  expecting  more  humanity  from  them  than 
from  the  holy  Swiss  evangelicals.  Mantz  argued  with  Zwingli  on  baptism  and 
asked  him  to  write  a  book  on  the  subject,  wliicli  ho  did  with  great  severity,  but 
Mantz  was  not  allowed  to  publish  an  answer.  '^ 

At  last  the  Ileformed  Inquisition  accused  him  of  obstinately  refusing  '  to  recede 
from  his  error  and  caprice,'  for  they  said  that  he  would  '  Seek  out  those  who  wished 
to  accept  Christ  and  follow  his  word,  and  unite  with  them  by  baptism,  but  let  the 
rest  alone  in  their  own  \inbelief,'  and  many  other  things  in  the  same  line.  They  then 
chose  Jan.  5,  1527,  as  the  black  day  for  his  judicial  murder.  His  sentence  gaveliim 
over  to  the  executioner,  who  put  him  into  a  boat,  bound  his  hands  over  his 
knees,  put  a  block  between  his  arms  anil  legs,  threw  him  into  the  water  to  drown, 
and  then  his  property  fell  to  the  government.  He  denied  before  them  that  he 
opposed  civil  government,  spoke  of  the  love  of  Christ  very  sweetly  and  left  one 
of  the  most  pathetic  letters,  exhorting  his  brethren  to  a  Christ-like  spirit.  He  was 
led  on  the  day  of  his  slaughter  from  the  Wellenburg,  the  heretics'  tower,  tlircnigh 
the  fish-market  and  shambles  to  a  boat,  preaching  to  the  people  as  he  went.  A  Re- 
formed pastor  at  his  side  sought  to  silence  him,  but  his  faithful  brother  and  his  old 
mother  brushed  away  their  tears  and  exhorted  him  to  suffer  firndy  for  Jesus'  sake. 
The  executioner  put  the  black  cap  on  his  head,  bound  him  to  a  hurdle  and  threw 
him  into  Lake  Zurich,  as  he  cried,  with  Jesus,  '  Into  thy  hands  I  commend  my 
spirit ! '-° 

The  effect  of  his  execution  was  electric,  and  Ijaptists  sprang  up  all  over  the 
land.  Capito  wrote  from  Strasburg  to  Zwingli,  Jan.  27,  saying :  'It  is  reported  here 
that  your  Felix  Mantz  has  suffered  punishment  and  died  gloriously,  on  which  account 
tlie  cause  of  truth  and  piety,  which  you  sustaiii,  is  greatly  dejjressed.''  He  wrote 
again  within  a  week  to  learn  whether  he  died  for  '  violated  public  faith,'  or  on  ac- 
count of   'obstinacy'   in   religion,   "and  with  what  firmness  he  came  to  the  end  of 


336 

/.'/, 

A  U ROCK. 

lif(..' 

riu 

•  <Tiniruri!, 

,. 

C.il 

il  h: 

Hint 

od  its  1,,,. 

tist  a 

n<l 

11 

chhI,  and  tin 

I'V 

\vr 

otr 

ill 

srlf 

-(Iclriisc  1 

;i  wai 

•iii 

Hi;- 

to  i.llicrs." 

i: 

iilli 

r  a( 

•mil 

Ilts  l\,r    A 

arc   < 

)ft( 

I'll 

stiff-necked 

w 

hen 

tl 

arc 

e\cciitc(l 

stratc 

■d 

liis 

stiff-neekedi 

ic; 

-M'i 

1st 

l,cf( 

>re  1 

lis  death, 

,  after  tlie  iiiauiier  of  the  i!ap- 
to  Augsburg  that  they  slew  him  'as 
Mantz's  fortitude  thus:  'Malefactors 
Tliis  p(]or  'malefactor'  demon- 
Ihcsc  words  :  '  The  Gospel  teaches 
di\'iiie  love,  leads  iis  away  from  iiativil  and  envy  to  love.  According  to  the  nature 
of  his  heavenly  Father,  ( !lirist  sliowcd  his  love  to  all  men.  Love  to  God  through 
Christ  alone  can  stand.  Like  our  heavenly  Father,  we  should  be  merciful  to  all. 
Christ  forces  not  one  to  his  glory,  but  chooses  the  willing  and  prepared  by  faitli  and 
baptism.'^'  And  this  was  one  of  those  frightful  Baptist  fanatics,  whose  very  name 
sends  a  chill  through  some  Christian  vein.s. 

George  Jacob  Blaitrock  was  another  Swiss  Baptist  worthy.  He  was  a  monk 
who  abandoned  the  monastery  of  Chur  for  the  Gospel,  a  very  simple-hearted  man, 
who  became  an  intrepid  and  eloquent  disciple  of  Christ.  "When  he  reached  Zurich 
he  went  at  once  to  Zwingli  to  be  instructed  in  the  way  of  salvation,  with  but  little 
satisfaction.  He  then  sought  the  Baptists,  and  in  great  agony  of  soul  obtained  re- 
mission of  sins  from  God  while  amongst  them.  At  once  he  saw  that  his  infant 
baptism  w-as  not  oi'  Christ,  and  begged  to  be  baptized  on  a  confession  of  his  own 
faith  in  his  Saviour.  Falling  on  his  knees,  Grebel  poured  water  on  his  head. 
Zwingli  charged  him  with  schism  in  becoming  a  Baptist.  He  replied  that  he  had  the 
same  right  to  separate  from  Zwingli  that  Zwingli  had  to  leave  the  pope.  Then  he  held 
debates  with  the  reformer,  once  in  the  cathedral,  and  BuUinger's  account  of  them 
shows  that  he  M'as  a  full  Tnatch  for  Zwingli.  As  he  must  be  answered,  the  old  farce 
was  repeated  of  chains,  imprisonment,  and  finally  death  by  drowning.  On  the  day 
of  Mantz's  murdei-,  the  hands  of  Blaurock  were  bound,  his  body  stripped  to  the  waist ; 
and  he  was  led  through  the  sti-eets,  where,  by  order  of  the  Reformed  Inquisition,  he 
was  beaten  till  his  flesh  quivered  and  his  blood  flowed  in  his  tracks.-^  On  reaching  the 
gates  of  the  city  an  oath  was  demanded  of  him,  that  if  he  was  permitted  to  go  free 
he  would  not  return.  This  he  refused  for  a  time  and  was  sent  back  to  prison,  but 
afterward  he  took  it  and  left  the  city  forever.^^  Then  Zwingli  was  mean  enough  to 
reproach  the  Baptists  for  not  excluding  him  from  their  fellowship  for  having  taken 
an  oath  which,  he  said,  was  contraiy  to  their  principles.  He  was  pursued  from  place 
to  place  until,  accoi-ding  to  Cornelius,  he  was  burnt  at  the  stake  at  Claussen,  in  the 
Tyrol,  A.  D.  1529,  but  not  before  he  had  moved  the  greater  part  of  Northern 
Switzerland  by  his  hallowed  eloquence. 

Balthazar  Hubmeyee  was  the  noblest  of  the  Swiss  Baptists.  He  was  born  at 
Friedburg,  Bavaria,  A.  D.  1480,  and  studied  philosophy  and  theology  under  Eck, 
the  great  antagonist  of  Luther,  graduating  1503.  In  1512  he  became  preacher  and 
professor  of  theology  at  Ingolstadt,  but  was  cathedral  preacher  at  Eatisbon  in  1519. 
He  embraced  Luther's  views  in  1522,  and  leaving  his  preferments  in  the  Catholic 
Church  he  settled  at  Waldshut,  being  in  full  communication  with   Zwingli.     His 


//nofEyKii. 


387 


jjuwcr  aiiil  eloquence  niiivcd  that  city;  lie  assisted  Zwiiij^li  in  the  groat  debate  at 
Ziirieli  \\  itli  the  Catliolics,  1523,  after  wliich  they  becuiiie  the  closest  and  wannest 
fi'ieiuls.  His  powerful  ministry  almost  destroyed  Komauisni  in  Waldshut,  and  Aus- 
tria compelled  him  to  seek  refuge  elsewhere.  This  ho  found  in  Schaffliausen,  but 
soon  discovered  tluit  the  Reformation  in  Zurich  had  not  gone  back  to  the  Apostolic 
model.     lie  had  laid  his  best  thoughts  before  Zwingli  and  fficolatnpadius,  wlio  at  Hrst 


ions, 
iioro 


saw  tlioir  consistency,  then  rejected  tlioiu.  However,  lie  followed  liis  coiivi 
left  the  IState-Oiuircii  and  was  baptized  by  lleublin,  at  Waldshut  in  152.5,  will 
than  a  hundred  of  his  former  congregation.  He  felt  his  way  to  Baptist  princijiles 
very  gradually  and  on  thorough  conviction.  At  first  when  children  were  brought 
to  him  as  a  Eeformed  pastor  for  baptism,  he  preached  on  the  little  ones  being 
bi'ought  to  Christ  and  blessed  by  him  without  the  use  of  water  (Matt,  xix) ;  but  if 
their  parents  still  demanded  christening,  he  gratified  them  without  yielding  his  own 
views.  After  forming  a  Baptist  church,  he  baptized  more  than  three  hundred  of  his 
former  heai-ers,  and  the  jiopulation  liecame  largely  Baptist.  He  proaclied  in  the 
33 


338 

Ills 

srh'FKinX' 

as. 

..pen   air 

f.i  ^1 

lilKl 

•rat    Millll 
in  tlic.  M 

titiidi 
•.•.,nd 

■s   at 
di.p 

St.  ( 
iilatii 

iall  alsu,  an 
111  at  /iiricli 

.     1 

tlic  >vr<m< 

1  tin 

IV.  \ir  n,, 

W    In 

imd  1 

ivfn- 

(■  aninniz'st  t 

h.'  1 

TIht 

(■    lie 

was  sM,, 

11   an 

v>tc. 

1   aii.l 

cast    illtn 

apiK-aliMK 

t..ll 

isoM  fri. 

■ndj 

,,tli. 

■oinl 

icrnr.  to  the 

(■(111 

His 

liuaJtli   \ 

vas   1 

ir.dsc 

n,  bis 

;  will'  was    i 

n    p 

with  iiKin 

■    \h-A 

n  tAvnf\ 

•    otb: 

I'rs  : 

'  Wli. 

(d'  . 

bread  :iim 

1       Wl! 

itt'r    \vor( 

■  the 

only 

noiii 

■isliincnt.  an 

id    t|: 

togetliei-. 

,.n    ; 

icc(jnnt  ( 

.f   th 

,.    sic 

kcnii 

1-  ,Ml,.rs   ,d 

the 

slmt  lip  w 

•itl, 

the  dead. 

witl 

1  no 

hope 

of  escape  1 

but  i 

Zurirl,    In 

:.piis 

iti(in  use 

d  all 

niotl 

Kids  to  compel  hi 

111  t( 

eral  powc 

rful 

books  w: 

hicdi 

were 

stirri 

iiig  the  pub 

lie  1 

deep  impression  on  tlic 
I'.riii-ubliired  to  leave  Waldshut 
s(d-Znricli. 

riv  be  lay  tour  months, 
itionand  the  ( 'oiincil,  but 
and  he  lay  in  a  dungeon 
niiM.n  penetrated,  wiiere 
iild  not  be  taken  for  days 
:  where  the  living  were 
h  or  recantation. ■=*  Tlie 
It,  for  he  bad  written  sev- 
aniongst  tliem  one  'Con- 
cerning Heretics  and  those  that  burn  them.'  He  siiowed  that  all  Ijutcliery  under  the 
pretense  <d'  zeal  for  Christ  was  a  fraud,  and  an  open  denial  of  him  who  fame  to 
save  men  ami  not  to  burn  them.  Another  work  of  his  on  iJaptisin  so  aroused  the 
Keformers  of  Uerue,  iiasel  and  Strasburg,  that  Zwingli  was  forced  to  reply,  llaller 
said:  'Many  have  been  misled  by  Hubmeyer's  book,  but  do  not  be  alarmed  too 
much,  the  Council  has  hanislied  cveri/  AnulMjitl.sf.'  Zwingli's  reply  was  so  bitter 
and  vindictive,  that  Hosek  says:  '  He  gaxc  reins  to  his  passions;'  and  Stei'ii  writes 
of  Hubnieyer's  production,  that  he  '  Showed  moderation,  respect  for  bis  opponents, 
and  force,  not  in  coarse  or  violent  language,  but  in  tlniugbt.'  Many  of  bis  positions 
were  fresli  and  very  forceful.  In  answer  to  the  evasi\e  and  shallow  pnvtensions  of 
Zwingli,  that  the  silence  of  the  New  Testament  permitted  infant  liaptism,  he  said  that 
the  spirit  of  our  Lord's  command  to  baptize  the  believing  forbade  its  use  to  babes, 
thus :  '  The  command  is  to  baptize  those  who  believe.  To  baptize  those  who  do  not 
believe,  therefore,  is  forbidden.  For  example,  Christ  commanded  his  Apostles  to 
preacli  the  Gospel;  in  so  doing,  the  doctrines  of  men  were  forbidden.'  Was  he  correct  'i 
Zwingli,  Jud,  Myconius  and  others  visited  him  in  prison,  and  by  one  means  or 
another  wrung  from  him  a  recantation.  Faber  says  that  he  was  laid  on  the  rack, 
and  Cunitz,  that  he  was  compelled  to  recant,  April  6,  152G.  His  own  words  imply 
the  same.     His  appeal  to  the  Council  of  Schaffhausen  says: 

'I  pray  you,  for  Cod's  sake,  and  in  view  (if  the  last  judgment,  do  not  press  and 
force  me  or  any  other  Christian  teacher,  but  hear  nie,  summon  my  cahunniators  to 
appear  against  me,  have  tio  respect  for  persons,  great  or  small,  but  judge  righteously, 
for  judgment  is  the  Lord's  and  the  judges  are  his  servants.  But  should  this,  my 
earnest  and  heart-felt  request,  not  be  heeded,  though  even  the  Turks  would  not  refuse 
it,  and  I  should  be  compelled  by  prison,  torture,  sword,  lire  or  water,  or  permitted 
by  the  withdrawal  of  God's  grace,  to  say  or  confess  any  thing  different  from  the 
opinion  by  the  enlightemnent  of  God  I  now  cherish  ;  then  I  do  hereby  protest  that 
nobody  may  be  offended  at  my  deed,  whatever  God  may  bring  to  ]>a-s,  and  testify 
before  God,  my  heavenly  Father,  and  before  all  men,  that  I  will  sulfer  and  dii'  as  a 
Christian.  May  God  lend  me  a  brave,  unflinching,  princely  spii-it.  that  I  may  abide 
on  his  Holy  Word,  and  in  a  real  Christian  faith  eoiniiiend  my  spirit  into  his  hands." 


KXiuniTED  IX  rill-:  c.wiiihihal.  ss9 

lie  also  tells  us  that  lie  olTered  to  discuss  these  and  other  issues  with  Zwiugli 
in  |)ul)lic,  and  if  convicted  of  error  they  uii_i(lit  put  him  to  death;  hut  if  Zwiiigli 
were  shown  to  be  wrong,  all  that  lie  asked  of  him  was  to  preach  the  truth.  This 
Evangelical  Inquisition,  however,  thought  the  rack  their  most  conclusive  answer  to 
liis  holy  convictions,  and  in  a  moment  of  weakness  the  great  confessor  fell  into  the 
relapse  which  met  the  noble  Berengarius  before  him,  and  the  learned  Cranmer 
after  hira.  And  in  the  wail  of  a  wounded  and  humiliated  soul  he  exclaims:  'They 
compelled,  or  sought  to  compel,  me,  a  sick  man,  just  risen  from  a  bed  of  death ; 
hunted,  exiled,  and  having  lost  all  that  I  had,  to  teach  another  faith.'  A  great 
triumph,  truly,  for  Christian  men  of  their  standing  and  pretensions ! 

The  people  were  summoned  to  the  great  cathedral,  which  was  crowded,  to 
hear  his  recantation  and  the  death-knell  of  the  Baptists.  Zwingli  preached  a  great 
sermon  on  'Christian  steadfastness,'  save  the  mark,  and  loud  and  long  he  declaimed 
against  these  heretics;  then  Hnbmeyer  was  to  nioiuit  the  pulpit  and  renounce  his 
firm  faith,  to  the  delectable  edification  of  the  Holy  Inquisition  of  Zurich.  Kgli 
saj's  that  Zwingli  warned  the  magistrates  not  to  trust  Hubmeyer  to  speak  in  the 
cathedral.^  lie  had  a  lively  memory  of»what  many  weeks  of  labor  luul  failed  to 
do  in  shaking  his  faith,  till  the  rack  summed  up  the  whole  Gospel  case.  As  the 
inquisitors  could  not  forego  the  show,  all  eyes  now  turned  eagerly  to  the  broken 
frame  of  the  meek  Baptist  as  he  climbed  the  pulpit.  He  began  to  read  his  recanta- 
tion in  a  broken,  weak  and  qnivei'ing  voice,  until  his  heart  choked  his  utterance  and 
he  broke  down.  He  swayed  to  and  fro  before  his  audience  like  a  bruised  reed 
shaken  by  the  wind ;  when  suddenly  the  unseen  hand  of  God  was  put  forth  to 
l)iiid  him  up,  and  raising  himself  to  his  full  height,  he  filled  the  sanctuary  with 
the  shout,  that  '  Infant  baptism  is  not  of  God,  and  men  must  be  baptized  by  faith 
in  Christ ! '  The  crowd  surged  like  waves  and  burst  into  tumult.  Some  were  seized 
with  horror  and  some  shouted  applause,  till  the  roof  of  the  Minster  rang.  Zwingli 
screamed  above  the  rest,  the  inquisitors  were  in  a  Pedobaptist  panic,  and  the  scene 
closed  by  dragging  Hubmeyer  from  the  pulpit,  hustling  him  through  the  multitude,  and 
thrusting  him  back  into  his  dungeon.  Once  more  in  his  cell,  he  rewrote  his  faith  in 
Christ,  which  writing  he  closed  in  these  words  : 

'O,  immortal  God,  this  is  my  faith.  I  confess  it  with  heart  and  mouth,  and 
have  testified  it  publicly  before  the  Church  in  baptisn:i.  I  faithfully  pray  thee 
graciously  keep  me  in  it  until  my  end,  and  should  I  be  forced  from  it  out  of  mortal 
fear  and  timidit}',  by  tyranny,  torture,  sword,  fire  or  water,  I  now  appeal  to  thee. 
O,  my  compassionate  Father,  raise  me  up  again  by  the  grace  of  thy  H0I3'  Spirit,  and 
suffer  me  not  to  depart  without  this  faith.  This,  I  pray  thee  from  the  bottom  of 
my  heart,  through  Jesus  Christ,  thy  most  beloved  Son,  our  Lord  and  Saviour. 
Father,  in  thee  do  I  put  my  trust,  let  me  never  be  ashamed.' 

After  much  more  suffering  he  was  permitted  to  leave  the  canton  quietly, 
whence  he  made  his  way  first  to  Constance  and  then  to  Moravia,  where  we  shall  meet 
with  him  again  in  his  new  home. 


I^K.^ 


t 
■4^^ 


V  ,* 


SlHiiHIilsCV 


CHAPTER    II. 


THE    SWISS    BAPTISTS. 


IT  w;is  (■ii.stoiiiai'y  fvv  tliu  ancient  Baptists  to  use  private  (leclarations  of  tiieir 
principles  drawn  u]3  ])y  sonic  nieniljer  of  their  coninnini(jn,  as  tliev  liail  no 
official  ruling  body  to  issue  such  statements.  Persecution  obliged  tlieir  private  use, 
because  documentary  evidence  of  heresy  was  greatly  desired  by  their  enemies,  in 
proof  of  treason  to  the  State  religion.  Sxich  a  Confession,  the  first  now  known, 
existed  in  the  form  of  '  Seven  Articles,'  drawn  in  the  year  lii'iT.  Dn  July  31st 
Zwingli  issued  his  Menchus  Contra  Catahajdistas,  in  which  he  says  that  he  had 
two  copies  of  this  Confession.  He  also  says  that  scarcely  one  of  the  iJaptists  was 
without  a  concealed  copy  and  upbraids  them  with  failure  to  give  their  Articles  to 
the  world.  He  professes  to  give  a  copy  of  tlieiii,  translated  into  Latin,  ad  vcrlmm, 
and  publishes  it  for  tlu'  purpose  of  sustaining  his  charges  that  they  were  '  fanat- 
ical, stolid,  audacious  and  impious.'  Vii'tually  he  charged  the  Baptists  with  failing 
to  stand  up  U>  their  Confession  like  men,  pitting  their  manhood  against  their 
patriotism  and  the  fear  of  death.  They  must  have  felt  this  accusation  keenly,  as 
they  were  ready  to  die  for  their  principles.  ScHLF.rrHEiM  was  a  little  village  near 
the  foot  of  the  lofty  hill  Am  Eanden,  seven  miles  north-west  of  Schaffhausen,  at  the 
eastern  termination  of  the  Jura  range.  From  this  quiet  retreat,  away  from  their 
foes,  these  venerable  Baptists  promulgated  their  Confession  of  Faith  in  the  form  of 
a  circular  letter  addressed  without  limit  to  the  congregation  of  their  brethren,  thus : 
'Letter  of  the  Brotherly  Union  of  certain  believing,  baptized  children  of  God,  who 


rilEIli    COXFESSIOX   OF  VAITIL  341 

have  asseinblod  at  Sclileitliciiu  Am  Randeii,  dated  (jii  ^fattluas'  day  (I'V-bniary  ;i4th), 
15^7.     To  tlie  congregations  of  lu'licvinu-,  liaptized  Christians.' 

This  Confession  is  given  in  t'nil  in  tlio  Appendix,  in  a  translation  from  a 
German  copy  now  in  the  archives  of  the  (Janton  of  Schaffhausen,  made  from  tiie 
original  document  for  Dr.  Osgood.  It  vi'as  probably  first  printed  by  Beclc'  Of 
course,  it  is  not  accompanied  by  any  statement  as  to  wlio  formed  the  assembly.  Its 
value  and  bearing  are  determined  not  only  by  internal  evidence,  but  it  accords 
exactly  with  the  copy  of  Zwingli,  with  such  differences  only  as  arise  from  his 
Latinized  form.  Tlie  number  and  order  of  its  articles,  with  their  subject-matter, 
expression  and  diction,  are  identical,  allowing  for  his  Latin  transposition.  Signature 
to  it  would  only  have  courted  death  with  Mantz,  wlio  bud  been  drowned  by  order 
of  tlie  Council  for  the  same  sentiments,  on  the  5th  of  -lainuii y  (if  the  same  year.  It 
is  a  clear  and  powerful  document,  evidently  tlie  work  of  unc  master-mind,  as  is 
shown  nut  only  by  its  unity  but  from  tlie  ;iccident;il  ivtcntion  of  the  i)ersonal 
pronoun  'nie'  ((mich)  in  the  Prologue.  Its  autlior  is  Ijciii'ved  to  liave  been  Michael 
Sattler,  an  e.\-monk,  highly  educated,  quiet  and  amiable,  wlio  suffered  martyrdom 
May  21st,  1527,  at  Eothenburg  on  the  jS'eckar.  Its  substance  and  Christ-liivc  spirit 
render  it  '  shocking,'  as  the  '  Britannica '  exjjresses  it,  that  its  adherents  should  have 
been  treated  with  death.^  AVe  siiall  find  this  Confession  a  perfect  defense  against 
the  slanders  of  the  sixteenth  century  Baptists,  and  an  interpreter  of  their  prineij)les 
and  conduct  throughout. 

A  long  list  of  Swiss  Baptist  worthies  must  be  passed  in  silence  for  want  of 
space,  as  Ilottinger,  Stumpf,  Keublin,  Castelberg,  Ockenfuss  and  otliei's ;  but 
something  must  be  said  here  of  the  life  and  ial)ors  of 

LuDWiG  Hetzek.  Where  he  was  Ijorn  and  educated  is  not  certainly  known, 
bnt  he  was  a  thorough  scholar  and  distinguished  himself  at  Zurich  as  an  adept  in 
the  learned  languages.  He  acted  as  scribe  and  editor  of  the  second  discussion 
there,  the  debate  relating  to  the  use  of  images ;  on  which  subject  he  wrote  a  pop- 
ular tract,  in  which  he  challenged  the  Catholics  to  show  that  images  are  good  for 
any  thing  but  fuel.  He  adopted  as  his  motto,  '  God  redeem  the  captives.'  He 
translated  Bugenhagen's  Commentary  on  Paul's  Epistles,  in  the  preface  of  which 
he  laments  the  timid  interpretations  of  the  Reformers  and  tlieir  half-hearted  work. 
In  Zurich  he  associated  with  the  Baptists  and  was  obliged  to  leave  with  their 
leaders,  January  21st,  1525.  He  made  his  way  to  Augsbui-g  and  fell  in  there  with 
the  same  class  of  brethren,  but  does  not  appear  to  have  united  with  them.  In 
September  of  the  same  year  (Ecolampadius  employed  him  in  literary  work  at 
Basle.  That  great  author  had  prepared  a  work  on  the  Lord's  Supper,  which  Iletzer 
translated  into  the  German  and  put  to  press  in  Zurich.  In  his  preface  to  this 
work  he  objected  to  infant  baptism,  because  salvation  was  attached  to  the  water, 
also  because  unbaptized  childi'en  were  believed  to  be  lost  and  were  buried  in  un- 
consecrated  i^round.' 


n 


342  MAirrrUlKiM    nl-    UET'/.EH. 

Af^iiin  being-  uoiupellcd  to  Iciivu  Ziiricii  liu  went  tu  iStrabburg  and  became  fully 
identified  witli  the  Bajjtists  there.  He  remained  with  Denk,  sometime  at  Strasburg 
and  then  at  Worms,  eno-ag-ed  in  translating  the  Old  Testament.  Once  more  he  was 
b:iHlshed  and  made  his  way  to  Bishofszell  and  Cunstance,  but  was  thrown  into 
l)rison  for  four  months  at  the  latter  place.  <  )iie  day  a  charge  was  framed  against 
him  and  the  next  day  he  was  beheaded  February,  A.  D.  I."):i'.t. 

The  r(e<inls  of  Constance  charge  him  with  having  two  wives.  There  was  no 
witness  before  the  court,  and  it  has  been  said  that  he 
confessed  tliis  immorality  on  his  trial.  He  had 
married  the  widow  of  Kegel,  a  high  citizen  of  Augs- 
burg, whii  lo\ed  Hetzer,  and  to  whom  Hetzer  had 
dedicated  a  book  on  the  conversion  of  the  Jews.  At 
Constance  the  falsehood  was  given  out  that  he  had 
man-ied  his  wife's  nuiid,  but  at  Augsburg,  where 
ilet/A'r  was  better  known  than  most  public  men,  this 
allegation  was  not   made.     Nor  do  Zwingli  or  CEco- 

tlian  the  f;inatiral  court  at  Constance,  hint  at  such  a 
thing.  Strasburg,  Augsburg  and  Zurieli  had  taken  pains  to  banish  this  accom- 
plished scholar,  some  of  them  twice,  and  yet  no  man  in  (iermauy  or  Switzerland  knew 
of  his  two  wives  e.xeept  his  murdi^vi's  at  (^m.^tance,  and  this  only  came  to  their 
knowledge  on  the  day  before  his  munlei-,  and  on  liis  own  testimony  at  that,  as  they 
say!  Alas,  master  1  Happily  does  Jveller  resent  this  charge  against  Hetzer,  as  'an 
unproved  and  unprovable  statement."  '  llow  wonld  a  self-convicted  jjolygamist  eon- 
duct  himself  before  magistrates  to  whom  he  had  confessed  his  crime  ?  And 
how  did  Hetzer  behave  %  John  Zwick,  with  Ambrose  and  Thomas  Bla,nrer,  say  that 
they  were  eye-witnesses.  Thomas  Elaurer  says  that  when  Hetzer  was  sentenced 
to  death  he  was  tilled  with  joy,  and  a  throng  of  clei-gymen.  councilmen  and  citi- 
zens of  all  ranks  visited  him  all  day  long.  Zwiek  and  Metzler  were  Reformed 
pastors  of  Constance,  and  Zwick  says  that  he  'conducted  himself  with  great  pro- 
priety, God  be  praised  in  his  behalf."  His  friends  spent  the  night  with  him  in 
singing  and  prayer;  he  rejoiced  that  he  had  translated  the  Scriptures  for  the  com- 
mon f)eople,  and  was  impatient  to  be  with  Christ. 

Zwick  says  that  he  saw  him  on  the  morning  of  his  e.\ecution.  And  what 
did  the  adulterer  say?  'He  addressed  ns  all  as  his  dear  brethren.  He  constrained 
us  all  to  pray  with  him.  The  room  was  very  full.  He  now  prayed  to  God  with  a 
seriousness  such  as  I  have  never  seen  or  heard.'  Then  what  ?  Did  he  confess  his 
guilt  to  those  kind  pastors  ?  O,  no  ;  instead,  says  the  same  witness,  '  He  gave  an 
exhortation  to  ns  preachers,  and  mingled  it  with  a  few  words  on  infant  baptism, 
that  we  should  not  enforce  it  as  if  we  must  whether  or  no  baptize  the  children, 
but  suffer  it  to   l)e   (piite    free.'      When   led    to  execution,  he  called  the   names  of 


others 

who  liail  irec 

■ivCMl    tlH 

L'  martyr's  wreath,  exliorted  Con- 

u-il   ill 

its   life,  and 

otTciv,! 

|>i-ayci'  for  all  |)rusent,  in   whic:h 

lla>t,    iviinri 

..  Ilial 

wIk'm    lir    laid  Ills  liead  upon  tlie 

If   1  1 

lia\-e   ollV'udLM 

-1  any    . 

if   you   ill   my  life,   forgive  ine." 

ins    Th'/rVPHAXT   UKATH. 

^[antz,  Iliihiiicyi'r  an 
stance  to  show  C!od"s 
the  people  joined  wit 
block  ho  said  to  all : 
Tlien  aildrcssiiiij  the  throne  of  grace,  he  cried  :  '  If  I  have  oifended  thy  majesty  my 
Clod,  I  thank  thee  tliat  thou  hast  extended  iny  life,  so  that  I  can  now,  by  my  last  con- 
fession, rescue  many,  many  souls! '^  After  this  manner  ho  beautifully  confessed 
Christ.  Opening  his  Hebrew'  Bible  at  the  Twenty-fifth  Psalm,  he  asked  the  people 
to  kneel  with  iiim  and  rea<l  in  a  loud  voice,  at  the  15th  verse:  'He  shall  pluck  my 
feet  out  of  the  net,"  like  Paul  with  ■these  chains :"  lie  dropped  his  eyes  on  the  cords 
that  bound  him,  and  the  people  icpcateil  the  words  after  him,  as  well  as  they  could 
for  sobbing.  He  then  otfVivd  the  Lord's  Prayer,  adding  at  the  amen,  '  Through 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  by  his  blood!'  As  the  executioner  ap- 
proached with  the  ax  he  prayed  that  the  Lord  would  not  leave  him,  and  a  voice 
from  the  multitude  cried,  '  God  will  not  for.-^ake  thee!'  A  slight  flush  tinged  his 
cheek,  he  calmly  laid  his  iiead  on  the  block,  the  stroke  fell  and  the  learned  trans- 
lator was  gone. 

The  court  at  Constance  a])|)(ars  ncvi-r  to  have  read  the  false  charge  planned 
against  Jesus  for  alleged  blasphemy,  and  how  the  evidence  destroyed  itself  by  con- 
tradiction. H  it  believed  that  this  i:-,.od  man  was  an  adulterer,  it  should  eitlu-r 
have  purified  its  records  or  put  a  padlock  on  the  mouth  of  its  city  jia.-tors.  John 
Zw-ick,  who  knew  the  history  of  Constance  and  that  lluss  and  Jerome  were 
martyred  there,  says  of  Hetzer :  'A  nobler  and  more  manly  death  was  never  seen 
in  Constance.  Ho  suffered  with  greater  propriety  than  I  had  given  him  credit 
for.  They  who  knew  not  that  he  was  a  heretic  and  an  Anabaiitist  could  have 
observed  nothing  in  him.  .  .  .  We  wore  all  with  him  to  his  end,  and  may  the 
Almighty,  the  eternal  God,  grant  to  me  and  to  the  servants  of  his  word,  like  mercy 
in  the  day  when  he  shall  call  us  home.'  So  Thomas  Blaurer,  his  fellow-pastor, 
says :  '  No  one  has,  with  so  much  charity,  so  courageously  laid  down  his  life  for 
Anabaptism  as  Hetzer.     He  was  like  one  who  spoke  with  God  and  died.' 

After  Hetzer's  death,  Zwingli  said  that  ho  had  suppressed  a  book  of  Hetzer's 
against  the  divinity  of  Christ.  On  this  statement  some  have  classed  him  with  Anti- 
trinitarians,  but  it  strikes  us  as  remarkable  that  this  alleged  evidence  of  his  heresy 
should  have  been  destroyed  by  his  accuser,  and  that  not  one  line  of  this  mysterious 
book  has  been  produced,  especially  as  there  is  no  confirmatory  proof  that  he  held 
these  views,  excepting  a  passage  violently  forced  into  that  service  from  one  of  his 
hymns.  On  the  contrary  Keller,  quoting  from  Dr.  Beck's  recent  history  of  the 
Austrian  Baptists,  affirms  that  the  '  proof  of  this  charge  has  not  been  found.'  * 
Hetzer  wrote  numy  hymns,  which  were  published  in  Zurich  after  his  death  and  are 
now  standard  in  Germany  as  spiritual  hymns.  This  particular  one  connnends  itself 
to   Spener,  Freylinghausen,  and    Franke,  of  Halle,  leaders   of  the  Pietists,  yet  the 


344  ST.     GAIJ,. 

sciitiineiit  complained  of  is  not  Ilctzcr's,  1iut  <jiic  wliich  lie  puts  into  the  mouth  of 
the  world  concerning  (Jhrist.  lie  wi-ote  a  tiMct  against  'Reveh-y  and  the  Abuse  of 
tlie  Tongue,'  and  dcdicatei!  it  to  Aeliatin,  a  citizen  of  Constance.  In  writing  to  tliis 
friend,  lie  says  of  Christ,  he  '  Made  tlie  world  Ky  his  word,  heeanie  llesh  and  dwelt 
amongst  us,  whoi'  gl-ry  shall  he  seen.'  y\nd  who  ean  helieve  that  he  rejected  tlie 
vicarious  atimeiiient  (d'  ( 'hi'ist,  who  cldM'd  his  last  prayer  with  these  word.s : 
'Through  .lesus  ( 'lirist,  who  saved  the  woi'ld  l>y  his  blood.'  He  was  never  suspected 
of  being  an  Antitriiutarian  till  after  his  death,  nor  do  the  soundest  Orthodo.x  theo- 
logians so  account  him  now. 

There  were  many  centers  <d'  i;a])tist  iiitiuence  in  Switzeidand  besides  Zurich 
and  Waldshut,  b.r  in  1.>'JT,  the  year  in  which  the  Brotherly  I'liion  issned  the  'Seven 
Articles  "at  Schli'iiln'iiii  to  the'  ( 'oiigregations  of  Believing,  linprized  ( 'liristians,' there 
were  assendilies  of  that  eharactei-  in  thii'ty-eight  places  in  the  Canton  (d'  Zurich  alone. 

St.  (Jai. I.  became  a  stronghold  of  liaptist  principles.  Inl.")2o  a  large  crucifix, 
richly  carved  and  oiaiamented,  stood  nea.i-  the  rii|)er  (iatecd'  Zuricdi.  One  night 
it  wa-S  overturned  and  it  was  bmnd  that  one  of  the  trespassers  was  a  Bajitist,  who, 
for  his  fault,  was  banishe.l  fi'om  the  city.  lb'  made  his  way  directly  to  St.  Gall  his 
native  place,  and  one  <lay  when  K'essler,  the  iiefonned  pastor  there,  was  publicly  ex- 
pounding lioni.  vi,  the  iconoclast  interrujjted  him  with  the  remark  :  '  I  infer  that 
you  think  children  may  be  baptized.'  Kessler  asked,  '  Why  not  ? '  to  which  the 
Baptist  answered  :  '  He  that  belicveth  aud  is  baptized,  shall  be  saved.'  Soon  after 
this,  Wolfgang  Ulimami,  son  (jf  a  distinguished  citizen  of  St.  Gall,  returned  to  the 
city,  lie  had  been  innnersed  in  the  Eliine  at  Schaffhausen  by  Grebel,  who  met 
him  on  the  way.  Grebel  told  him  that  a  change  had  taken  place  in  his  own  mind 
on  the  method  of  baptism  and  he  convinced  Ulimann  that  he  shouhl  l>e  immersed. 
Kessler  says  that  Ulimann  '  liefnsed  to  be  sprinkled  (lut  of  a  dish,  and  was  drawn 
under  and  covered  over  with  the  waters  of  the  Rhine.' 

Ilis  return  to  St.  Gall  gave  a  great  impulse  to  the  new  movement.  Grebel  soon 
followed  him,  and  on  April  9th,  1525,  this  evangelist  took  a  large  number  of  converts 
a  distance  of  two  or  three  miles  and  immersed  them  in  the  Sitter  River.  These 
Baptists  worshiped  in  fields  and  woods  where  multitudes  heard  them,  and  soon 
their  church  numbered  eight  hundred.  Ci'owds  came  in  from  the  Canton  of  Appen- 
zell  to  hear  the  new  faith,  some  say  as  many  as  two  thousand,  wlio  carried  it  back 
and  scattered  it  through  their  Alpine  hamlets  and  valleys.  Reformed  pastors  and 
others  of  note  embraced  it,  and  Baj^tist  congregations  were  gathered  at  Teiifen, 
Herrisau  and  Brunuen.  They  went  to  rivers  and  streams  as  they  could  find  them 
for  immersion.  liesides,  they  used  a  great  wooden  vat  in  the  Butchers  Square,  at 
St.  Gall,  mitil  a  building  known  as  the  'Baptizing  House,'  came  to  be  regularly 
iised  as  a  baptistery.'  Baptists  became  so  numerous  in  Teufen  that  the  parish 
church  dismissed  its  Reformed  pastor  and  elected  Hans  Krnsi,  a  Baptist,  in  his 
place.     He  was  soon  arrested  by  the  Abbot  of  St.   Gall,  and  would  have  suffered 


rADIAJV.  348 

deiitli  li;i(l  not  tlio  people  roseued  liini.  On  liis  second  arrest  lie  was  taken  to  Lu- 
cerne and  bound  to  the  stake,  when  lie  rushed  out  of  the  flames,  and  the  Catholic 
crowd  would  not  allow  the  sheriff  to  lay  hands  on  him."  Twt)  years  later,  ['liniann 
and  two  others  were  burned  at  the  stake  at  Constance. 

Vadian,  perhaps  the  leading  citizen  of  St.  Gall,  became  alarmed  at  this  state  of 
things  which  threatened  to  destroy  the  State  Church,  admitted  that  infant  baptism 
had  become  a  slianicful  abuse  and  desired  reform,  but  in  a  i^iadual  nuiniier.  So,  as 
a  conservative  measure,  he  asked  the  city  Council  to  ply  the  old  machiiu'  and  grind 
this  dissent  to  powder,  (ireliel  warned  him  not  to  dye  his  hands  in  innocent  Mood, 
but  the  Council  imposed  a  heavy  tine  on  all  who  should  be  baptized,  ainl  lorl)ade 
the  Baptists  either  to  baptize  or  break  bread,  on  pain  of  imprisonment  or  banishment. 
A  special  police  force  of  two  hundred  was  sworn  in  to  enforce  the  decree,  and  vio- 
lence was  let  loose  in  the  city. 

The  Baptist  Church  at  St.  (lall  was  noted  for  strict  morality  and  deep  ])iity.  but 
soon  it  was  put  to  a  severer  trial  than  persecution.  Goaded  by  the  suppression  of 
all  their  religious  rights,  some  of  this  flock  became  doubly  zealous,  and  when  their 
shepherds  were  driven  away  one  man  found  liis  head  so  turned  that  he  ran  into  wild 
fanaticism.  Like  many  monks,  friars  and  canonized  saints,  he  went  into  visions, 
ecstasies  and  rapts,  in  which  he  said  God  commanded  hira  to  slay  his  own  brother, 
as  a  test  of  his  faith,  lie  committed  the  terrible  fratricide,  and  inflicted  a  stag- 
gering blow  on  the  Church.  The  most  honorable  bodies  of  Christians  have  been 
disgraced  b}'  similar  events  in  times  of  religious  commotion.  The  Baptists  of  St.  Gall 
were  shocked  at  the  horrible  deed  of  this  infatuated  crank  and  jiromptly  discarded 
the  crazy  murderer,  as  did  also  a  general  Council  of  their  brethren,  held  the  next 
3'ear. '•'  It  is  no  small  disgrace  to  many  writers  that  they  have  taken  special  pains  to 
lay  the  crime  of  this  madman  at  the  door  of  the  Baptists  of  St.  Gall,  because  they 
could  blackeu  them  in  no  other  way. 

Would  that  such  writers  knew  more  of  the  spirit  of  Chalmers  when  he  says  : 

'  A  sect  may  be  thrown  into  discredit  by  a  few  of  its  individual  specimens,  and  tiie 
same  association  may  b(>  thmwn  upon  all  its  members.  ...  A  system  may  be  thrown 
into  discredit  by  the  l'aii;ifi(i>iu  and  folly  of  some  of  its  advocates,  and  it  may  be 
long  before  it  enuii:i>  limu  the  contempt  of  a  precipitate  and  unthinking  public, 
ever  ready  to  foll.iw  the  iiii|iulses  of  her  former  recollections  :  it  maybe  long  before 
it  is  rerliiiiiieil  tVoiii  ul  i-.cuiity  liv  the  eloquence  of  future  defeinlii- :  ami  tliei'e  may 
be  the  .-truu-le  and  ]ie]--e\  erance  of  nuuiy  years  before  the  e\i>iiiii;  a^^ciation,  with 
all  its  train  of  ol)lo^juie^,  and  disgusts,  and  prejudices  shall  be  overcome.' 

No  reasonable  man  will  brand  all  the  Ajiostolate  with  the  falsehood  of  Peter 
or  the  suicide  of  Judas,  nor  all  the  Presbyterians  with  the  burning  of  Servetus,  nor 
all  the  Swiss  Reformers  with  the  cruelties  of  Zurich;  any  more  than  a  man  with  a 
fairly  decent  conscience  can  lay  this  man's  sin  at  the  door  of  all  the  Baptists  of  St.  Gall. 

Probably  the  simplest  and  most  reliable  account  is  given  by  the  enemy  of  the 
Baptists,  Vadian,  a  burgomaster  and  judge  of  that  city,  first  published  in  1S77.     He 


346 


STATEMENT   OE   THE  MAGISTHATK. 


says  tluit  Thotiias  Sclmcker  liail  taken  t.M,  mucli  wine,  m-  in  some  otlier  way  liad 
become  unbalanced,  and  toward  day-bivak  mi  llic  stii  Feb.  C  F.jnlisl]  Tliursday,'  as  it 
is  called),  he  went  and  cut  ()ft'  lii^  biMthci'V  la/ad. 

'  Then  without  coat  or  shoes,  in  shirt  and  stockings,  he  came  runnino;  to  my 
house,  and  said  he  had  drank  vinegar  and  gali,  but  not  a  word  about  his  deed.  I 
saw  he  was  not  right,  and  had  him  locked  up,  and  at  tlie  trial  it  was  plain  that 
Thomas  was  non  comjpos  mentis.  Every  body  felt  sun-y  tur  liini,  for  Thomas's 
friends  were  a  devout  and  honest  set  of  people." 

Surely  that  fratricide  cannot  easily  be  niisrepi-esented  more  to  the  injui-y  of  his 
Church  th'an  of  bis  familv. 


J>ASLF  was  anothei  centci  of  Ijipti^t  influence  It  hil  (  lu^ht  i  hbi  i  d  spirit 
from  Erasmus,  the  genius  of  its  TTnueisits  uid  fioin  (J  (  1  niipi  Ini  \\\\  >  w  i  luueli 
gentler  than  his  compccis  geuLi  dh 

Not  onl}  was  he  a  fueiid  to  Denk  nid  IIubniL^ti  but  it  om  timt  his  own 
doubts  of  infant  baptism  were  so  grave  that  he  was  half  ranked  with  the  Baptists 
His  early  bearing  toward  them  as  a  people  was  worthy  of  high  manhood,  and  in 
public  and  private  he  labored  with  them  in  a  Christian  and  reasonable  manner  to  win 
them  to  his  views,  at  least  for  some  years ;  after  which  he  finally  denied  his  humane 
impulses  and  followed  Zwingli  in  the  attempt  to  convert  them  behind  prison  bars. 
As  early  as  June  2,  1526,  they  were  banished  from  the  city,  but  they  filled  tho 
country  districts,  wdiere  Mantz  preached  with  great  success.  In  April,  1527,  Q^lco- 
lampadius  became  alarmed  at  the  weakness  of  the  cruel  decree,  and  eoni])lained  that 


PERSECUTION  AT   BASLE.  347 

the  goverinnent  was  too  lenient;  and  in  May,  1528,  the  law  was  sharpened  in  vain, 
for  the  persecuted  returned  to  their  homes  despite  hate,  insult  and  scourge,  and 
were  thrust  into  prison  to  be  rid  of  them.  They  were  required  to  stop  preaching 
iu  the  fields  and  forests  and  to  attend  the  State  Churches;  but  all  tn  no  purpose,  for 
the  city  and  country  swarmed  with  tiiem.  In  1529  nine  of  tluir  nund;er  were 
arrested  and  brought  before  the  Senate,  fficolampadius  expounded  to  them  the 
Athanasian  and  Apostles'  Creed,  and  tried,  in  his  blandest  manner,  to  win  tlieiii,  but 
this  was  all  one  with  threats  to  the  end  of  recantation.  A  simple-hearted  miller 
replied  to  him:  'Since  I  heard  the  word  of  God,  renounced  my  irregular  life,  and 
was  baptized  on  confession  of  sins,  I  have  been  persecuted  by  every  body,  while 
before,  when  I  was  plunging  into  all  manner  of  vice,  nobody  chastened  me  or  put 
me  in  prision.  I  am  eontined  in  the  Tower  like  a  murderer,  and  what  is  my  crime  I 
"What  evil  have  I  done  I  Kone.  God  be  praised,  in  your  conscience  1  kimw  ynu 
are  convinced  of  my  innocence.'  A  wood-worker  then  took  the  laboring  oar  and 
said  :  '  Turn  over  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New,  and  see  if  you  can  find  you  have 
a  right  to  di'aw  a  pension.  You  have  more  time  than  I,  for  I  must  get  bread  by 
the  toil  of  my  hands,  so  as  not  to  be  a  charge  to  any  one.'  This  piece  of  nobility 
wa.s  more  than  the  august  Senate  could  stand,  and  it  burst  into  laughter.  (Ecolain- 
padius,  ever  mauly,  rebuked  the  court,  saying :  '  Gentlemen,  this  is  no  time  to  laugh. 
Rather  pray  for  the  glory  of  God,  that  the  Lord  would  soften  their  hard  hearts  and 
give  them  enlightenment.'  Another  of  the  nine  cried  out :  '  Why  do  you  so  blacken 
our  doctrine  of  baptism  ?  I  pray  you  by  the  love  of  Jesus  Christ,  do  not  persecute 
good  people.'  And  still  another  said:  'They  can  do  nothing  to  ns  without  the  will 
of  the  Father,  who  counts  the  very  hairs  of  our  heads.  Do  not  fear,  God  cares  foi- 
you.'  Tlii-ee  of  them  recanted  and  were  released,  and  six  were  exiled  with  the 
threat  of  death  if  they  returned.'"  Officers  were  sent  to  warn  others  to  dc'part.  but 
they  refused  to  go.  One  simple  rustic  said  :  '  You  are  not  lords  of  the  earth  to  order 
us  so  haughtily  to  leave  it.  I  am  willing  to  obey  the  command  of  (iod.  IJut  he  >ays 
in  the  Psalms,  ''inhabit  the  earth,"  and  I  will  inhabit  that  part  of  it  where  I  was 
Ijorn  and  educated,  and  no  one  shall  expel  me  by  any  prescript  or  mauilafc,  while  1 
live.'  ( )n  another  occasion  Blaurock  took  the  same  groimd,  saying  :  '  1  would  i-athn- 
die  than  forswear  the  earth,  the  earth  is  the  Lord's;'  and  Baumgartner  said:  'God 
made  the  earth  as  much  for  me  as  for  the  magistrates.' 

The  only  result  of  this  and  other  measures  was  that  G^colampadius  advised  the 
Couiu'il  to  treat  the  obstinate  with  greater  severity  still ;  and  on  April  1st,  1529,  it 
issued  an  edict  to  imprison  all  Baptists,  and  keep  them  there  on  bread  and  water 
till  they  publicly  retracted ;  then,  if  they  apostatized  they  should  be  put  to  death 
by  the  sword.  Two  prominent  Baptists  were  scourged  through  the  city,  and  as  the 
blows  fell  they  admonished  the  crowd  that  '  Our  principles  would  not  appear  so 
odious  if  you  left  off  your  sins.  We  suffer  these  stripes  cheerfully  for  the  sake  of 
Christ  and  his  baptism,  for  that  is  the  oidy  charge  they  bring  against  us.""     A  great 


S48  BAUnAlUTTES  INFLTC'TED. 

number  of  peasants  wei'c  iH-oii^lit  \uU>  tlic  citv  in  clinins,  for  traitors  and  informers 
were  abundant.  When  n^kcd  wliat  tlicy  IkmI  dour,  tlirv  :iiis\vcivd  :  •  Xotbin^;-  against 
Christ  or  liis  word,  tliouyli  jieTliajjs  against  certain  old  cuistunis  and  rites.'  Then  in 
turn  tliey  asked :  '  WJiy  can  we  not  liave  a  chnrch  of  our  own  in  whicii  we  can  sow 
the  true  doctrine  of  ('hrist,  confer  baptism  on  ])enitents,  celebrate  the  Lord's  Supper, 
and  |)i-acticc  (•M-oiiiiuiiuicatioii  ^  Why  do  you,  CEcolampadius,  forever  attack  us, 
and  attempt  to  dc-tidv  us  and  annihilate  our  doctrine  wliich  is  of  God,  and  wliich 
in  your  consciiMicc  yiju  a]>[>ro\-e  ^  Were  you  i'\er  injured  by  ns  in  the  lc:ist '.'  Some- 
times thcv  weiv  lirandtMl  in  tlif  f..|-rlic:id,  iiad  their  tiiii;-ers   niutilateil  oi'  the  tonsjue 


cut  out.'* 

In 

l.MK 

K  iiv 

e    of   thi-i 

iL  were 

drowncl    in   the 

■    Khi, 

le  wi 

thout  a  murmur, 

wliile  tiie 

witn^ 

cssii 

ig  n 

lultitude  ' 

,vept,  pr 

aiseil  thi-ii-  |)Ui-r 

\\\v>. 

their 

'  simple  manners 

and  tlieir 

brav, 

n  dy 

ing;   au<l 

many  ii 

iipiiivd  if  theirs 

was  II 

otth. 

(■  true  doctrine.'^ 

(iasti 

ius  tel 

Is  o 

r  oiu 

■  liero  \vl, 

o  was  pi 

lit  njion  the  I'acl. 

;  to  f. 

.rcc  1 

liiu  to  betray  bis 

brethren, 

(■spec 

inllN 

•the 

man  who 

had  bai 

itized  him.  Init  1 

le  \\'oi 

lid  ni 

it  i-eveal  a  word 

After  Ion 

-  an<l 

full 

1  tori 

ture  he  CI- 

icd  at  le 

ngth: 

'  I  am  a  citizen  of  the  earth,  my  conntry  is  every-wliere,  and  my  liurial-place 
anywliere.  Why  do  you  not  kill  nie?  I  will  not  betray  my  l)rethren  even  if  you 
tear  me  to  pieces.  My  l)ody  is  yours,  burn  it,  scatlie  it,  lacerate,  destroy  it  if  you 
please.  Inci'ease  your  cruelty,  you  will  gain  uotliing.  Thus  far  my  soul  is  free 
from  torture  but  full  of  jo^^  from  the  consolations  whicli  God  pours  into  my  heart. 
I  have  received  the  true  baptism.  The  testimony  of  sacred  Scrijiture  persuaded  me 
to  do  it.  I  liave  left  a  life  of  sin,  and  put  on  the  likeness  of  Christ.  I  have  plotted 
no  evil  that  I  .should  receive  such  cruel  treatment.'  In  response  to  the  promise  of 
liberation  from  the  rack  if  he  would  betray  his  brethren,  he  spat  in  the  face  of  his 
tormentor,  saying:  'Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan,  thou  savorest  not  the  things  that 
be  of  God.'  All  that  the  man  had  done  was  to  be  baptized  on  his  faith.  They 
finally  let  him  go. 

There  is  scarcely  an  end  to  this  record  of  barbarities,  and  this  suffering  was  en- 
dui'ed  with  a  resignation  of  the  most  striking  character.  '  Nothing  could  exceed,' 
says  Starck,  '  the  steadfastness  with  which  they  endured  all  this.  They  declared 
publicly  that  their  sufferings  had  come  upon  them  for  the  sake  of  the  people,  and 
on  this  account  they  were  willingly  endured.' 

Schaffhausen  shared  largely  in  Baptist  blessing,  as  well  as  Ilallau,  where  a 
Church  was  formed  by  Brodli,  who,  together  with  Tleublin,  baptized  the  entire 
Eeformed  congregation — a  fact  which  greatly  disturbed  the  Zurich  ]n(|uisition,  but 
it  was  powerless  in  the  matter.  In  1526  there  was  a  good  interest  in  Berne,  but 
all  Baptists  were  banished  from  the  city  and  canton.  As  early  as  1526  they  were 
very  strong  in  the  Griiningen  District,  upon  wdiich  the  Council  of  Zurich  turned 
all  its  power  to  crush  them.  In  1525,  Blaurock  was  arrested  by  the  bailiff  of  the 
district  while  preaching  at  Hinwyl.  The  officer  demanded  help  from  the  people, 
and  when  they  refused,  he  forced  the  preacher  on  a  hoi'se  and  took  him  away.  In 
order  to  eidighten  his  understanding,  they  removed  him  to  Zurich,  had  a  great  discus- 
sion on  baptism,  and   then  put   him   in   irons  and  kept  him  on  bread  and  water  in 


.1    VIOT.ENT  VHOri.AyiATION.  349 

prison  till  their  logic  took  ellect.  They  tried  to  prove  to  him  that  the  eliildrea  of 
Christians  are  not  less  God's  children  than  those  of  Jews,  and  that  those  who  are 
i-ebaptized  crucify  Christ  afresh.  But  poor  Blaurock  was  slow  to  see  how  these 
baptized  children  of  God  demonstrated  their  sonsliip  in  his  case;  while  he  readily 
saw  how  his  rebaptisni  was  crucifying  him  with  Christ  quite  surely.  So,  in  order  to 
prove  their  sonship,  the  Council,  by  public  proclamation  on  St.  Andrew's  day,  1525, 
prohiliited  'rebaptism,' by  punishment  without  further  forgiveness.  In  this  man- 
date they  frankly  say  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  district,  that  its  wicked  'Anabaptists' 
have  proclaimed  their  doctrines  without  the  permission  and  consent  of  the  Church, 
declaring  : 

'That  infant  baptism  is  nut  of  (rod,  but  has  sprung  from  the  devil,  and,  there- 
fore, ought  not  to  be  practiced.  They  have,  also,  invented  a  rcbai)tism,  and  many, 
even  nnlcarned  in  the  Holy  Scripture.^,  taken  with  their  vain  talk  and  so  far  per- 
suaded, have  received  this  rebaptism,  esteeming  themselves  better  than  other  peo- 
ple. .  .  .  Therefore,  have  we  imprisoned,  and  punished  for  their  good,  some  of  the 
authors  of  Anabaptism  and  their  disciples,  and  have  twice,  at  tlieir  desire,  ordained 
conferences,  or  discussions,  on  infant  bajjtism  and  rebaptism.  And  lujtwithstanding 
that  they  were  in  all  cases  overcome,  and  some  of  them  have  been  let  go  unpun- 
ished, because  they  promised  to  abstain  from  rebaptisni;  and  others  have  been  ban- 
ished from  our  jurisdiction  and  bounds ;  yet  have  they,  disregarding  their  promise, 
come  again  among  you,  and  have  sown  their  false  doctrine  against  infant  baptism 
among  the  simple  people.  Whence  has  arisen  a  new  sect  of  Anabaptists.  There- 
fore we  have  imj)risoned  these  Baptists,  and  punished  their  followers  for  their  own 
good.' 

It  is  noteworthy  that  neither  the  Council  of  Zurich  nor  any  other  court  in 
Switzerland  brings  the  slightest  charge  of  sedition  or  disloyalty  to  the  State  against 
the  Baptists.  Occasionally,  some  question  of  that  sort  crops  out  on  the  examination 
of  an  individual  prisoner,  and  in  every  case  he  repels  the  charge  and  avows  his  civil 
loyalty.  But  in  this  liistorical  document,  the  only  antecedent  of  their  '  Therefore,' 
relates  to  the  subject  of  baptism  and  the  ecclesiastical  divisions  which  had  grown 
out  of  this  issue ;  the  penalty  enjoined  clearly  shows  that  they  so  understood  the 
whole  question.  It  is  in  these  words,  'Therefore,  we  ordain,  and  it  is  our  earnest 
purpose  that  henceforth  all  men,  women,  boys,  and  girls,  abstain  from  Anabaptism, 
and  practice  it  no  longer,  but  baptize  the  young  children.  For  whoever  shall  act 
contrary  to  this  order,  shall,  as  often  as  he  disobeys,  be  punished  by  a  fine  of  a  sil- 
ver mark ;  and  if  he  shall  prove  disobedient,  we  shall  deal  with  him  further  and 
punish  him  according  to  his  deserts  without  further  forgiveness.  Let  each  one  act 
accordingly.'  The  Baptists  of  the  district  appealed  to  the  people,  explained  at  length 
their  Bible  views  of  baptism,  and  said,  most  reasonably,  that  they  could  not  depart 
from  their  convictions,  citing  many  passages  from  the  New  Testament  to  justify 
their  faith  and  practice.  Then  they  concluded  with  these  words  :  '  If  now  the 
members  of  the  Zurich  Council  designate  the  baptism  of  Christ  as  Anabaptism,  the 
common  people  will  be  convinced  that  the  reverse  is  the  fact,  and  that  infant  bajitism 


350  BAPTISTS  PUNISHED    BY  DHOWMXG. 

is  rcallv  Aualiaiitlsni.  ]\'uw,  wr  desire  that  you  will  leave  us  alone  with  the  truth; 
if,  luiwever,  tins  may  imr  lie,  we  are  I'eady,  for  the  sake  of  tlie  truth,  to  suffer  througli 
the  ii:ra('e  and  powei'  of  God.'  Ijut  they  could  not  let  them  alone.  Falk  and  Rie- 
nian,  two  Baptist  preachers,  had  been  put  in  prison  by  the  Griiningen  magistrates; 
S(^  the  Inquisition  was  thirsting  for  their  blood  and  trying  to  get  them  into  its  own 
hands.  These  authorities  would  neither  execute  them  nor  turn  them  over  to  the 
liKpiisitors,  and  Zurich  appealed  to  Berne  for  help.  The  question  of  jurisdiction 
being  settled,  they  were  deli\ered  to  the  Incpiisitioii  and  after  long  imprisonment) 
on  August  11th,  152S,  they  weiv  examined  ;  when  they  refused  to  betray  their  breth- 
ren, or  t<i  refi'ain  fi-nm  baptizing  on  their  faith  in  Jesus  all  who  came  to  them. 
They  were  (Miiidenined  to  death,  Sej-tember  5th,  and  were  taken  tu  the  middle  of  tlie 
river  Limat  and  drowned.  '^ 

At  first,  Zwingli  and  the  Cuuncil  were  content  with  the  fine  and  impiisonment 
of  their  victims,  but  when  this  failed  to  cure  them  they  were  loaded  with  chains. 
Gn  tlie  7th  of  March,  I.'.l'C,  the  Council  of  Zurich  (K'creed  that  those  who  baptized 
any  pei'son  who  had  been  pre\iou.-ly  christened,  should,  if  condemned,  be  drowned 
without  mercy.  On  this  oi'dinance  Fiisslin  makes  these  remarks :  '  If  any  one  asks  with 
what  kind  of  justice  this  was  done,  the  Papists  would  have  an  answer.  They  would 
say,  according  to  papal  law  hei'etics  must  die.  There  is  no  need  to  inquire  further. 
The  maxim  is  applicable  here.  What  the  ]iaj)acy  condemns  is  condenuied.  But 
those  who  hold  to  evangelical  faith  I'enounce  the  pope  and  papal  authority,  and  the 
question  now  arises,  with  what  propriety  do  they  comjjel  people  to  renounce  their 
views  or  religion,  and  in  case  of  their  refusal  infiictupon  them  capital  punishment?' 
Upon  the  plea  that  Zwingli  tried  to  induce  the  Council  to  be  less  severe,  the  attempt 
has  been  made  to  relieve  him  entirely  of  odium  ;  and  happy  would  it  be  for  his 
memory  if  his  name  could  be  purged  of  this  blot.  He  had  opportunity  enough  to 
have  sent  his  protest  down  to  posterit}'  had  he  desired  to  do  so.  But  this  is  all  he 
seems  to  have  said  on  the  subject,  and  without  dissent :  '  The  most  noble  Senate 
determined  to  immerse  in  water,  whoever  shall  have  immersed  in  baptism,  one  who 
had  previously  emerged.'  Hence,  it  soon  passed  into  a  sneering  proverb  :  '  He  that 
baptizes  will  be  baptized  himself.' ''  H  Zwingli  opposed  this  barbarity,  we  have 
scant  means  of  explaining  the  fact  that  on  November  19th,  1526,  the  Council  con- 
firmed this  edict  and  afterward  carried  it  into  execution.  Besides,  the  same  infamy 
was  practiced  in  other  cantons ;  showing  that  it  did  not  meet  with  the  condemnation 
of  the  leading  Swiss  Reformers.  In  the  Canton  of  Berne,  a  decree  was  passed 
requiring  the  Baptists  to  attend  the  regular  State  Churches,  especially  at  the  quarterly 
communion.  If  they  refused,  they  were  to  be  banished  ;  on  returning  the  first  time 
they  were  to  be  ducked  in  water,  the  second  time  drowned  without  mercy ;  and  all 
who  had  been  baptized  were  to  be  fined  ten  pounds  apiece.'^  In  1530  (January  20th), 
Conrad  Winkler  was  drowned  at  Zurich,  as  the  fourth  of  its  murdered  Baptists ; 
and  Weesen,  who  lived  at  Zurich  at  the  time,  says  that  he  was  martyred  '  For  hav- 


FOKS   DHXOIXCH    Tills   BMinMUTV.  331 

iiig  ruhuptizod,  a_i;;uii^t  express  ciimiiiaud,  so  luaiiy  [jcoplu  tliat  lie  did  not  know  the 
number.  He  leaped  up,  struck  Ids  hands  together,  as  if  he  rejoiced  at  liis  death ; 
and  immediately  before  lie  was  thrust  under,  he  saiiij  witli  a  clear  voice  one  or  two 
verses  of  a  hymn.'  The  name  of  Ajipenzcl!  sliould  be  lidd  in  special  honor,  for, 
when  ill  1532  her  seven  sister  cantons  ordered  ilu^  di<j\\  niiii;-  of  l>aptists,she  declined 
to  sign  the  decree  and  for  a  generation  left  them  uiidisturbeti.  "  Now  and  then,  also, 
there  was  an  individual  protest  against  the  general  l)arbarity.  There  is  an  a])peal  in 
the  Munich  Library  from  a  UcfornnMl  preachci-,  who,  wiiile  he  looks  upon  the  Bap- 
tists as  erratic,  not  only  (k'liounccs  ilicir  inipri.-oniiicnt  and  slaughter  but  invokes 
God's  wrath  on  their  persecutors,  and  gives  as  his  reason  that,  '  They  do  not  deserve 
punishment  but  need  instruction.'  '* 

Even  at  Basel,  where  all  .sorts  of  cruelties  had  been  intlicted  upon  the  brethren 
sliort  of  the  death  penalty,  November  13,  1530,  its  Council  decreed  that  all  ban- 
ished Anabaptists  who  returned  should  be  dipped  in  water  and  sent  away  again  ;  and 
should  they  return  the  second  time  they  were  to  be  drowned. '^  As  if  divine  Prov- 
idence had  thrown  a  special  shield  over  the  heads  of  these  poor  harmless  sheep  of 
Christ,  against  the  vile  accusation  that  they  were  reckless  seditionists  and  suffered  as 
sucli  in  Switzerland,  we  not  only  have  the  voluntary  testimony  of  their  foes  as  to 
their  purity,  but  we  have  evidence  that  some  of  the  best  of  their  enemies  resented 
these  monstrosities  as  unjustifiable.  Ilaller  writes  to  Bullinger  that  the  '  Anabaptists 
avoid  vices,  are  bound  closely  together,  and  impose  on  the  simple  by  tlieir  strict  be- 
havior. Their  pertinacious  constancy  in  facing  death  has  led  so  many  into  their 
ranks,  that  some  of  the  Senate  (Berne)  are  averse  to  any  more  e.xecutions  and  favor 
perpetual  confinement.  The  question  has  come  up.  Whether  the  sword  ought  to  be 
used  on  those  guilty  of  no  ci'itne  ?  "We  have  sent  to  Strasburg  to  know  what  method 
they  pursue.'  ^  The  result  of  these  deliberations  was  a  new  edict  in  1533,  urging 
pastors  to  labor  witli  the  Baptists,  who  were  not  to  be  touched  if  they  stopped  their 
baptismal  agitation ;  but  if  they  continued  preaching  and  baptizing  they  should  be 
confined  for  life  on  bread  and  water,  and  not  drowned.  Whoever  heard  that  the  legal 
penalty  in  any  land  for  sedition  was  drowning;  and  who  can  give  an  instance  of  a 
man  in  Switzerland  being  drowned  for  disloyalty  to  the  government?  Drowning 
was  chosen  to  spite  their  faith  as  well  as  to  kill  their  bodies ;  but  within  a  month 
this  relaxation  of  the  law  was  interpreted  to  mean  liberty.  Nevertheless,  the  Senate 
breathed  easier  when  they  were  no  longer  obliged  by  their  own  law  to  murder  their 
fellow-religionists.  If  Zwingli  was  opposed  to  this  terrible  death  penalty,  why  did 
Berne  send  to  Strasburg  for  light  and  not  to  Zurich  ?  But,  on  the  contrary,  Zurich 
now  sought  advice  of  Berne  about  killing  Baptists,  and  in  answer  that  city  sent  back 
its  amended  decree.^'  Toward  the  close  of  August,  1534r,  however,  Ilaller  wrote  that 
they  were  increasing  again  rapidly,  and  that  '  The  Senate  extorted  from  us  our 
opinion  as  to  the  best  way  to  get  rid  of  them,  hoping  we  would  favor  their  slaugliter. 
On  the  contrarv,  we  showed  the  Senate  that  the  cause  of  this  disease  and  heresv  was 


352  IIAKSII    ni'J'llKES   AGAIN. 

tlii^  vices  and  vnriuus  scandal.-  |iiv\;ilcnl  in  the  Cliurdi,  and  llicn  wj  made  known 
our  j.niject.  iNov.  Stli,  tlie  Senate,  the  (J.Miiieils  and  tlie  tldrtv-fivu  bailiii's  from 
tlio  coiiiitr_y  met,  read  over  the  old  deci-ee.-..  and  then  a-reed  nu  a  new  one.  In  this 
they  declare  faith  is  a  giftof  (ioil,  and  we  have  uidy  to  do  with  external  affairs.  The 
advice  t;'iven  was,  for  all  to  hear  the  miidstei-s.  h;;ve  their  children  baptized,  go  to 
coininnniuii  (ir  ^ive  an  excuse,  and  liave  their  marriages  celebrated  in  church.'  Tlio 
J'.aptists  wlii>  would  neither  leave  the  canton  vuluutarily  nor  take  the  oath  were 
to  Ite  re|)orted  to  the  Si'Uatc. 

Four  sliort  months  sufficed  to  tolerate  this  more  humane  edict.  In  March,  1535, 
the  Senate  issued  a  declaration  supplementary  thereto,  providing  that  those  who  would 
not  sid)nnt  were  to  he  imprisoned  eightdays,  then,  if  tliey  persisted,  they  were  to  be  ex- 
iled, and  the  men  who  returned  were  to  be  put  to  death  liy  the  feword  and  tlie  women 
drowned.  Still  the  Baptists  grew,  and  in  ISoT  they  prepared  for  an  ojjen  Conference, 
which,  in  March,  1538,  was  held  in  the  capital,  debating  all  the  old  points  with  their 
persecutors.  So  thoroughly  were  the  authorities  confounded,  that  in  the  autumn  of  the 
same  year  tliey  decreed  that  every  doctor,  preacher  and  chief  of  the  '  Anabaptists ' 
was  to  be  beheaded  without  mercy,  even  if  he  recanted.  Before  the  execution  he 
was  to  be  put  upon  the  rack  to  find  out  '  what  his  intention  was,  and  what  the  Ana- 
baptists would  do  if  they  became  more  jiowerl'id  tli;ni  the  authorities.'  All  others 
of  the  sect  who  were  arrestcil  should  first  l)u  labiired  with,  aiu.l  if  persistent  put  to 
death,  the  men  with  torture  added. 

The  Third  Article  adoi)ted  at  Schleitheim  says  of  the  Supper:  'All  who  would 
break  one  bread  for  a  memorial  .>f  the  broken  body  of  Christ,  and  all  who  would 
drink  one  cup  as  a  memorial  of  the  poured-..ut  blood  of  Christ,  >hould  beforehand 
be  nnited  to  the  one  hody  of  Ciirist,  to  wit,  by  baptism.'  Eachard  said,  in  1645,  that 
the  •  Anabaptists  would  not  connnunicate  with  others  ...  by  strictness  of  order.'  And 
as  to  the  act  of  baptism,  the  First  Article  says  that  all  who  believe  in  Christ  are  '  To  be 
buried  with  him  in  death,  that  with  him  they  may  rise.'  At  this  time  pouring  and 
aspersiou  had  become  very  common  in  most  of  the  western  countries,  and  the  first 
question  which  arose  amongst  the  Swiss  Baptists  related  to  the  purging  out  of  infant 
baptism  rather  than  the  restoration  of  immersion.  When  that  question  forced  itself 
upon  them  they  returned  to  the  New  Testament  order.  Dr.  liule,  who  speaks  con- 
temptuously of  thein,  says  that  they  took  their  converts  'and  plunged  them  into 
the  nearest  streams  ; '  which  well  accords  with  the  First  Article  and  M'itli  Hubmeyer's 
use  of  the  word  '  dipping  "  in  his  writings.  He  prepared  a  Catechism  for  those  who 
were  to  be  '  baptized  in  water,'  and  expresses  his  belief  '  that  Christianity  will  never 
truly  prosper  unless  baptism  is  restored  to  its  original  purity.' 

The  fact  that  they  built  a  baptistery  at  St.  Gall,  and  that  John  Stumpf,  a 
Lutheran  pastor,  who  lived  near  Zurich  from  1522  to  1543,  and  wrote  of  them  in 
1548  from  personal  knowledge  of  their  practices,  says  that  they  '  Rebaptized  in 
rivers  and  streams,'  is  good  evidence  that  they  immersed.    As  we  have  ah-eady  seen, 


IMMERSION  PRACTICED.  353 

another  Roman  Catliolic  historian,  August  Neaf,  Secretary  to  tlie  Council  ol  St. 
Gall,  in  iiis  liistory  of  that  city,  published  at  Zurich  (1859-1863),  says  that  in  1525  the 
Baptists  there  '  Baptized  those  who  believed  with  them,  in  rivers  and  lakes,  and  in 
a  great  wooden  vat  on  the  Butcher's  Square,  before  a  great  crowd.'  Simler  says 
that  'Many  came  to  St.  Gall,  incpiired  for  the  Taufhaus  (Baptistery),  and  were  baj)- 
tized.'  {Collection,  i,  p.  Wl.)  'Vlwn  Sicher,  a  Roman  Catholic,  gives  this  accuiint  nf 
their  baptisms  at  St.  Gall  :  ■  The  number  of  the  converted  increased  so,  that  the 
baptistery  could  not  contain  tlif  ci-owcl,  ami  they  were  compelled  to  use  the  streams 
and  the  Sitter  River,  to  wliidi  on  Sundays  those  desirous  of  baptism  went  in  so 
groat  numbers  that  they  resembled  a  procession.'  -^  At  first  Grcbel  poured  water  on 
the  head  of  Blaurock,  at  Zurich,  out  of  a  '  dipper,'  and  called  it  baptism.  Afterward, 
when  he  changed  his  mind  on  the  subject,  he  immersed  Ulimann  in  the  Rhine,  and 
Cornelius  tells  of  the  joyous  procession  which  he  led  from  St.  Gall  to  be  baptized  in 
the  Sitter,  a  distance  of  nearly  three  miles.  Surely  one  'dipper,'  at  least,  must  have 
been  left  in  that  city,  Aj^ril  Dth,  1525,  to  have  rendered  this  service  had  it  been  needed 
that  day.  Dr.  Osgood  tells  us  that  he  took  the  pains,  in  1867,  to  walk  from  St.  Gall 
to  the  Sitter,  to  inspect  the  country  and  reach  the  reasons  for  their  long  journey. 
He  found  that  'A  mountain  stream,  sufEcient  for  all  sprinkling  purposes, ^oiw 
through  the  cittj;  but  in  no  place  is  it  deep  enough  for  the  immersion  of  a  person, 
while  the  Sitter  River  is  between  two  and  three  miles  away,  and  is  gained  by  a  dif- 
ficult road.  The  only  solution  of  this  choice  was,  that  Grebel  sought  the  river,  in 
order  to  immerse  candidates.'^ 

All  this  shows  us  what  CEcolampadius  meant  when  he  cried  out :  '  You  are  not 
Baptists  but  Catabaptists,  that  is,  "perverters  of  baptism."'^  Featley  says:  'At 
Vienna  the  Anabaptists  are  tied  together  witli  ropes,  and  one  draweth  the  other  into 
the  river  to  be  drowned,  as  it  should  seem,  the  wise  magistrates  of  that  place  had  an 
eye  to  that  old  maxim  of  justice :  let  the  punishment  bear  upon  it  the  point  of  the 
sin,  for  as  these  sectaries  drew  one  another  into  their  error,  so  also  into  the  gulf ; 
and  as  they  drowned  men  spiritually  by  rebaptizing,  and  so  profaning  the  holy 
sacrament,  so  also  they  were  drowned  corporeally.'  He  clearly  alludes  to  the 
drowning  of  Hubmeyer's  wife  and  others  in  martyrdom  at  Vienna. 
34 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE   REFORMATION— ZWICKAU   AND   LUTHER. 


AM0NG8T  the  socallcd  •  Analiaiitlsts '  there  were  three  views  as  to  civil 
goveriiuient.  A  very  small  party,  thuse  of  Miiuster,  heliexed  in  establish- 
ing Christ's  kingdom  by  the  swoi'd  at  the  cost  of  sedition  and  ivvolutiiin.  We 
have  seen  that  the  party  represented  chiefly  by  Ilnbmeyer,  belie ve(l  in  government, 
paid  all  taxes  and  obeyed  all  ordinances  that  did  not  interfer(;'  with  the  free  exer- 
cise of  religion.  Bnt,  as  a  magistrate  nm^t  bind  ]iin]>elf  by  civil  oaths  and  nse  the 
sword,  they  held  that  a  Christian  shonld  not  be  a  magistrate,  because  the  Apostles 
knew  nothing  of  Church  taxes  imposed  by  the  State,  held  no  civil  office  and  took  no 
part  in  war.  They  thought  that  civil  go\'ernment  was  necessary  for  the  wicked  ;  but 
tlieir  foes  either  could  not  or  would  not  understand  them.  Their  modern  enemies 
evince  the  same  state  of  mind.  Hence,  in  one  breath  they  tell  us  that  they  were 
perverse,  enemies  of  civil  govei-nment,  and  would  not  toiieli  the  sword  either  for 
war  or  capital  punishment.  And,  without  blushing,  in  the  next  breath  they  tell  us 
as  coolly  that  they  di'ew  the  sword,  established  theocratic  magistrates  and  deluged 
Germany  with  blood.  That  is,  they  deliberately  did  what  their  first  principles  would 
not  allow  them  to  do,  and  suffered  njartyrdoni  fur  doing  that  which,  in  conscience, 
they  refused  to  do. 

The  Sixth  Article  in  the  Schleitheim  Confession  contains  a  clear  and  distinct 
recognition  of  the  divine  sanction  of  civil  government,  its  legitimate  powers,  duties, 
and  obligations.  It  as  fully  defines  the  absolute  separation  of  Christian  discijjline 
and  polity  from  the  civil  power — denouncing  the  use  of  the  sword  by  Christian 
people  for  any  purpose.  It  enjoins  abstention  from  lawsuits  in  M'orldly  disputes, 
and  is  so  careful  of  the  sphere  of  Christian  action,  as  to  advise  exclusive  devotion 


Ifni.Uh'VKR    Oy  GOVERNMENT.  3SS 

to  ( 'liristiaii  (hity  ami  rcfiisiil  to  assiiiiie  the  responsibilities  of  civil  office.  "Whether 
we  approve  their  views  or  !iot,  we  cannot  readily  misunderstand  what  they 
were.  They  had  never  known  a  irovernment  which  did  not  recpiire  magistrates 
to  persecute  otiiers  for  their  religion;  and  it  was  but  natural  that  they  should 
shrink  from  any  civil  .service  which  demanded  such  persecution  as  a  duty  to  (iod 
and  mail. 

Jlul.mcycr  ivpivseiite.l  a  third  class,  who  believed  in  all  the  usual  forms  of  civil 
government,  in  wliicli  all  citizens  should  participate  in  common,  including  the  ]ini|)cr 
use  of  the  ^\vol•ll  niiti-idc  of  persecution.  These  were  called  'Swordsnun '  by 
tlie  other  parties,  and  in  1528  two  hundred  dissidents  withdrew  from  Hnbmeyer 
at  Nicolsburg,  calling  themselves  'Staffsmen,'  to  designate  their  non-resistant 
principles,  because  they  would  not  touch  the  sword  either  in  revolt  or  warfare. 
When,  therefore,  the  Zwinglian  and  Catliolic  peasants  of  Switzerland  arose  against 
the  authorities,  the  non-resistant  Baptists  i-efuscd  to  unite  their  fortunes  with  them, 
and  Grebel  denied  that  he  ever  entertained  a  thought  of  subverting  the  govern- 
ment.* Hnbmeyer  complained  that  his  enemies,  of  whom  he  said  that  he  had  as 
many  '  as  the  old  Dragon  had  scales,'  misrepresented  him  on  this  subject,  and  to  put 
himself  right  he  dedicated  a  tract  on  '  The  Sword  '  to  the  Chancellor  of  Moravia,  in 
which  he  thus  speaks  of  the  passage,  'My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world:'  'There 
must  be  judges,  or  the  Scriptures  will  fall  to  pieces  which  speak  n[  their  duties. 
"  The  power  of  the  keys ; "  yes,  that  power  belongs  to  the  Church,  but  it  is  distinct 
from  civil  tribunals.  So  long  as  men  will  not  obey  God  tliei-e  must  be  courts.  Lot 
us  be  thankful  for  a  just  government,  though  our  sins  deserve  an  unjust  one.  "  An 
eye  for  an  eye;"  yes,  that  was  old-time  revenge,  but  now  courts  execute  penalty. 
"  Our  weapons  are  not  carnal ; "  no,  not  the  weapons  of  the  Church,  but  tlie  weapons 
of  tlie  State  are.  The  two  swords  should  not  be  opposed  to  each  other.  A  Chris- 
tian judge  will  be  most  apt  to  be  just.  Satan,  depart  and  no  longer  mislead  simple 
people.  "  Love  your  enemies ; "  yes,  that  is  for  the  individual,  but  the  govermnent 
does  not  punish  from  envy,  from  hatred,  but  from  justice,  and  is  not  referred  to  in 
the  text.'  No  Reformer  of  the  sixteenth  century  holds  the  balance  so  exactly  as  this, 
in  defining  the  relations  of  the  State  to  its  citizens  and  to  the  Church.  He  advo- 
cated civil  u:overnment  and  the  freedom  of  the  Church  from  the  State  as  clearly  as 
any  writer  of  our  own  day.  Nor  did  Zwingli  misunderstand  the  delicate  distinc- 
tion which  this  class  of  Baptists  drew  on  that  subject.  Under  the  title  of  'Who 
gives  occasion  to  disturbance '  he  issued  a  challenge  to  them,  in  which  he  says : 
'They  want  to  have  a  Church,  but  no  government  is  to  protect  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  by  any  violent  measures  or  interfere  with  the  freedom  even  of  heretical 
preachers.' 

Denk,  whom  Haller  calls  the  '  Apollo  of  the  Anabaptists,'  held  to  the  same 
principles.  He  says :  '  The  Apostles  treat  earnestly  that  Christians  must  be  subject 
to  government.     But  they  do  not   teach  that  they  may  be  governors,  for  Paul  says, 


3S6  BAPTISTS   SL.\I\    I'dl!    TllKlll    OPIXIONl^. 

■■  What  liavc  1  to  .lo  to  ju(l-r  tliein  that  aiv  witliuut  '.  "  \h'  woiil.l  liave  ('liristians 
withdraw  tn.ni  politics,  and  leav  unconverted  men  to  wield  the  sword  of  tiie  civil 
iiiul  military  riilur  as  a  thing  entirely  se])iii-ato  from  the  Church.  Denk  took  the 
ground,  that  all  government  must  be  sustained  as  the  Apostles  snstaineil  it,  namely: 
That  in  the  Church  Christ  was  King  and  held  the  spiritual  sword  for  excom- 
munication. That  was  the  only  spiritual  sword  which  he  knew;  hut  for  the 
pi'oper  ends  of  civil  government,  the  matei-ial  swoi-d  was  in  the  hands  of  the  State, 
whose  authority  was  from  (tod.  The  other  Reformers  knew  nothing  about  the  dis- 
tinction between  civil  and  religious  government  on  this  broad  and  high  plane. 
Keller  draws  this  sharp  distinction  :  'While  Denk,  with  energy,  defended  the  prop- 
osition that  it  was  not  becoming  in  civil  magistrates  to  proceed  against  their  sub- 
jects with  t'oi'ce  in  matters  of  faith;  both  Luther  ;ind  Zwingli  taught  that  it  was 
the  duty  of  the  civil  magistrates  to  establish  the  true  faith  within  their  territorial 
limits,  and  to  maintain  it  with  the  severest  ]ieualties.'  That  discreet  historian, 
Mosheim,  recognizes  these  various  classes  of  Baptists,  and  says:  'They  are  called 
Anabaptists  because  they  all  denied  that  infants  are  pi-o})er  subjects  of  baptism,  and 
solemnly  baptized  over  again  those  who  had  been  baptized  in  infancy  ;  yet,  from  the 
very  beginning,  just  as  at  the  present  day,  they  were  split  into  various  parties,  which 
disagreed  and  disputed  about  points  of  no  small  importance.'  lie  is  too  careful 
to  make  'Anabaptism'  and  sedition  convertible  words,  but  says,  that  these 
Baptists 

'  Did  not  all  suffer  on  account  of  their  crimes,  but  many  of  them  merely  for 
the  eridueous  opinions  which  they  maintained  honestly,  w-ithout  fraud  or  crime.  It 
is.  indi^ed.  time  that  many  Anabaptists  were  put  to  death,  not  as  being  bad  citizens 
or  injurious  members  of  civil  society,  but  as  being  incurable  heretics,  who  were  con- 
demned by  the  old  canon  laws,  for  the  error  concerning  adult  baptism.  ...  I  could 
wish  there  had  been  some  discrimination  made,  and  that  all  who  believe  that  adults 
only  are  to  be  baptized,  and  that  the  ungodly  are  to  be  expelled  the  Church,  had 
not  been  indiscriminately  put  to  death.'  ^ 

But  true  history  is  bringing  them  its  calm  revenges  of  justification. 

In  the  first  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century  many  Catholics  were  nnieh  stirred 
on  the  subject  of  Church  reform,  but  the  most  earnest  souls  sought  it  mainly  in  the 
rise  and  growth  of  monastic  orders,  in  which  Saxony  abounded.  Their  idea  was, 
that  withdrawal  from  the  world  was  better  than  victory  over  it,  that  it  were  better 
to  avoid  temptation  than  to  combat  it,  and  to  be  a  monk  than  to  be  a  man.  Pressed 
to  this  extreme,  piety  lapsed  into  senility  on  the  one  hand  and  into  fanaticism  on  the 
other.  In  this  atmosphere  the  mystics  had  sprung  up  amongst  the  pre-Reformers 
with  much  honor  to  Christianity.  The  forgotten  doctrine  of  the  Spirit,  as  an  exper- 
imental fact,  appeared  in  one  direction  and  a  sterner  ritualistic  system  in  another.  The 
mystics  threw  aside  the  wild  notion  that  baptism  can  cleanse  the  soul,  and  that  the 
soul  is  sustained  by  a  morsel  of  bread  and  a  drop  of  wine,  instead  of  by  the  indwell- 
ing Spii'it.     Tauler  cauglit  this  doctrine  from  Eekart,  his  master,  and  while  Luther 


ZWICKAU  AND   STORCK.  SS7 

was  a  monk,  lie  embraced  it  from  Tauler.  But  some  mystics  were  (ielii<led  into  tliat 
reflective  method  which  associates  the  indwelling  Spirit  with  direct  revelations 
from  God,  and  which  lifts  the  soul  above  religious  speculation  or  mistake. 

The  flourishing  cit}'  of  Zwickau  was  tlie  liomc  of  many  who  lield  this  view. 
It  lay  in  Saxony  near  the  borders  of  Bohemia.  Silver  mines  were  discovered  there 
in  1-191,  the  yield  of  which  was  so  great  tliat  the  ore  could  nut  be  coined  and 
fabulous  fortunes  were  gathered.  Many  cloth-makers  grew  up  untler  this  wealth 
princely  merchants,  and  in  1521,  300,000  pounds  of  wool  were  used  and  10,000 
pieces  of  cloth  made.  Amongst  the  well-to-do  master-weavers  was  Nicholas  Storck, 
probably  a  native  of  the  city.  lie  and  his  journeymen  began  to  hold  such  meet- 
ings for  prayer  and  praise  as  the  Bohemian  Brethren  held. 

Thomas  Miinzer  was  a  friend  of  Luther's  and  pastor  of  the  Lutheran  Chui'ch 
in  Zwickau.  At  Easter  he  pronounced  from  the  pulpit  that  Storck  understood 
the  Bible  better  than  the  priests  and  was  possessed  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Storck 
soon  set  apart  twelve  apostles  and  seventy -two  disciples,  rejected  infant  baptism, 
and  baptized  believers  only.  Miinzer  stood  by  him,  but  not  as  stoutly  as  Cellarius 
and  Stiibner,  two  young  scholars,  friends  of  Melancthon,  who  came  to  the  city 
about  that  time.  Dr.  Sella,  another  Lutiieran,  a  member  of  Miinzer's  congregation, 
was  at  the  head  of  the  city  authorities  as  burgomaster  and  identified  himself  with 
the  movement,  which  gained  ground  for  about  a  year,  without  Interference  from 
the  City  Council.     But  he  died  April  10,  1521,  and  this  opened  a  conflict. 

On  the  14th  "Wildenauer,  another  Lutheran  pastor,  of  haughty  manners  and 
loose  habits,  being  denounced  by  Storck,  made  a  stir.  On  the  KHli  the  Council 
deprived  Miinzer  of  his  parish,  as  one  of  the  jjarties  to  the  quarrel,  and  he  left  for 
Prague.  Great  excitement  followed  ;  fifty-five  weavers  were  imprisoned  in  the 
Tower,  and  the  magistrates  called  Storck  to  accoimt  for  many  things,  amongst  others, 
for  teaching  that  children  are  not  benefited  by  baptism.  Keller  quotes  an  old  chron- 
icle, which  says  tliat  Storck  was  brought  before  the  Council  for  teaching  heretical 
Bohemian  sentiments.'  In  fact,  he  is  chai'ged  with  introducing  the  Bohemian  heresy 
into  Zwickau ;  thus  connecting  the  Bohemian  Brethren  with  the  German  Baptists. 
One,  wlio  met  Storck  soon  after,  says  of  his  person  :  '  He  was  rather  slim,  wore  a  long 
gray  coat  without  folds  and  a  bi-oad-brimmed  hat.  He  conversed  easily,  pleasantly 
and  humbly,  and  replied  to  answers  in  a  manner  as  devout  and  holy,  as  if  he  had 
been  an  angel  of  God.'  *  Then  he,  with  Stiibner  and  Cellarius,  went  to  Witten- 
berg to  consult  with  Melancthon,  while  Luthei-  was  still  at  the  Wartburg.  Stiibner 
spent  six  months  with  Melancthon,  who  said  that  Storck  'had  the  right  under- 
standing of  the  Bible.'  He  was  charmed  by  their  devout  manner  and  spirit,  for  he 
thought  that  their  views  were  agreeable  to  reason  and  deserved  examination,  and 
wrote  to  the  Elector  :  '  I  cannot  tell  how  much  I  am  moved  by  these  men.'  Tlie 
Elector  answered  :  '  We  know  not  what  God  will  accomplish  through  these  plebeians ; 
now  and  then  he  is  wont  to  use  obscure  men  in  his  service.'     lUit  he  advised  Melaiic- 


358  A    STrn  AT    M'lTTENDEUO. 

tliou  nut  to  hold  a  disputation  with  tlicin  mi  Imptisiii.  IIu  liad  better  wait  for 
Luther,  for  tlicy  quoted  St.  Augustine  to  \i\\>w  thut  notiiing  could  be  brought 
in  favor  of  infant  i)aj)tisni,  except  ecclesiar?tir;i[  i-ustoiii.  Tji  to  this  point  all  these 
pai'tirs  \xv\v  Luthri'uii.s. 

Carlhtailt,  a  man  of  ileep  convictions,  who  sacrificed  much  for  the  truth,  and 
was  a  su[)c'i-ior.-chohir  to  Luther,  espoused  tlicir  caiL-e  at  Wittenbcr-'.  and,  all  to-ether, 
they  greally  moved  the  city.  \n  the  ensuing  Aj)ril,  however,  i.uther  returned,  and 
met  them  in  sharp  controversy,  or,  as  he  expresses  it,  began  ■  to  rap  these  visionaries  on 
the  snout,'  lb' ilciKjunced  them  in  the  catliedrul,  and  they  went  to  preach  elsewhere. 
He  also  denounced  Carlstadt  as  a  '  fanatic '  because  he  rejected  the  doctrine  of  the 
Real  Presence  and  destroyed  images.  In  September,  1522,  Storck  returned  from  a 
preaching  tour  through  Thuringia,  and  laboi'cd  witli  Luther  to  drop  infant  baptism 
and  make  the  Reformation  thorougii.  But  whiK;  tianslating  the  Bible,  at  the  Wart- 
burg,  Luther  had  determined  to  retain  whatever  practices  it  did  not  forbid.  At  first 
he  had  no  light  struggle  on  this  subject  of  infant  baptism.  On  other  subjects  he 
had  been  foi'ced,  against  his  will,  step  by  step,  to  abandon  the  Fathers,  the  Councils 
and  Catholic  tradition,  being  driven  to  the  authority  of  the  Scrijitures.  But  when 
he  found  no  Bible  authority  for  infant  baptism,  he  assumed  a  new  attitude.  At  that 
point  he  had  a  fiery  contest  with  himself  as  to  the  true  key  of  biblical  interpre- 
tation, and  he  deliberately  chose  the  negative  turn.  Tliat  is,  he  determined  to  abide 
by  what  the  Scriptures  did  not  forbid,  instead  of  by  what  they  enjoined,  as  the  law 
of  ordinances.  He  saw  at  a  glance  where  his  rule  of  interpretation  on  other  subjects 
must  inevitably  lead  him  on  this  point ;  and  he  dared  not  ventm-e  one  step  further 
in  free  thought,  for  fear  of  invoking  a  complete  moral  revolution.  To  take  one  step 
more  was  to  let  infant  baptism  go  and  the  State  Church  with  it,  so  that  a  regenerate 
Church  only  would  be  left.  But  this  was  not  the  sort  of  Church  that  Luther  wanted, 
and  he  said :  '  Where  they  want  to  go  I  am  not  disposed  to  follow.  God  save  me 
from  a  Church  in  which  are  ikjuc  but  the  holy."  ''  Any  man  of  discernment  can  see. 
with  Plank,  that  Luther  simply  triUcd  with  this  truth.  He  says  :  '  Luther  treated 
the  objections  to  infant  baptism  very  superficially,  and  dismissed  the  whole  matter 
as  a  very  inopportune  question.'  •> 

His  embarrassment  on  this  subject  is  clearly  seen.  Bellarmine,  the  great  Cath- 
olic disputant,  saw  the  utter  insufficiency  of  Scripture  to  sustain  infant  baptism,  and 
the  absolute  necessity  of  sustaining  it  as  an  unwritten  tradition,  which  cannot  be 
proved  by  Scripture.'  Vilmar,  also,  reaches  this  conclusion:  'H  baptism  does  not 
regenerate,  but  is  a  mere  symbol,  then  tlic  symbol  and  regeneration  must  come 
togethei".  The  Baptists  are  profoundly  Uigical."  -  Calvin  takes  the  same  ground, 
but  goes  a  stej:)  further.     He  says  : 

'  This  principle  must  always  be  adhered  to,  That  baptism  is  not  conferred  on 
infants  that  they  may  be  made  children  of  God.  But  because  now.  in  this  place  and 
degree  tliey  are  reckoned  with   God,  the   grace  of  adoption  is  sealed  in  tlieir  flesh. 


r.UTllh'Ii-S  DAXGEnOVS  IXTJ=:nPRETAri(iX.  339 

Otlicrwisc,  the  Aiiahaptists  iiiii;-lit  jii>tlv  fxcludt-  tlinii  I'ruiii  l.aptistii.  For  unless 
tlic  trutli  of  tliL'  I'xtci-iial  siLjii  applies  to  tlieiii,  it  will  Ijc  mere  prot'aiiatioii  to  call 
tliein  into  partieii)ation  of  the  sign  itself.' "  r>ut  Luther  stood  with  Augustine,  and 
could  not  see  that  children  could  be  'reckoned  with  God'  while  they  were  in  a  state 
of  original  sin,  and  he  christened  theiu  to  wash  it  away,  first  baptizing  theiu  on  tlie 
faith  of  others,  and  recjuiring  them  to  be  justified  by  their  own  personal  faith  after- 
ward;  and  so,  ^track's  words  are  as  true  on  this  point  as  on  others:  'Luther 
retracted  some  of  his  concessions  to  the  ]ieople,  out  of  fear  of  the  Anabaptists. '"  And 
the  'Westminster  IJeview,'  of  1S70,  presents  the  e.xact  truth  when  it  says,  that  lie 
was  'Terrified  into  inconsistency  witli  his  ultimate  ])rinciples'  by  the  'Anabaptists.' 
Melancthon,  also,  was  tlisturbed  on  this  subject,  and  in  order  to  remove  his  doubts, 
Luther  said : 

'  What  is  not  against  the  Scriptures  is  for  the  Scriptures,  and  the  Scriptures 
for  it,'  and  demands  in  his  own  dogmatic  way :  '  How  can  you  jirove  that  chib 
dreu  cannot  believe '.  L^nless  we  insist  on  the  presence  in  them  of  the  faith  of  the 
Church,  we  cannot  continue  the  fight,  but  must  simply  reject  infant  baj)tism.  You 
say,  the  examples  of  such  faith  are  weak.  I  find  nothing  stronger.  The  Church 
has  power  not  to  baptize  children  at  all,  because  there  is  no  place  in  Scripture  that 
compels  us  to  believe  that,  as  we  do  other  articles.'  " 

Thus,  he  would  do  as  a  positive  duty  to  God  whatever  the  Scriptures  did  not 
prohibit  his  doing ;  a>  in  the  Supper.  Carlstadt  asked:  'What  Scripture  have  you 
for  elevating  the  cup  '. '  to  which  Luther  indignantly  replied  :  '  What  Scripture  is 
there  against  it  i"  By  the  same  answer  he  might  have  justified  the  offering  of 
masses  for  the  dead,  auricular  confession,  imrgatory,  the  infallibility  of  the  pope, 
or  any  other  absurdity  which  the  Catholics  practiced,  but  which  the  Scriptures 
had  not  ])ositively  forbiddi'ii  by  name.  The  mere  mention  of  such  a  shallow 
but  dangerous  position  lays  bare  its  fallacy,  and  its  pi-actical  bearings  involved 
Luther  at  last  in  shocking  inconsistency,  as  his  conduct  in  the  bigamy  of  Philip  of 
Ilesse  shows. 

Christina,  the  daughter  of  George  of  Saxony,  had  been  Pliilip's  hiwful  wife  b.r 
sixteen  years,  and  was  the  mother  of  eight  children.  But  her  husband  wished  to 
add  Margaret  von  der  Saale  as  a  second  wife,  and  as  if  he  desired  to  act  on  fiUther's 
principle  of  interpreting  the  Bible,  he  wrote  to  the  Wittenberg  theologians,  remind- 
ing them  that  the  Scriptures  did  not  foibid  him  to  have  two  wives !  This  practical 
test  of  Luther's  rule  greatly  troubled  its  authoi-,  yet,  nothing  daunted,  on  Decem- 
ber 10th,  1539,  he  and  Melancthon  united  in  an  answer,  in  which  they  boldly  took  the 
ground,  that  what  Moses  had  allowed  in  regard  to  mari'iage  the  Gospel  did  not  for- 
bid:  'Therefore,'  they  say :' Your  highness  has  not  only  our  approbation  in  this 
case  of  necessity,  l)ut  also  our  reflections  upon  it.'  '-  This  liigamous  marriage  took 
place  at  Rothenburg,  March  4th,  154<i,  without  divorcing  his  first  wife,  and  on  the 
next  day  the  Landgrave  wrote  Luther,  ■  with  a  cheerful  conscience,'  thanking  him 
for  his  counsel  in  the  case.  In  Luther's  reply  of  April  12tli,  he  says:  '  I  notice  that 
your  highness  is  in  glee  about  the  advice  given,  which  we  like  to  be  kept  silent, 
otherwise  the  rough  peasants  will  follow  your  example,  alleging  still  nmi-c  gi-ievous 


■A  of  troiihle;  "■ 

And  wliyslKmld  not  Luther, 

:  ihr   IJihlc,    IKTi, 

lit  piily^uiiiiiy  ill  tliu  iiiarriiige 

1    of  (nu-istina's 

childron    in    tlie  name  of  the 

)ii]  citlicT  (     Tlie 

one   position  is  as  consistent 

S60  ITS  imVRIOUfi  HKSULTS. 

causes.  Tliis  woiilil  create  a  y^rv 
on  his  negative  system  of  interjn 
of  Margaret  as  readily  as  the  ha 
Trinity,  if  tlie  Seriptiin^s  did  noi 
as  tlieotiier. 

Tiiis  is  the  most  vital  point  in  connection  with  the  Reformation,  showing 
where  Luther  l)rol<e  with  the  principle  of  absolute  obedience  to  God's  word;  and  as 
the  ablest  writers  of  modern  times  locate  his  weakness  here,  we  must  stop  to  look 
calmly  at  his  mistake.  Goebel  says :  '  As  Luther,  since  1522,  so  did  Zwingli,  in 
1525,  forsake  tlie  positive  principle  of  depending  on  the  Scriptures,  for  the  negative 
stand-point,  saying  :  "  Infant  baptism  is  nowhere  forbidden  in  the  Scriptures."  '  " 
The  liomanists  took  advantage  of  his  blunder  at  once.  Fabri,  their  great  doctor, 
asks:  'How  can  yon  <'(invince  an  Anabaptist  nut  of  the  .Scriptures  that  infants 
should  be  baptized  '.  In  what  Gospel  is  it  coiiimaiided  '.  The  Douatists  demanded 
Scripture  of  Augustine  for  infant  baptism,  but  he  ivferred  them  to  the  tradition 
of  the  Apostles.'  lie  then  says,  that  if  the  Lutherans  would  convert  tlie  AntijK'do- 
baptists  'from  their  error,  you  must  ask  help  of  the  Catholic  Church  and  her 
apostolic  tradition,  for  she  says  with  Augustine,  '  That  must  be  observed  which 
the  Church  observes.'  Mohler,  another  great  Catholic  authority,  thinks  that 
'  Luther  having  connected  the  efficacy  of  the  sacraments  with  faith  only,  it  is  not 
possible  to  understand  why  infants  should  be  baptized.  From  the  Reformer's  point 
of  view,  there  was  the  ntter  want  of  an  adequate  ground  for  tliis  ecclesiastical  rite.' '° 
And  Bayle  says,  that  the  Reformers  were  obliged  to  refute  the  Antipedobaptists: 
'  By  the  arguments  of  the  Papists  against  themselves.'  "^  Jorg  fully  agi-ees  with  all 
this,  saying :  '  Infant  baptism  is  the  offspring  and  guide  of  an  infallible  Church. 
The  Baptists,  alone,  carried  out  the  idea  of  the  Reformation.  .  .  .  Having  abolished 
the  authority  of  Rome,  the  Reformers  proceeded  to  siibstitute  for  it  their  own.'  " 
Cardinal  Wiseman  also  teaches  that  infant  baptism  cannot  be  without  an  infallible 
Church  to  give  it  authority. 

A  few  visionaries  attempted  to  push  Luther's  partial  Reformation  to  a  one-sided 
revolution  by  new  revelations  of  the  Spirit,  and  Luther  swung  to  the  other  extreme 
of  rejecting  the  healthful  results  of  Bible  teaching.  Hess  shows  that  the  Baptists 
wished  to  strike  the  happy  medium  between  these  extremes.  '  Unable  to  rise  to  a 
higher  stand-point,  they  wanted  to  restore  the  manner  of  life  of  the  primitive 
( 'hurch.'  '^  They  demanded  that  each  person  should  be  baptized  upon  his  own  faith. 
Luther  built  a  Church  on  sacraments  and  enforced  its  tests  of  discipleship  by  State 
legislation,  just  as  the  Catholics  had  done.  He  held  the  doctrines  of  a  universal 
priesthood  of  believers  and  of  justification  by  faith  alone,  but  he  could  not  make 
infant  baptism  harmonize  with  either  of  them.  He  denied  that  baptism  could  avail 
any  thing  without  faith,  and  so  was  obliged  to  ascribe  to  the  infant  '  the  faith  of 
the  Church,'  whatever  that  might  mean.     Thus,  he  found  in  the  faith  of  the  sponsor 


DIHEcT    IUIU.E   PnECEPT.  361 

a  quasi  inuiiical  virtue,  of  which  tlic  liihlc  kii.iws  iidlhin,--;  hut  wliich,  ratitifd  ijy 
the  State  law,  made  the  bahe  a  nuMiihrr  of  the  Churcii. 

Beard,  the  able  Oxford  lecturer.  y\\\>  this  ji.iiut  tlui.s : 

'  When  this  distinction  is  clearly  seen,  it  helps  to  liberate  the  mind  from  tlie 
influence  of  ecclesiastical  usage,  and  to  reveal  the  Scriptural  justification  of  infant 
baptism  in  its  real  weakness  and  insutiiciency.' 

Of  the  Baptists  he  says : 

'Theirs  were  the  trutlis  which  the  Reformation  neglected  and  cast  out,  hut 
which  it  must  again  reconcile  with  itself,  if  it  is  ever  to  complete  its  work.' 

And  still  again  he  says,  of  a  baptized  believer: 

'Here  the  conditions  of  a  true  sacrament  arc  fullilled ;  the  grace  (jf  God,  the 
outward  sign,  the  operative  faith,  are  all  present.  ...  It  was,  therefore,  no  dog- 
matic accident  which  made  the  mysticism  of  the  lleformation  assume  the  Anabap- 
tist form.  The  word  Anabaptist,  as  I  have  already  pointed  out,  is  used  to  cover 
very  various  phases  of  religious  belief.  But  this  one  i)eculiarity  was  cuniiuon  to  all 
Anabaptists." '» 

Luther  could  see  the  bearings  of  baptism  on  the  justifying  faith  of  a  believer, 
for  justification  by  faith  was  a  mystical  doctrine ;  but  when  he  came  to  the  faith  of 
sponsors  for  christened  babes,  he  was  at  sea.  The  Bajitists  pushed  Luther's  doctrine 
of  a  universal  priesthood  of  believers  to  a  wholesome  application,  by  denying  all 
Church  authority  to  make,  and  all  civil  authority  to  say,  without  Bible  direction, 
who  were  or  were  not  believers.  Luther  said :  '  I  am  governed  in  this  matter  by 
the  silence  of  the  New  Testament ; '  the  true  Baptists  rej^lied :  '  The  case  must  be 
decided  not  by  the  silence  of  the  N^ew  Testament,  but  by  its  positive  instructions.' 
Here  was  the  radical  point  of  difference  between  them.  Luther  believed  Scripture  • 
to  be  the  word  of  God,  but  practically  restricted  its  free  interpretation  by  insisting 
on  the  binding  force  of  its  silence !  Forsaking  the  direct  instruction  of  Scripture 
to  follow  its  silence,  he  landed  in  politico-ritualism;  other  extremists  added  to  its 
positive  instructions  and  landed  in  j)olitico-fanuticism ;  the  Baptists  contented  them- 
selves with  following  its  absolute  requirements,  and  were  branded  by  lioth  the  other 
parties  as  'heretics,'  flt  only  to  be  put  to  death  for  their  obedience  to  Christ.  Thus 
in  the  Reformation  weak  humanity  swung  from  one  extreme  to  another.  The  theo- 
logical inconsistencies  of  Luther  drove  him  to  ultra-ritualistic  ground ;  and  belief  in 
new  revelations  of  the  Spirit  carried  the  Zwickau  men  into  ultra-Quakerism  on  the 
doctrine  of  the  Spirit.  The  true  Baptists  anchored  themselves  to  the  positive  re- 
quirements of  the  word  of  God,  and  stood  firmly  there  to  their  death.  Dr.  Keller, 
in  his  new  book  '  Die  Waldenser '  sums  up  the  whole  case  thus :  '  Two  things 
characterize  the  Baptists :  '•■  The  Lord  has  forbidden,  and  Christ  meant  what  he 
said." '  -" 


"jj) 


CHAPTER    IV. 


THE     REFORMATION— PEASANTS'    W  AR— M  U  H  LH  AUSEN    AND 
MiJNSTER. 


THE  Peasants'  War  of  A.  D.  1525-20  shook  Soutlicrn  and  Central  Germany. 
The  age  was  in  a  fever  of  political  excitement,  and  this  war  was  not  an  affair 
of  religious  doctrine  but  of  political  liberty  and  the  natural  rights  of  man.  The 
first  German  conqueror  took  possession  and  then  gave  lands  in  fee  to  his  officers  or 
lords,  and  in  turn  these  bound  their  dependants  to  servile  occupancy.  The  citizens 
took  rank  as  nobles  and  '  villains,'  and  all  others  were  serfs,  the  serfs  going  with  the 
soil  on  wliirh  thi'v  were  born.  Tliey  cdiild  not  leave  their  master's  domain  nor 
appeal  imm  Ins  authority,  nor  couhl  lie  sell  them.  lie  took  to  himself  the  common 
pastures,  tliu  fish  and  game,  exacting  high  rents  or  tithe 
revolt,  lie  also  forced  his  religion  njion  them  and  n 
religious  idea,  their  knowledge  being  nari'owed  down  tt 
ject.  For  ages  Germany  had  boasted  that  liberty  was  tl 
boor  and  prince.  Her  }>rimitive  Teutonic  population  were  farmers  and  graziers, 
who  wandered  without  landmark  or  fixed  habitation.  Then,  they  formed  them- 
selves into  little  States  under  a  kind  of  land  ownership  but  with  few  conventional 
restrictions  or  claims  to  the  perpetual  right  of  property.  In  time,  however,  estates 
shaped  themselves  after  the  map  of  restricted  society  and  j'evenue  became  hereditary. 
Thus  feudal  tenures  sprang  up,  defense  became  necessary  and  authority  grew.  As 
wealth  increased,  military  jjower  and  imperial  rule  followed,  with  all  the  exactions 
of  i)lind  obedience.      I'nder  this  yoke  the  peasant  was  uneasy  for  ages,  periodically 


and  they  must  submit  or 
de  them  act  through  the 
X  few  notions  on  that  sub- 

birthriglit  of  lier  people. 


THE  PEASANTS   OPPRESSED.  363 

wakiiii;-  uj)  Xo  his  lost  liberties,  with  new  attempts  to  break  the  bond  of  '  villanaye  ' 
and  shake  oft'  his  burdens. 

As  far  back  as  A.  D.  1073  the  peasants  of  Thuringia  and  Saxony  rebelled  and 
IKnrv  i\'.  si led  torrents  of  their  blood.  In  l-tT*!  thei'C  was  a  rebellion  at  Wiirz- 
biui;-;  in  14'.tl  another  in  Swabia ;  and  in  1503  the  peasants  of  Spire  formed  a  con- 
federacy, called  the  '  League-shoe,'  from  the  device  painted  on  their  standard.  The 
Xing  of  France  stirred  up  a  peasant  outbreak  in  Belgium,  and  a  rustic  army  30,000 
strong,  with  a  loaf  and  a  cheese  on  its  banners,  went  forth  to  reduce  the  nobility 
to  decency,  but  were  themselves  slain  by  Albert  of  Sa.xony.  In  1514  '  Poor 
Kuntze,'  a  farmer  of  Wiirtemberg,  led  a  seditioiiary  force  which  took  several 
cities,  threatening  destruction  to  the  clergy  and  noliiliry  because  of  their  avarice 
and  tyranny ;  but  the  emperor  and  princes  were  alarmed  and  made  concessions 
to  avoid  worse  calamities.  In  Poland,  Hungary  and  Transylvania  there  was 
another  peasant  revolt  in  1515  against  the  oppressions  of  their  rulers.  Laurence, 
a  Catholic  presbyter,  and  Michael,  a  monk,  were  amongst  their  captains ;  400  nobles 
perished,  13  bishops  were  impaled,  only  one  escaping,  and  70,000  people  were 
slaughtered.  In  fact,  the  liery  waves  of  revolution  seethed  under  the  whole  Ger- 
man Empire,  discontent  was  universal  and  every  peasant  was  ready  to  grasp  the 
sword  in  revolt.  But  at  this  time,  the  people  afterwai'd  called  'Anabaptists'  were 
not  known  in  Germany. 

When  rebellion  burst  forth  in  1525-26,  it  was  neither  at  Zwickau  nor  at  Mun- 
ster,  but  in  the  Black  Forest.  Church  and  State  united  to  grind  the  faces  of  the 
poor  peasants  under  the  pretense  of  fighting  the  Turks,  and  they  resolved  to  wear 
the  iron  collar  no  longer.  John  Miiller,  their  chief,  wore  a  red  cap  and  cloak  and 
carried  the  standard  of  revolt,  a  flag  of  black,  white  and  red,  through  the  forest 
region.  A''illage  after  village  was  aroused,  enthusiasm  spread  like  wild-lii-e,  new 
towns  and  cities  threw  open  their  gates  and  the  people  swelled  the  ranks  from  all 
quarters.  They  marched  triumphantly  everywhere.  Nor  was  this  uprising  a  mere 
blot  upon  the  face  of  history,  as  is  commonly  represented.  If  it  is  right  to  rise  in 
arms  at  all  against  tyrannical  princes,  this  war  was  as  holy  as  any  that  ever  was 
waged.  The  peasants  tell  their  story  well  in  their  immortal  manifesto  submitted 
to  the  reason  and  justice  of  mankind.  They  held  pulilic  meetings  everywhere,  to 
express  their  grievances  and  petition  lor  redress.  Tliey  prayed  for  the  Gospel  of 
freedom,  but  no  relief  came,  and  at  last  they  stated  their  case  iu  Twelve  Articles,  of 
which  instrument  Yoltaire  said  that  'Lycurgus  would  have  signed  it.'  Luther 
declared  to  the  princes  that  its  several  articles  were  '  So  just  and  right,  that  all 
feelings  of  consideration  toward  you,  before  God  and  the  world,  are  removed.' 
There  has  been  much  doubt  as  to  the  authorship  of  this  noble  State  paper,  but  Prof. 
Pifeiderer  attributes  it  to  Ilubineyei-. ' 

So  honorable  and  patriotic  was  this  document  in  its  demands  and  so  temperately 
worded  that    it  is  simply  a  ])icture   of  their  exhausted   long-tuffering.     They  asked 


364  TIIEY  SEEK   TlIKIIl   IliailTS. 

fill-  tli(>  ])iii-r  word  of  Ciod  and  tlie  riglit  tu  t-lioo.-o  tlicir  own  pastors;  foi' tlicMr 
cxcinplidii  IVoiii  all  tithes,  except  that  of  wheat,  of  which  they  woidd  pav  a  tciitli 
foi' the  siippoi't  of  their  ])astors  and  tlie  ])oor ;  for  relief  from  boiidai;(.'  and  from 
sui'holii'.liriicr  to  tln'  iiiai;isti-at(_'s  as  it  is  not  lawful  for  Christians  tn  render:  for 
justice  administered  fairly  and  fii'inly  aec<irdiiig  to  ])lain,  written  laws;  and  for 
])crmissi(in  to  lish  in  the  rivers  and  hunt  in  the  forests.  Tiiey  back  each  article  W'ith 
a,  I'oi-ccful  passage  of  Scripture,  because,  in  some  way,  they  had  come  to  believe  that 
Christ  intt'uded  men  to  ]iossess  rights  of  conscience.  They  say:  '  Christ  bought 
and  redeemed  us  by  his  ]ii'eeious  blood,  the  shepherd  as  well  as  the  noblest,  none 
being  excepted  ;  wherefoi-e,  it  accords  with  Scripture  that  we  are  and  will  be  free.' 
They  close  by  pi'omising  that  if  any  of  these  demands  be  unjust  they  shall  have  no 
force.  These  articles  were  read  publicly  in  every  jilace  and  adopted  by  the  people. 
They  marched  triumphantly  into  Wiirtzlnirg  ;  and  before  long,  Spires,  the  Palatinate, 
Alsace,  Hesse  and  other  great  centers  adopted  the  articles.  Many  of  the  ujjper 
classes.  Catholics  and  Eeformers,  put  themselves  at  the  head  of  the  peasants.  The 
general  uprising  took  place  by  concert,  January  1st,  1525;  as  a  signal,  the  Convent 
of  Kem])toii  was  cajitured,  and  from  that  moment  the  country  was  in  a  blaze  from 
the  liliine  to  the  frontier  of  I'.ohemia.  ]\lonasteries,  castles  and  cities  were 
destroyed,  and  every  kind  of  excess  was  committed  by  3on,0(»i  men  in  arms 
maddened  by  intolerable  opi)ressioii  to  the  desjieratlon  of  despaii-.  All  this  took 
place  ten  years  before  the  madness  of  Miinster,  showing  it  to  be  but  an  incident  in 
the  long  German  uj)roar. 

We  see  here  how  religion  entered  the  contests  of  the  Peasants'  War  and  by  Avhom 
it  was  inti-oduced.  It  is  simply  absurd  to  say  that  these  peasants  were  'Anabap- 
tists.' Did  they  demand  the  riglit  to  choose  their  own  pastors  liecause  their  mas- 
ters had  foi'ced  unwelcome  'Anabaptist'  shepherds  upmi  them  '.  The  peasants  were 
Catholics  and  Lutherans,  and  their  enforced  ministers  were  the  same.  Many  of 
their  masters  were  liishdps  and  other  clergy.  The  entire  disturbance  was  simply 
the  abnormal  German  mind  forcing  its  way  back  in  a  crude  manner  to  its  native 
freedom,  and  the  '  Anal)aj)tists  '  cannot  fcir  any  pui-jiose  be  made  a  stalking-horse, 
in  the  face  of  historic  tiaitli.  to  force  a  false  issue  to  the  fi'ont.  The  chief  actors  in 
these  scenes  candidly  lay  beloiv  us  the  real  facts.  When  the  princes  desired  the 
Elector  to  aid  them  against  the  I'ebelliou,  he  said  to  his  brother,  John  :  'Cause  has 
been  given  for  tlie  poor  peo2)le  to  make  this  uproar.  .  .  .  They  have  been  dealt 
hardly  with  in  many  ways  by  us  rulers,  both  spii-itual  and  temjioral.'  The  deputies 
from  Sa.xony  and  Hesse  said  in  the  Diet  at  Augsburg : 

'The  rising  of  the  peasants  was  tlie  effect  of  impolitic  and  harsh  usage."  At 
first,  Luther,  being  the  son  of  a  peasant,  sym])athized  w^itli  his  own  race  and  said 
to  the  bishops  :  '  It  is  your  guilty  oppression  of  the  poor  of  the  flock  which  has 
driven  the  people  to  despair.'  To  the  princes  he  said  :  '  My  lords,  it  is  not  the 
peasants  Avho  have  risen  against  you,  it  is  God  himself  who  is  opposing  your  mad- 
ness.    Think  not  that  \'ou  can  escape   the   jiunishment   reserved  for  you.      For  the 


/.  I '■/■///■: fi's  si:vh:itrTY.  ses 

love  (if  (i (1(1,  calm  voiir  initatidii  ;  i;'rant  rcasoiialjl(j  tunas  to  tliescj  i)oor  puu]jle, 
ap]>eas(_'  iIr'sc  coiiuiiotions  by  gentle  iiietliods,  lest  tliey  give  birtli  to  a  coiitiagration 
which  sliall  set  all  Gennaiiy  in  a  flame.'  In  his  'Secular  Magistracy'  he  uses  this 
strong  language :  '  God  Almighty  has  niadc  our  princes  mad,  so  that  they  imagine 
they  can  act  and  command  their  subjects  as  they  please.  God  delivers  the  princes 
to  their  reprobate  senses.  They  wish  even  to  govern  souls,  and  thus  they  bring  upon 
themselves,  (idd's  and  all  people's  hatred,  and  in  this  way  they  perish,  with  the 
bi,<li(i|i-,  pri(  -i-  and  monks;  one  rascal  with  the  other.  The  jjcople  wearied  of  your 
tyraiiiiv  mid  iiii(inity  can  no  longer  bear  it.'  He  calls  them  'Blockheads,  who  wish 
t'olie  .•'ailed  Cliristiau  Trinces.' 

His  work  oil  'Christian  Liberty'  drew  the  ])easants  to  him  as  a  leader,  and  then 
many  of  them  declared  for  the  Reformation  ;  but  up  to  1525  possibly  nine  tenths  of 
theni  were  not  allowed  to  hear  the  Reformation  preached.  For  some  reason,  which 
is  not  clear,  he  suddenly  turned  his  back  on  them  and  in  that  year  published  his 
infamous  iwmphlet  '  Against  the  Rapacious,  Murderous  Peasants.'  They  then 
charged  him  with  being  a  fawning  sycophant  to  the  nobles.  'From  that  day,'  says 
Beard,  'he  became  harder,  more  dogmatic,  less  spiritual,  less  universal.  He  is  no 
longer  a  leader  of  thought,  but  the  builder  up  of  a  church,  on  conditions  prescribed 
by  the  existing  political  constitution  of  Germany.'  After  the  war  the  rebels  re- 
turned almost  as  a  body  to  the  Catholics,  and  Luther  did  more  to  drive  them  back 
than  any  other  man.  His  bitterness  and  cruelty  toward  them  were  appalling.  He 
denounces  them  as  'faithless,  treacherous,  lying,  disobedient,  boobies  and  rascals, 
who  deserved  the  death  of  soul  and  body.'  He  declared  them  under  the  ban  of  the 
God  and  Emperor,  and  '  he  who  strangles  them  first  does  right  well.'  He  charged 
them  with  '  three  horrible  crimes  against  God  and  man :  rebellion  against  rulers, 
robbery  of  castles  and  convents,  and  the  pretense  that  they  fight  under  the  Gospel.' 
Yet,  in  1524,  when  Erasmus  wrote  him  that  he  feared  '  a  bloody  insurrection,'  he 
replied :  '  A  common  destruction  of  all  monasteries  and  convents  would  be  the  best 
i-eformation,  because  they  are  useless.'  Many  of  the  peasants  destroyed  these  and 
he  raved  against  them  after  this  coarse  fashion  : 

'  A  wise  man  gives  to  his  ass  food,  a  pack-saddle  and  the  whip ;  to  the  peasant 
oat  straw.  If  they  are  not  content,  give  the  cudgel  and  the  carbine,  it  is  their  due. 
Let  us  pray  that  they  may  be  obedient;  if  not,  show  them  no  mercy.  Make  the 
musket  wliistle  against  tlieni,  or  cIm!  they  will  be  a  thousand  times  more  wicked.'^ 
He  e\liorte(l  the  |irinee>  to  lnuit  tlicm  down  like 'mad  dogs.'  'Strike!  slay  front 
and  rear!  ^'utliing  is  more  jioisonous,  pernicious,  devilish  than  a  rebel.  ...  So 
wonderous  are  the  times  now,  that  a  prince  can  win  heaven  with  blood  more  easily 
than  others  can  by  prayer.  .  .  .  Beat,  strangle,  hang,  burn,  behead  and  mutilate 
them.'  ^ 

Certain  writers  never  weary  of  attributing  this  bloody  work  to  the  '  Anabap- 
tists.' But  Bishop  Jewel  honestly  lodges  it  where  it  belongs ;  while  he  M-ould 
screen  Luther,  he  says  that  the  partners  of  this  '  conspiracy  had  for  their  watch-word 
the  name  of  Our  Lady,  and  in  honor  of  her  were  bound  to  say  five  Ave  Marias 
every  day.'     Great  concessions  were  made  to  the  peasants  for  a  time ;  during  the 


lA'iiiEi!  iiL.\Mi:\vnirnn 


war  innrli  cliiircli  pr.>|ic'i-t y  was  put  t.i  .'-rciilai-  \i>v 

s.  many  liii^li   jirivileii'es  and   taxes 

wriv   alH,lislic(l,  all    |.|-ili.Ts   hill,   the   Kiiiimt..!-  Wi'i 

•e  lii-oimht  down  to  the  democratic 

level   of   citi/.^'iis.   In.,.  <-uurt.  wcv    cMaMi.-lir.l.  t 

he  clergy   were  restricted   to  their 

individual   clniivlics,  and    iiniloriiiity  was   -ivcii   1 

o  weiglits,  measures  and  currency. 

But   tliesc  were   not    srriiiv.l    until    tlir  war  had   , 

•.,st  possihly  150,000  lives,  and  the 

l)iirniii-'    <if   sfveral     luimlrrd    castles,    (•(.iivcnt,-.. 

handets    ami    towns.       Sometimes 

Lutlier  atfrui|.t(Ml  to  wash  his  hands  as  iniioreiit 

(if  the  whole  alfair,  and  then  again 

he  was  willing  to    hear   the  whole   respoiisihilit y 

,  hut  others   laid    tlie   hlame   at  his 

door.      Krasiiiiis   saiii   to   him  :   '  Vou    diselaini    ai 

iiy  i-oniiecti<iii  with  the   insurgents, 

while  they  re-ard  yoii  as  the  author  and   I'xpoiin 

der  of   tlieir   jirinciples."  ■*      A  con- 

trovei'sial  writer  of   LVJi'says:  'Luther   lirst   soi 

inded    the   tocsin;  he    cannot  clear 

liimself  from  the  rebellion,  although  he  wrote  tlm 

it  the  coinnioii  folks  slioiild  not  use 

force  withont  the  magistracy.     The  (•oninion  ]ie( 

.[.le  do  not   hear  that,  but  they  ob- 

serve  whatever  part  of  Luther's  sermons  and  writings  they  ])lease.'  Usiander  writes : 
'  When  Luther  saw  the  peasants  attacking  not  only  the  bishops  and  clergy,  but  also 
liis  teaching  and  the  princes,  he  preached  their  slaughter  like  that  of  wild  beasts ; ' ' 
and  the  enemies  of  the  peasants  were  as  bitter  toward  him  as  the  rebels  themselves. 
In  1525  Amerbach  received  a  letter  from  Zasius,  in  which  the  latter  says :  '  Luther 
this  pest  of  peace,  this  most  pernicious  of  all  two-legged  beings,  has  plunged  the 
whole  of  Germany  into  such  a  fury  that  one  must  regard  it  as  a  sort  of  security  if 
he  be  not  killed  at  once.' "  Sometimes,  when  looking  round  for  a  scape-goat,  Luther 
attempted  to  throw  the  responsibility  on  '  the  prophets  of  murder,'  as  he  called  the 
Zwickau  men.  15ut  at  other  times  he  arrogated  prerogatives  to  himself,  for  which, 
as  Erasmus  says,  'no  parallel  can  be  found,  scarcely  distinguishable  from  madness,' 
and  for  which  no  apology  can  be  made,  such  as  this :  '  I,  Martin  Luther,  have  slain  all 
the  j^easants  in  the  insurrection  because  I  commanded  them  to  be  killed  ;  their  blood 
is  upon  my  head.     But  I  put  it  upon  the  Lord  God,  by  whose  command  I  spoke." ' 

These  and  many  other  facts  sufficiently  show  why  Gieseler  says  that  '  no  traces 
of  Anabaptist  fanaticism  were  seen'  in  the  Peasants'  War.  Some  individual 'Ana- 
baptists' were  drawn  into  the  contest,  as  at  Miihlhausen,  under  the  lead  of  Miinzer,  who 
was  not  in  any  proper  use  of  the  term  an  'Anabaptist'  himself.  On  the  contrary, 
Keller,  in  his  late  work  on  the  '  Keformation '  (p.  370),  says  that  Cornelius  has  shown 
that  in  the  chief  points  Miinzer  was  opposed  to  the  Baptists.  It  seemed  an  inevitable 
result  that  religious  fanaticism  should  be  thrown  into  a  contest  in  which  politico- 
religious  questions  formed  the  chief  element,  and  especially  where  such  a  fiery 
spirit  was  allowed  to  come  to  the  front.  Yet  it  is  questionable  justice,  whether  even 
he  ought  to  be  blackened  from  head  to  foot.  The  true  story  of  Thomas  Miinzer 
appears  to  be  this.  He  was  born  in  Stollberg,  at  the  foot  of  the  Hartz  Moimtains, 
A.  D.  1490,  and  studied,  some  think  at  Wittenberg,  others  at  Leipsic ;  that  he  took 
a  degree  as  master  of  arts  is  clear,  and  that  he  had  large  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures. 
After  teaching  in  several  places,  he  became  a  chaplain  and  confessor  to  tlie  nuns  at 


Beiititz,  near  WeissontVls  Tluic  he  roji't-ted  tnuisubstantiation  and  united  himself 
with  the  Lutlienins.  in  tlir  fnll.iwing  year  he  became  one  of  their  pastors  at 
Zwickau.  Hut  soon  lie  i)roi<e  with  the  Wittenberg  reformers  on  account  of  what  he 
imIIciI  l.uthciV  -halfness;'  for  he  demanded  a  pure  Church  on  the  mystic  idea, yet, 
in  dircrt  contradiction  therewith,  that  it  should  first  be  established  by  force,  and 
then  defended  by  divine  and  miraculous  interposition.  After  leaving  tiiat  city  \h: 
fled  fnmi  place  to  place  and  settled  at  iflihlhau.sen  near  the  close  of  1 524-.  There 
he  preaclied  his  i^(,spri  of  rlie  swnnl  and  of  divine  revelations,  actually  caring  little 
about  tile  true  character  of  the  ^nspel  ('iiurcli.  His  politics  soon  brought  liim  into 
direct  conflict  with  the  city  coiincil.  which  he  entirely  overthrew.  Here  he  diverged 
from  the  Baptists  ami  ihvw  from  tlieiu  a  severe  rebuke,  (ireliel,  in  the  name  of 
tlie  Zurich  Baptists,  September  5th,  152i,  addressed  him  as  follows: 

Is  it  true,  as  we  hear,  that  you  have  preached  in  favor  of  an  attack  on  the 
princes  ;  If  you  defend  war  or  any  thing  else  not  found  in  the  clear  word  of  God, 
I  ailiiioiiisli  you  by  our  common  salvation  to  abstain  from  these  things  now  and 
hereafter.  .  .  .  Unless  every  thing  is  to  be  altered  after  the  cxani])le  of  the  Apostles 
it  were  better  to  alter  nothing.  If  this  radical  and  complete  chaii-c  cannot  be  made 
at  once,  teach,  at  least,  what  ought  to  be,  for  it  is  far  bett(  i-  thai  a  lew  should  be 
rightly  instructed  by  the  word  of  God,  than  that  manj^  slioiiM  l>elie\e  through  de- 
ception an  adulterated  doctrine."* 

In  his  youth  certain  mystical  writings  had  given  a  false  direction  to  Mimzer's 
piety,  which  bent  cleaved  to  him  both  as  a  Catholic  and  a  Lutheran,  and  following 
only  what  he  called  the  '  inner  light '  he  fell  into  all  sorts  of  vagaries.  He  was 
ambitious,  eloquent,  thirsted  for  fight  and  fame,  and  was  ready  to  lead  a  faction 
whenever  opportunity  offered.  At  Alsted  he  headed  a  mob,  broke  into  a  church 
and  destroyed  its  images ;  at  Miihlhausen  he  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  city 
government,  and  when  the  Peasants'  War  commenced  there  he  led  its  whole  popula- 
tion in  revolt.  After  a  fierce  and  fantastical  captaincy  on  his  part  and  the  slaugh- 
ter of  his  followers,  he  was  captured  May  loth,  1525,  was  put  to  brutal  torture  and 
then  beheaded.  Most  of  the  later  writers  agree  with  the  author  of  Johnson's 
'  Cyclopaedia'  in  saying  that '  He  entertained  peculiar  ideas  of  infant  baptism,  similar 
to  those  of  the  Anabaptists,  with  whom,  however,  he  had  no  direct  connection.' 
This  point  of  similarity  consisted  in  that  he  rejected  infant  baptism  in  theory,  on 
the  ground  that  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit,  as  he  called  it,  was  the  only  true  liaptism 
for  any  person,  babe  or  adult.  But,  differing  with  the  Baptists,  he  practiced  infant 
l)a])tiMii  in  form,  twice  a  year  christening  all  born  in  his  congregation.  In  1522  at 
Alstedt  he  threw  aside  the  Latin  liturgy  and  prepared  one  in  German,  in  which  he 
retained  the  formula  for  infant  baptism.  lie  also  wrote  against  Luther's  view  of 
baptism,  but  not  on  Baptist  grounds.  The  Swiss  Baptist  leaders,  in  the  letter  just 
cited,  express  the  hope  that  as  he  had  spoken  against  infiint  baptism  he  would  go 
further  and  take  their  ground,  that  '  believers  only  are  to  be  baptized  '  and  that 
•you  decline  to  baptize   infants,'  a  thing  which   he  had  not  then  done.     He  spent 


368  j'/:iM'/-:s  AS  J)  i:.\jinM;irY. 

eight  weeks  in  Switzerhiiid  in  the  luitiinin  cil  iri24,  and  liiul  a  conference  with  some 
of  these  leaders  at  Kletl-Mii ;  hut  tlifv  si'l-ih  not  to  lia\c  agreed  either  on  this  subject 
or  on  the  use  of  the  sword,  and  lie  ncsci-  lircamc  one  of  tlicni.  On  tliis  jdiirney, 
according  to  Ilerzog,  he  met  CEcohuniiadins  at  IJasrl  ami  iittfrfii  \iu\vs  to  him  in 
no  wise  Baptist;  tliis  was  in  harmony  witli  liis  wliolr  life.  TIr-  fact  fliat  lie  was  a 
Roman  Catholic  ])riest  and  a  LulluTan  ]>a>tor  >]io\vs  tliat  lie  liad  licun  christened  as 
a  babe;  and  there  is  nu  evidence  that  lie  wa.^  e\er  bajitized  \\\Mn  his  own  faith  or 
that  he  baptized  others  on  their  faith  who  had  been  christened  as  infants.  It  is, 
therefore,  a  singular  perversity  that  so  many  writers  should  have  attempted  to  palm 
hini  off  as  a  Baptist  and  the  father  of  them.  Dr.  Kule  in  his  'Spirit  of  the  Refor- 
mation '  says:  'He  performed  a  ceremony  on  baptized  persons  which  they  mistook 
for  baptism,  and  with  his  followers  received  the  designation  of  Anabaptist.'^  But 
riilliorn  says  tliat  ho  '  did  not  practice  rebaptism  and  did  not  form  a  congregation.' '" 

The  barbarities  which  accompanied  the  Peasants'  War  so  enraged  the  Ger- 
man princes  that  they  f(»lIowed  the  revolt  with  the  most  sanguinary  and  remorse- 
less measures.  They  simpl}'  massacred  their  subjects  with  frigid  callousness,  as 
butchers  would  kill  sheep.  The  ati'ocity  of  the  imperial  party  was  a  perfect  match 
for  that  of  the  peasants.  These  once  crushed,  the  bishops  and  nobles  found  it  their 
turn  to  glut  themselves  in  the  coarsest  manner  upon  the  tears  and  blood  of  these 
tillers  of  the  soil.  Their  fury  and  brutal  cruelties  render  it  doubtful  whether  they 
were  not  superior  to  the  rustics  in  the  acts  of  bitter  revenge.  They  shed  blood 
wherever  they  cijuld  find  a  vein,  and  in  the  chill  temper  of  steel  they  hanged  their 
])risoners  by  companies  on  the  roadside. 

But  when  the  peasants  were  beaten  the  spirit  of  revolt  was  not  broken  ;  they 
were  moi'e  oppressed  than  ever  and  kept  their  rebellion  smothered.  The  Catholic 
princes  charged  the  Lutheran  princes  with  fostering  sedition,  and  they  retorted  that 
it  was  the  result  of  Eomish  persecution.  They  all  saw  that  if  this  violence  was 
continued  worse  calamities  must  follow,  and  yet  they  dreamed  that  they  could  tear 
patriotism  from  the  hearts  of  their  subjects  by  main  force.  They  sought  to  cure 
political  i-evolution  by  religious  strategy.  But  this  drove  the  courage  of  the  peas- 
ants into  religious  madness,  under  the  delusion  that  they  could  now  achieve  a  spiritual 
victory  by  the  sword.  Common  sense  would  have  prevented  the  sedition  entirely, 
and  then  the  religion  of  the  peasants  would  have  taken  healthy  care  of  itself ;  but 
this  was  uot  commanded.  Catholic  and  Lutheran  kept  the  outrages  seething  all 
over  the  laud,  and  at  last,  ten  years  after  Miinzer,  came  Miinster. 

Few  writers  have  treated  this  subject  with  greater  care  and  clearness  than 
Ypeig  and  Dermout  in  their  '  History  of  the  Netherland  Church.'  They  say  of 
the  JMLiinster  men  that  while  they  are  known  in  history  as  '  Anabaptists,'  they  ought 
by  no  means  to  be  known  as  Baptists.  '  Let  the  reader,'  they  request,  '  keep  this 
distinction  constantly  in  mind  in  the  statement  which  we  now  make  respecting 
them.  .  .  .  Since  the  peculiar  history  of  the  Anabaptists  and  Baptists  has  exerted 
so  powerful  an  influence  on  the  Reformation  of  the  Church  in  this  country,  the 


MATUIESEX  AND  IJIS  MADNESS.  369 

nature  of  onr  historical  work  requires  tliat  we  present  in  its  true  light  the  whole 
matter  from  its  origin.'  After  speaking  at  great  lengtli  of  tlie  Miinster  men  and 
their  excesses,  especially  of  their  leaders,  they  say  of  Mathiesen  :  '  He  laid  as  the 
foundation  of  his  new  system  of  doctrine  that  teaching  respecting  the  holy  ordi- 
nance of  baptism  which,  in  part,  had  long  before  been  maintained  by  the  Baptists. 
He  considered  infant  baptism  not  to  be  of  the  least  advantage  to  the  religious  in- 
terests of  a  Christian.  In  his  opinion  baptism  should  be  delayed  to  years  of 
discretion  and  after  a  profession  of  faith  on  the  part  of  the  baptized.  Therefore 
every  one  who  passed  over  to  tlie  Cdinmunitv  of  wliich  he  was  the  head  must  first 
be  baptized,  erm  if'  h.  h.nl  h,.  n  Ini/^/r:.  ,1  in  '.nu.th.  r  s„ri,  tii  at  .n,  ,i,l,ilt  aq,:    Wlien 

he  renoinu-ed    ills'. rr,~~i(,ii    ,>l    hiiili    lie  ;il>o   ivii, mih. •(■([' ]ii>   b.ipti>in.  .'.  .   It  can 

now  be  easily  uiult-rstcdd  hnw  the  Idliowei-s  of  (ho  Muiistor  iradors  received  the 
name  of  Anabaptists  or  re-laj)tisei'i<.  So  far  as  their  views  of  baptism  are  concerned, 
these  could  easily  have  been  tolerated,  and  they  need  not  have  been  hated  by  reason- 
able persons  on  account  of  these.  Eut  besides  these  they  taught  doctrines  fraught 
with  important  errors,  partly  founded  on  old  Pclagianism,  partly  on  Unitarian i.sm, 
partly  on  Mysticism  and  partly  on  other  ini]jure  principles. 

Vet,  even  with  these  opinions  they  could  have  been  suffered  to  exist  had  they 
behaved  themselves  properly  as  members  of  society.  But  their  peculiar  notions  of 
Chi-istian  freedom  were  extravagant  in  the  highest  degree,  and  with  these  were 
united  all  sorts  of  foolish  ideas  derived  from  an  incorrect  interpretation  of  the 
Apocalypse,  ideas  of  a  thousand  years'  kingdom  at  hand,  in  which  the  saints  shall 
reign  with  Christ  and  enjoy  every  kind  of  physical  and  spiritual  pleasure.  The 
community  imbibed  these  opinions  from  Mathiesen,  and  by  these  their  sensual 
feelings  were  so  greatly  excited  that  they  united  themselves  to  liim,  for  the  pro- 
motion of  a  happy  life  here  upon  earth,  with  impetuous  ardor  and  sanguinary 
violence  to  overthrow  entirely  the  thrones  of  princes,  if  it  were  pussililc,  and  of  tliis 
they  had  no  doubt.  Mathiesen,  like  another  Mohammed,  suii-lit  thiciiub  fire  and 
sword  to  effect  the  downfall  of  all  governments  which  were  w  uliiu  ilu-  ivach  of  his 
foolhardy  undertakings,  and  to  found  an  everlasting  kingdom,  which,  under  his 
royal  administration,  slionld  spread  itself  over  tlie  whole  earth.  He  should  conquer 
the  world  and  ti-iumpli  over  all  the  enemies  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  Then  Clirist 
should  appear  in  the  clouds  of  heaven  and  eontirm  him  in  his  regal  dignity,  depose 
the  pope  as  Anticlirist,  and  solemnly  jilace  iiimself  in  the  same  situation  as  the 
highest  ruler  over  the  Church.  .  .  .  Since  the  eiiHsting  of  the  rebel  Anabaptists 
hapj)ened  in  this  maiiiiiM-.  it  is  suliiciontly  ovidfiit  that  flic  grrat  majcirity  cannot  be 
SUppu~c.l  to  have  li.-cii  l!apti>t^  in  li.-art  oV  lirlirf.  'I'/i. '/  ic'r,  i',  njJ,' ur  ,'r,  ri/  r.i riety 
ofr.rujinush.li./s.  ,ni,l  i,nn,ij  ,>/ tl,.  w  of  j,.,  rJiyio,,  of  all  in  h,„rt'.  altlnnnjh  they 
aidtd  III'  l'nit,.-,t,fnt  cause. 

I'n nil  the  nature  of  the  case  the  majority  of  the  Eoraanists  knew  no  difference 
between  the  \aiious  Protestant  parties  and  sects,  and  would  make  no  distinction. 
Hence  the  abhorrence  only  deserved  by  s.imc  of  the  .\naliaptists  was  bestowed  upon 
all  Protestants.  The  honest  Bai)ti-i.- siilTcird  tlic  ni.i.~i  .-cverdy  iVuni  ibi.~  |)rejudice, 
because  they  were  considered  by  the  people  to  he  the  same  and  were  called  by  the 
same  name.  The  fact  that  they  agreed  in  their  opinions  in  res])ect  to  the  holy 
ordinance  of  baptism  was  the  unfortunate  occasion  of  this  thing.  On  this  account 
the  P>aptists  in  Flanders  and  in  Friesland  suffered  the  most  terrible  persecutions. 
In  till'  ni'xt  plaiT  the  anger  of  the  Romanists  was  excited  against  the  Zwinglians, 
since  tluv-e  ai^recd  iiio>t  nearly  with  the  Baptists  in  their  simple  religious  rites,  and 
luul  de\  iated  mu.-^l  widely  from  the  ancient  Church.  Besides  these,  the  Lutherans 
also  were  compelled  to  undergo  the  most  distressing  ])ersecutions  on  account  of  the 
indignation  of  the  Itomish  government  and  priestiiood  at  the  wicked  conduct  of  the 
Anabaptists.  It  is  to  these  disturbances  caused  at  Munster  that  we  must  ascribe 
the  stringent  measures  against  the  I-utheransat  Deventer  in  1534-35.  Lutheranism 
was  consiilered  the  fruitful  source  of  all  manner  of  corruption  in  Church  and  State.' 
25 


870 

/;. 

l/'77,s'7'.s' 

.V' 

'>'/' 

AXAJI. 

APT/; 

S7'.v. 

Here  is 

a  : 

IlKi; 

4,  ill 

ipor 

t.nt    poin 

t 

],VU 

u.-lif    . 

,„t  ,-l, 

•ai-lv. 

Zwiin;'li;ui8  \V( 

.'I'e 

CO 

11  foil 

1h1(N 

,1   with  th( 

wic 

IumI  a 

nalia, 

>ti>t^. 

Miiiistfr  iiiL'ii 

,  h 

.,\V 

Hill 

•  •li    I 

ti„,iv  thmI 

ly 

(lid 

l.uth  ( 

Catli,, 

lies   : 

confound  tliu 

•li 

ont 

■St  j; 

apti 

sts'   with 

til 

ICSL' 

niadi 

IKMI. 

Tliu 

to  state  that : 

If  tlic  Liitherans  and 
■  a.^  our  authors  call  the 
lid  Protestants  come  to 
Duteli  historians  go  on 


'The  Baptists  suffered  tiie  most,  yet  tlie  entire  mass  of  the  Protestants  were 
more  or  less  injured.  This  will  a[>pear  if  attention  be  directed  to  the  edicts  which 
since  that  time  have  been  issued  by  tlic  JMiipcror  for  the  purpose  of  retarding  the 
work  of  the  Reformation.  In  these  all  C'lnistians  who  separated  from  the  liomish 
Church  were  called  Anabaptists.  .  .  .  The  Emperor  and  all  his  statesmen  knew  that 
the  Baptists  generally  had,  both  by  word  and  deed,  testified  that  their  peace-loving 
hearts  abhorred  the  seditious  conduct  of  the  Anabaptists.  ...  In  this  manner  the 
attempt  was  made  to  throw  sand  in  the  eyes  of  the  superficial  thinkers  among  the 
Romanists.  It  was  no  very  difficult  task  to  do  this.  Since  the  government  com- 
prehended all  the  Protestants  under  the  general  name  of  Anabaptists,  tlie  short- 
sighted Romanists  confiding  in  its  superior  discernment,  could  easily  be  brought  to  the 
same  unfavorable  point  of  view.  .  .  .  The  Anabaptists  seemed  to  them  to  be  a  law- 
less people,  consisting  partly  of  Baptists,  partly  of  Zwinglians,  partly  of  Lutherans 
— men  who  formerly  adhered  to  the  old  Catholic  faith,  but  who  had  now  entirely 
renounced  religion.  .  .  .  They  would  not  see  that  which  they  might  have  seen. 
How  evident  it  was  that  although  the  Baptists  appeared  to  agree  with  the  Ana- 
baptists in  respect  to  the  baptismal  question,  the  former  entirely  disapproved  of  the 
course  pursued  by  the  latter.  For  it  liad  been,  and  continued  to  be,  a  doctrine  of 
the  Baptists,  that  the  bearing  of  arms  was  very  unbecoming  to  a  Christian.  Did 
not  the  Anabaptists  pursue  a  course  directly  the  opposite  of  this  ?  .  .  .  Who 
could  have  imagined  that  such  a  purpose  prevailed  among  the  Baptists,  who  were 
the  meekest  of  Christians  'i  And  yet  the  Romanists,  without  dissent,  agree  in 
ascribing  these  things  to  all  the  Baptists.  We  have  nowhere  seen  clearer  evidences 
of  the  injurious  intluence  of  the  prejudice,  nowhere  have  we  met  with  a  more  ob- 
stinate unwillingness  to  be  correctly  informed,  and  a  more  evident  disposition  to 
silence  those  who  better  understood  the  truth  of  the  matter.  Prejudice,  when  once 
deeply  imbibed,  blinds  the  eye,  perplexes  the  understanding,  silences  the  instincts 
of  the  heart  and  destroys  tlie  love  of  truth  and  rectitude. 

We  shall  now  proceed  more  at  length  to  notice  the  defense  of  the  worthy 
Baptists.  The  Baptists  are  Protestant  Christians  entirely  different  from  the  Ana- 
baptists in  character.  They  were  descendants  from  the  Ancient  \Valileij-.cs,  whose 
teaeliiiiiis  were  evangelical  and  tolerably  pure,  and  who  were  >caniir.|  by  severe 
jiei-.-eeiitioiis  in  various  lands,  and  long  before  the  time  of  the  Keturiiiatioii  of  the 
Church  were  existing  in  the  Netherlands.  In  their  tliglit  they  came  thither  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  twelfth  century.  In  this  country  and  in  Flanders,  in  Holland 
and  Zealand  they  lived  as  cpiiet  inhabitants,  not  intermeddling  with  the  affairs  of 
Church  and  State,  in  the  villages  tilling  the  land,  and  in  the  cities  working  at  some 
trade  or  engaged  in  traffic,  by  which  means  each  one  was  well  supplied  and  in  no 
respect  burdensome  to  society.  Their  manner  of  life  was  simple  and  exem)ilary. 
No  great  crime  was  known  among  them.  Their  religious  teaching  was  simple  and 
pure,  and  was  exempliiied  in  their  daily  conduct." " 

In  1524-25  Mijnster  had  risen  and  been  subdued  with  the  other  cities  of  South- 
ern and  Central  Germany,  and  things  flowed  once  more  in  the  old  channel.  Then, 
in  1532,  Rothmann,  a  very  powerful  Lutheran  pastor  of  Miinster,  stirred  it  so 
effectually  that  six  entire  parishes  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Lutherans,  and  nothing 


OUTIiAdKS  AT  MCysTEli.  371 

was  left  to  the  Catholics  but  the  monastery  and  cathedral.  The  Lutherans  took 
possession  of  the  city  govennuent,  drove  away  the  Catholic  bishop  and  clergy,  and 
equipped  troops  to  protect  the  Luthei'an  religion.  The  spirit  of  insurrection  spread 
and  the  two  prevailing  sects  were  drawn  into  the  movement,  when,  in  1532,  Koth- 
niann,  whose  influence  was  sweeping  all  before  him,  suddenly  avowed  himself  an 
■Anabaptist'  and  ran  into  every  kind  of  wild  vagary.  He  taught  an  illumination 
of  the  Spirit  which  superseded  the  need  of  the  written  word  of  God,  and  afforded 
new  revelations  by  visions  and  dreams  ;  that  rank  and  station  should  be  abolished ; 
a  community  of  goods  established ;  that  Christ  was  about  to  return  to  the  earth  ; 
and  that  it  must  be  conquered  to  him  by  force  of  arms;,  that  he  might  reign  here  a 
thousand  years. 

Others  flocked  abuut  liiiii,  amongst  them  Bockhold  and  Mathiescn.  These  soon 
outran  Itothmann,  and  rach  in  turn  became  prophet  and  king.  They  called  Munster 
'  Mount  Zion,'  and  proclaimed  it  the  center  of  the  world,  for  there  Christ  would 
right  the  wrongs  of  all  the  peasants,  and  establish  the  millennial  kingdom  of  God. 
They  proclaimed  a  theocratic  government,  put  many  to  death  and  confiscated  the 
estates  of  the  citizens.  The  population  soon  became  a  rabble  of  all  religious  sects 
and  none.  Bockhold,  the  sham  monarch,  inaugurated  a  reign  of  terror,  in  which 
every  vile  passion  was  let  loose  and  every  crime  was  committed  without  decency  or 
limit.  The  horrible  violence  which  reigned  for  about  a  year  threw  common  hu- 
manity to  the  winds,  so  frantic  and  sanguinary  was  the  madness ;  and  the  cause  of 
virtue  is  best  served  by  avoiding  the  monstrous  recital  in  detail.  Munster  fell 
completely  under  that  general  law  of  political,  moral  and  fanatical  epidemics  which 
always  works  out  such  results,  where  superstition  first  makes  men  cruel,  and  then 
fiery  passions  sway  their  whole  being.  The  town  w-as  taken  June  2-tth  1535,  and 
in  the  following  January  the  ringleaders  were  ])ut  to  death.  Violence  has  ever 
been  the  natural  consequence  of  soulless  oppression,  and  yet  any  attempt  to  excuse 
the  outrages  of  Munster  is  itself  a  crime.  The  wrongs  of  these  people  lived  long 
after  the  Feasants'  "War,  and  could  not  die  in  their  revengeful  memories.  Both  the 
oppressors  and  the  oppressed  acted  more  like  demons  than  men,  and  the  result  was 
seen  in  that  desperation  of  all  subject  races  when  brought  to  bay  after  long 
degradation. 

That  ignorance  is  inexcusable  which  attributes  the  rise  of  Baptists  to  '  The 
period  of  the  Munster  kingdom ;  much  rather  can  it  be  proved  that  in  the  lands 
mentioned  Baptist  Churches  existed  for  many  decades,  and  even  centuries.  '^  No 
greater  injustice  can  be  done  to  any  people  than  has  been  done  to  the  German 
Baptists,  in  the  attempt  to  saddle  them  with  the  evils  of  the  Peasants'  "War  and 
the  villainies  of  Munster.  Not  one  of  their  old  and  acknowledged  leaders  was  found 
in  the  uproar  either  at  Miihlhausen  or  Munster,  and  but  few  of  their  people  were 
mixed  up  with  these  proceedings.  As  to  numbers,  they  were  an  insignificant  sect 
in  Germany  proper  at  that  time,  and  as  a  body  on  principle,  they  stood  aloof  from 


372  CALU.vyy  hkfuted. 

filling  the  magistracy,  from  oaths  aiifl  fhc  >\voril.  In  SwitzcrlaiKl,  where  the 
Peasants' War  raged  as  violently  as  in  (Tcrniaiiy,  they  ]i(:i-itivcly  n-t'nsiMl  tu  unite 
their  fortunes  with  the  peasants,  ami  thcii-  cinii-su  tlicrc  thn.ws  lioht  n]Miii  tJieir  con- 
duct in  Germany.  Grebel  and  Siniuii  Stnnipt,  tu  thrir  honm-.  sympiithi/.tMl  with  the 
down-trodden  people,  but  their  principles  would  ni>r  allow  them  to  draw  the  sword. 
Grebel  branded  the  oppressors  as  'The  tyiants  of  our  forefathers,' but  he  denied 
that  he  liad  ever  thought  of  subv'erting  government. ''  When  the  Swiss  peasantry 
revolted  in  the  Griiningen  district,  they  attacked  the  cloisters  of  Bubikon  and  Ruti 
with  their  Zwinglian  pastors  in  their  ranks.  Their  Baptist  neighbors,  meanwhile, 
gave  them  their  moral  support,  but  left  the  sword  sheathed  for  conscience'  sake. 
They  relied  upon  the  spirit  and  morals  of  the  Gospel  tu  enlighten  the  souls  of  the 
people,  believing  that  this  would  work  out  their  social  lilicrtics  too.  Ilubmeyer 
aided  the  peasants  at  Waldsliut  much  in  the  same  way.  Zimnicriuaii.  the  historian  of 
the  Peasants'  War,  says:  'In  Waldslnit  and  the  Evangelical  I'-rotherliood  there 
were  heads  capable  of  gi'asi)ing  the  l)old  and  great  thought  of  uniting  the  forces 
of  the  peasants,  split  up  as  they  were  among  countless  leaders,  in  one  purpose 
and  aim:  namely,  the  restoration  of  the  old  liberty  of  the  empire,  and  the  over- 
throw of  existing  un-Christian  oppression.  To  this  end  brotherhoods  were  formed 
and  armed  throughout  the  entire  German  empire,  and  connnunication  Ijy  means  of 
correspondence  and  messengers  was  regularly  sustained.'  This  '  Brotlierliood '  was 
entered  by  138  cities,  and  by  counts,  knights  and  bishops  innumerable,  but  by 
few  Baptists.  A  branch  was  organized  at  Waldshut,  which  city  Miiller  entered 
with  1,200  peasants;  l)ut  when  the  peiseeuted  Baptists  there  were  charged 
with  heresy  and  sedition,  they  uniformly  denied  the  second  charge,  alth.ough  they 
delighted  in  the  doctrinal  heresy  charged  upon  them.  Jacob  Gross,  a  disciple  of 
Hubmeyer,  fled  fi-om  Waldshut  rather  than  Ijear  arms.  AVhen  Bruppacher  was 
examined  on  the  rack  at  Zurich,  he  said  that  he  had  never  heard  his  brethren 
'  Teach  that  there  should  be  no  magistracy  ;  or  that  in  case  they  should  be  success- 
ful they  would  overthrow  the  State.'  And  they  unif'orndy  denied  that  they  had 
any  thing  to  do  with  sedition,  while  doctrine  and  not  sedition  was  the  burden  of  their 
oral  discussions  and  litei-ature. 

Happily,  in  modern  times,  the  calunmy  that  the  r>aptisfs  were  responsible  for 
the  horrors  of  Miinster  has  lost  its  edge  and  the  truth  has  found  its  way  to  the 
surface.  Brandt  attributes  them  to  some  '  enthusiastical  Anabaptists,'  but  is  care- 
ful to  add : 

'  Not  to  the  well-meaning  Baptists.'  SchafE  pronounces  it  '  The  greatest 
injustice  to  make  the  Anabaptists,  as  such,  responsible  for  the  extravagances  that  led 
to  the  tragedy  of  Miinster.'  "  Uhlhorn  says  that  '  Sedition,  or  a  call  to  sedition,  is 
not  chargeable  against  the  Anabaptists  of  Southern  Germany  at  this  time ;  I  have 
found  no  trace  of  any  fellowship  with  the  seditious  peasants.'  But  their  contem- 
poraries, who  knew  them  well,  bear  the  same  testimony.  Capito,  their  stern  opponent 
at  Strasburg,  says   that  he  must  '  openly  confess  '  that  most  of  them  manifest  '  godly 


LAW-ABIDING   nAPTISTS.  373 

fear  and  pure  zeal.  Before  God  I  testify  that  I  cuiiuot  say  that  tlieir  contempt  for  life 
springs  from  blindness  rather  than  from  a  divine  impulse.'  Wetzel,  the  Catholic, 
declared  that  'Whoever  speaks  of  God  and  a  Christian  life,  or  earnestly  strives 
after  personal  improvement,  passes  as  an  arch  Anabaptist.'  And  Frank,  who  wrote 
in  1531,  says  of  them  :  '  They  teach  love,  faith  and  the  cross.  They  are  long-suf- 
fering and  heroic  in  affliction.  .  .  .  The  world  feared  they  would  cause  an  uproar, 
but  they  have  proved  innocent  everywhere.  If  I  were  emperor,  pope,  or  Turk,  I 
would  not  fear  revolt  less  from  any  people  than  this.  ^^  .  .  .  All  the  Baptists  oppose 
those  who  would  fight  for  the  Gospel  with  the  sword.  Some  object  to  war  or  any 
use  of  the  sword,  hut  the  must  favor  self-defense  and  justifiable  war.'  '^ 

Tlie  truth  is  uut  of  joint  soniewhei'e  when  men  charge  them  with  enmity  to 
civil  government,  with  being  revolutionary  and  the  veriest  butchers,  because  their 
faith  forbade  them  to  draw  the  sword.  Bayle  tells  us  that  Turenne  remonstrated 
with  Van  Benniiig  for  tolerating  them,  when  he  i-eplied  :  '  They  are  good  people, 
and  the  most  commodious  to  a  State  in  the  world,  because  they  do  not  aspire  to  places 
of  dignity.  We  fear  no  rebellion  from  a  sect  that  makes  it  an  article  of  their 
faith  never  to  bear  arms.  They  edify  the  people  by  the  simplicity  of  their  manners, 
and  apply  themselves  to  arts  and  business,  without  dissipating  their  substance  in 
luxury  and  debauchei-y.'  Nay,  Bayle  himself  says  that  their  great  enemy  De  Bros 
'  Says  nothing  to  insinuate  that  the  Anabaptist  martyrs  suffered  death  for  taking  up 
arms  against  the  State,  or  for  stirring  up  the  subjects  to  rebel,  but  represents  them  as 
a  harmless  sort  of  people.  .  .  .  'Tis  certain  that  many  of  them  who  suffered  death  for 
their  opinions  had  no  thouglit  of  making  any  insurrection.'  "  A  few  madmen  of 
Miinster,  with  Rothmanu  at  their  head,  aroused  their  new  converts  to  their  views, 
and  so  brought  disgrace  upon  their  name ;  but  if  any  of  the  acknowledged  leaders 
had  to  do  with  the  vile  conspiracy,  who  and  where  were  they  ? 

Melancthon  says  that  he  made  particular  inquiry  whether  Storch  was  with 
Miinzer  in  his  uprising,  but  he  found  nothing  to  justify  his  suspicions.  And  Ilase 
adds  :  'No  one  can  prove  that  Storch  was  guilty  of  direct  political  aims.  He  went 
about  seeking  out  the  elect,  who  forsook  home  and  their  native  land  for  the  sake  of 
the  truth.'  '*  Cornelius  sums  up  the  whole  matter,  covering  the  time  from  1525 
onward,  when  he  says :  '  Anabaptism  and  the  Peasants'  War  had  no  conscious  con- 
nection.    The  two  movements  were  generally  distinct.' '' 

So  much  has  been  said  of  these  disgraceful  transactions  at  Miinster,  and  said  so 
rashly,  to  the  injury  of  Baptists,  that  one  is  tempted  to  add  cumulative  evidence  on 
the  subject,  even  to  prolixity.  The  mean-spirited  charges  were  flung  in  their  faces 
by  men  who  persecuted  them  at  that  time,  and  they  repudiated  them  with  deep  feel- 
ing, as  cruelly  adding  insult  to  injury.  This  side  of  the  case  must  be  noticed. 
Keller  quotes  an  old  chronicle  to  show  that  Greble  and  Mantz  were  called  '  false 
prophets '  by  the  fanatical  libertines  in  Abbacell,  whom  they  rejected  and  combated, 
keeping  clear  of  them  in  entangling  alliance  because  they  were  libertines.^  The 
Schleitheim  Articles  as  well  as  many  ]irivate  writings  throw  a  strong  light  upon  this 
subject.      Nut  only  does  tlie  sixth  aiticli',  i.ii  -Tlie  .Swurd,'  relieve  them   fn/m   this 


374  TIIFAR  HON  OR    VINDICATED. 

odium,  but  they  wash  tlicir  hands  of  tlie  rcvokitiuiiary  transartioiis  at  Zwickau  and 
Miihlhausen,  the  first  in  1521,  the  last  in  \h'l\,  under  Miinzei-.  Tliey  say  to  the 
Baptist  congregations : 

'  Scandal  lias  been  Ijrougiit  in  amongst  us  by  certain  false  brethren,  so  that  some 
have  turned  from  the  faith,  imagining  to  use  for  themselves  tlie  freedom  of  the 
Spirit  and  of  Clirist.  But  such  iia\c  ei-n.d  from  the  truth  and  have  given  tliem- 
selves  (to  their  condemnation)  to  the  wantonno,-.  and  freedom  of  the  flesh  ;  and  have 
thought  faith  and  love  may  do  and  sutler  all  things,  and  nothing  would  injure  or 
condemn  tliem  because  they  believed.'  They  warn  that  '  faith '  does  '  not  thus 
prove  itself,  does  not  bring  forth  and  do  sucli  things,  as  these  false  brethren  and 
sisters  do  and  teach.  .  .  .  Beware  of  such,  for  they  serve  not  our  Fatlier,  but 
their  fatlier  the  devil.  But  ye  are  not  so,  for  they  who  are  in  Christ  liave  crucified 
tlie  flesh,  with  all  its  lusts  and  longings.'  After  they  have  given  the  seven  articles, 
they  say :  '  These  are  the  points  which  some  brethren  have  imderstood  wrongly  and 
not  in  accordance  with  tlie  true  meaning,  and  thereby  have  confused  many  weak 
consciences,  so  that  the  name  of  God  has  been  grossly  blasphemed.  For  which 
cause  it  was  necessary  that  we  should  be  united  in  the  Lord,  which,  God  be  praised, 
has  taken  place.  .  .  .  Mark  all  those  who  walk  not  according  to  the  simplicity  of 
divine  truth,  which  is  contained  in  this  letter,  as  it  was  apprehended  by  us  in  the 
assembly,  in  order  that  each  one  among  us  be  governed  by  the  rule  of  discipline, 
and  henceforth  the  entrance  among  us  of  false  brethren  and  sisters  be  guarded 
against.     Separate  the  evil  from  you.' 

One  of  the  Baptist  martyrs,  Dryzinger,  in  153S,  only  three  years  after  the  craze, 
was  examined  as  to  whether  he  and  his  brethren  approved  of  these  vile  proceedings. 
He  answered  that  '  They  would  not  be  Christians  if  they  did.'  Hans,  of  Overdam, 
another  martyr,  complained  of  these  false  accusations  of  violence.  He  said :  '  We 
are  daily  belied  by  those  who  say  that  we  would  defend  our  faith  with  the  sword, 
as  they  of  Miinster  did.  The  Almighty  God  defend  xis  from  such  abominations.' 
Young  Dosie,  a  beautiful  character,  who  was  a  prisoner  to  the  Governor  of  Friesland, 
and  endured  cruel  slaughter  for  his  love  to  Christ,  was  asked  by  the  governor's  wife 
if  he  and  liis  brethren  were  not  of  tliat  disgraceful  people  who  took  up  the  sword 
against  the  magistrates.  With  the  sweet  innocence  of  a  child  he  replied :  '  No, 
madam,  those  persons  greatly  erred.  We  consider  it  a  devilish  doctrine  to  resist 
the  magistrates  by  the  outward  sword  and  violence.  We  would  much  i-ather  suffer 
persecution  and  death  at  their  hands  and  whatever  is  appointed  us  to  suffer.' 
All  this  is  no  more  than  Erasmus  said  of  them  in  1529  :  '  The  Anabaptists  have 
seized  no  churches,  have  not  conspired  against  the  authorities,  nor  deprived  any 
man  of  his  estate  or  goods.'  -^  They  bad  no  sturdier  foe  than  Bullinger,  yet  he 
renders  this  verdict :  '  Say  what  we  will  of  the  Baptists,  I  see  nothing  in  them  but 
earnestness,  and  I  hear  nothing  of  them  except  that  they  will  not  take  an  oath,  will 
not  do  any  wrong  and  aim  to  treat  every  man  justly.  In  this,  it  seems  to  me,  there 
is  nothing  out  of  the  way.'  ^^ 

But  Cornelius  tells  us  plainly  :  '  All  these  excesses  were  condemned  and  opjxtsed 
wherever  a  large  assembly  of  the  brethren  afforded  an  opportunity  to  give  expression 


TRUTH  TOLD   AT  LAST.  37B 

to  the  religious  consciousness  of  the  Baptist  membcrsliip.'^  This  was  the  case  at 
Augsburg,  where  a  formal  convention  of  their  leaders  discountenanced  all  political 
measures.  No  one  outside  of  their  number  has  better  described  their  advanced  posi- 
tion as  a  people  in  all  respects  than  Fiisslin,  in  his  preface;  to  vol.  ii  of  Beitrilge : 

'  Tlio  Reformers  ivjecteii  tlie  superstitions  alinses  attached  to  the  sacraments  ;  the 
Anali;i|iri>i-  re-ioicd  tlir  ^Mciaintnt-  ilieiiisel\(\-  In  memorials  for  believers.  The 
Eefonnei-s  |nvacliii|  a-aiii-i  uiukht-sh'v  Mh.  Hlr-lud  ;  the  Anabaptists  denounced  war 
of  evcrij  kind.  The  lieluniier.s  prulesleil  ayaiusl  (.'atholic  tyranny;  the  Anabaptists 
denied  to  any  civil  power  authority  in  matters  of  religion.     The  Ileformers  decried 

fiublic  vices ;  the  Anabaptists  excluded  the  immoral  from  their  fellowship.  The 
Reformers  sought  to  limit  usury  and  covetousness ;  the  Anabaptists  made  them 
impossible  by  the  practice  of  couHuunism.  The  Ileformers  educated  their  preachers ; 
the  Anabaptists  looked  for  the  inner  anointing.  The  Reformers  condemned  the 
priests  for  simony ;  the  xinabaptists  made  every  j)i'eacher  depend  on  the  labor  of  his 
own  hands  and  the  free  gifts  of  the  people.' 

The  Baptists  of  our  day  are  the  first  and  the  freest  to  wash  their  hands  of  all 
the  black  deeds  at  Miinster,  not  only  because  they  are  black,  but  also  because  their 
tiTie  brethren  of  the  sixteenth  century  renounced  them  as  honestly  and  earnestly. 
Several  of  the  Munstei'  men  professed  some  things  in  common  with  the  Baptists, 
but  more  that  the  Baptists  detested.  Fiisslin,  with  characteristic  impartiality,  says : 
'  There  was  a  great  difference  between  Anabaptists  and  Anabaptists.  There  were 
those  amongst  them  who  held  strange  doctrines,  but  this  cannot  be  said  of  the  whole 
sect.  If  we  should  attribute  to  every  sect  whatever  senseless  docti'ines  two  or  thi-ee 
fanciful  fellows  have  taught,  there  is  no  one  in  the  world  to  whom  we  could  not 
ascribe  the  most  abominable  errors.'  He  clearly  alludes  here  to  the  Miinster  teachers. 
But,  as  clearly,  he  did  not  look  upon  them  as  the  fathers  of  the  Baptists  in  Germany. 
Without  doubt  a  handful  of  Baptists  in  that  city  ran  into  polygamy,  the  only 
instance  in  all  the  centuries  where  a  congregation  of  them  has  embraced  that 
abomination.  But  even  there  the  shocking  practice  was  condemned  and  resisted 
at  every  step,  (ioebel  tells  us  (i,  p.  189)  that  two  hundred  moral  and  moderate 
Baptists  in  Munster  heroically  withstood  the  iniquity,  and  it  was  not  established 
until  forty-eight  of  this  number  had  been  put  to  a  bloody  slaughter  for  their 
resistance.  So  that  in  the  struggle  nearly  fifty  true  Baptists  fell  martyrs  to  purity 
in  that  German  Sodom  ;  and  at  last,  the  ministers  and  most  of  the  people  yielded 
to  the  clamor  for  polygamy  under  this  reign  of  terror. 

While  this  handful  of  madmen  had  not  been  educated  in  visions,  violence  and 
indecency  by  the  Baptist  leaders  of  Switzerland  and  Germany,  others  had  impreg- 
nated them  with  these  doctrines  from  their  cradle.  For  centuries  these  teachings 
and  practices  had  tilled  the  air.  The  doctrine  of  wild  visions,  both  of  God  and  the 
devil,  was  taught  in  the  monastic  institutions,  and  wonders  of  this  sort  were 
blazoned  abroad  l)y  bishops,  cardinals  and  popes  everywhere.  The  Catholic  com- 
munion believed  then  and   still    believes    in    new  revelations    from    (iod.       S;iints 


376  Arr    TKAf'/rKh'S. 

iniiuinurable  ;nv  iiieiitioned  \\]\<>  ln-ai'd  voirc^  fnjiii  lieiiveii.  Lad  visits  from  the 
Virgin,  tlie  Father,  Ihu  Su„  :,,m1  th,.  aiioM'ls  -  a>  i-i,atiu>,  A qiiiiias,  Teresa,  Felix 
and  Anthony.  Francis  was  not  only  iiis|jii-iMl  lo  i-ca<l  men'.-,  minds  and  consciences 
as  well  as  their  faces,  but  he  received  tlic  nilc^  of  lii>  in'w  ordci-  of  monks  directly 
from  God.  Like  John  of  Leyden  lie  appoinliMl  twehx-  apo>t]L's.  and  one  of  them 
hanged  liimsulf  to  l)oot.  He  also  '  iin,p]ie.-.ii.,r  that  he  should  become  'a  great 
prince' and  be  adoi'ed  over  the  whole  earth.  IJridget,  C'atharine  and  Rosa,  with 
endless  nuns,  wei'e  ]>rophetesses.  Teresa,  took  the  crucitied  Christ  by  the  hand,  was 
espoused  to  him  and  went  up  to  heaven  in  the  shape  of  a  white  dove.  The  Miinster 
men  never  had  sueli  di-eams,  I'aptures,  apjiaritions,  phantasms  and  ecstasies  as  the 
canonized  saints  of  lionie.  Xeitlier  did  Luther  help  the  lunatics  to  sounder  doc- 
ti-ine  when  he  saw  the  devil  in  the  form  of  a  "  dog,'  '  a  whisp  of  straw,'  a  '  wild  boar  ' 
and  'a  star;  "  nor  when  he  threw  the  inkstand  at  his  head.     As  to  violence  : 

Catholies  and  Protestants  taught  them  that  tradition,  reason  and  Scripture 
ma<le  it  the  i>ious  duty  of  saints  to  torture  and  burn  men  as  heretics  out  of  pure 
lo\e  for  their  holiness  and  salvation.  Protestants  told  them  that  it  was  sacred  duty 
to  slaughter  those  as  schismatics,  sectaries,  malignants  who  corruiJted  the  Church 
and  would  not  live  in  peace  with  the  Reformed.  Who  educated  these  fanatics  in 
Christian  love  and  gentleness  'i  The  law  of  tlieir  times  was  to  repel  force  with  force. 
When  the  Miinster  men  came  into  jiower  they  applied  the  reasoning  of  their  tutors  in 
atrocity,  saying :  '  Our  bounden  duty  is  now  to  rid  the  earth  of  Christ's  enemies  and 
ours,  as  they  would  rid  it  of  tis.'  And  who  will  say  that  all  these  murderers  did  not 
stand  on  the  same  plane  of  outrage  and  barbarity  in  this  respect  ?   As  to  immoralities : 

Every  pure  mind  shrinks  from  the  abhorrent  indecencies  of  Miinster.  And 
who  had  set  them  this  exainjjle  ?  They  practiced  polygamy ;  but  ten  long  years 
before  this,  1524,  Luther  had  written :  '  The  husband  must  be  certified  in  his  own 
conscience  and  by  the  word  of  God  that  polj'gamy  is  permitted  to  him.  As  for 
me,  I  avow  that  I  cannot  set  myself  in  opposition  to  men  marrying  several  wives, 
or  assert  that  such  a  course  is  repugnant  to  the  Holy  Scripture.'  ^  About  the  same 
time  he  preached  his  famous  sermon  on  '  Marriage,'  which  chastity  may  well  pass  in 
silence,  beyond  this  one  expression  :  '  Provided  one  has  faith,  adultery  is  no  sin.'  ^ 
It  was  not  the  madmen  of  Miinster  but  Martin  Luther  who  said  :  '  Whatever  is 
allowed  in  the  law  of  Moses  as  to  marriage  is  not  forbidden  by  the  Gospel.'  Ilis 
course  in  the  shameful  affair  of  Philip,  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  shows  that  although  he 
'  did  not  wish  to  see  this  practice  (polygamy)  introduced  among  Cliristians,'  yet  he 
held  to  his  old  views.  Hence,  in  1539,  four  yeai's  after  the  Miinster  abomination, 
Philip  told  him,  with  what  Michelet  calls  '  a  daring  frankness,'  that  he  must  marry 
another  wife  or  continue  his  adulteries,  saying  :  '  I  have  read  with  great  attention 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  and  I  can  discover  no  other  resource  save  that  of  taking 
another  wife ;  for  I  neither  can  nor  will  change  my  course  of  life  ;  I  call  God  to 
witness  my  words.'      Yet  with   that  uublushing  brow  before  him,  Luther,  with  Me- 


PROTESTANT  AND  PAPAL   IMMORALITY.  377 

laiictlioii,  liiicer  and  four  others,  signed  and  sealed  a  document,  attcnij)ting  to 
dissuade  the  Landgrave,  but  failing  of  that,  closed  by  saying :  '  If,  however,  your 
liighuess  is  utterly  determined  upon  niai-rying  a  second  wife,  we  are  of  opinion  that 
it  ought  to  be  done  secretly.'  Antony  Corvinus,  the  fourtli  signer  of  this  reply  to 
Philip,  gives  an  account  of  the  examination  of  John  of  Leyden,  at  which  he  was 
present,  in  which  John  gave  his  seven  articles  of  faith.  He  intrenched  himself 
behind  Luther's  position,  saying  that  they  followed  '  the  example  of  the  patriarchs,' 
declared  marriage  a  '  political  mstitution,'  and  then  put  in  the  same  plea  as  Philip. 
In  Philip's  letter  to  the  Wittenberg  divines  he  said  :  '  Ever  since  my  marriage  I 
have  lived  constantly  in  a  state  of  adultery  and  fornication,  and  as  I  will  not  forego 
this  course  of  life,  I  am  interdicted  from  taking  the  holy  communion  :  for  St.  Va\\\ 
expressly  says,  "The  adulterer  shall  not  seethe  kingdom  of  heaven.'""  .lolm  of 
Leyden  adopted  this  plea,  saying,  in  his  seventh  article  :  '  It  is  better  to  iiavc  a 
plurality  of  wives  than  a  multitude  of  prostitutes.  God  be  our  judge.'  Henry, 
the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  berated  Luther  for  his  approval  of  Philip's  bigamy ;  when 
Luther  replied,  with  his  usual  mildness,  in  his  famous  article, '  Against  the  Buifoon  : ' 
'  The  duke  has  daily  swallowed  devils,  and  he  is  chained  in  hell  with  the  chains  of 
divine  judgment.'  He  then  exhorts  the  pastors  to  denounce  the  duke  from  the 
pulpit  as  one  who  '  has  been  damned  by  divine  judgment.'  But  when  he  revised  his 
pamphlet,  he  said  to  Melancthon  that  he  had  been  altogether  too  moderate.^ 

And  what  better  examples  had  the  Catholics  set  the  Miinster  men  in  the  line 
of  purity  ?  From  the  ninth  century  down,  as  Bowden  says,  in  his  '  Life  of  Hilde- 
brand  : '  *  The  infamies  i^revalent  among  the  clergy  are  to  be  alluded  to,  not  detailed.' 
The  open  licentiousness  of  the  popes  was  appalling.  The  popes  of  the  tifteenth 
century  were  profligate  and  debased  beyond  belief.  Innocent  VIII.  publicly 
boasted  of  the  number  of  his  illegitimate  children.  Alexander  was  a  monster  of 
iniquity,  who  gave  dispensations  for  crimes  that  cannot  be  written.  Baronius  says 
that  the  vilest  harlots  domineered  in  the  papal  see,  at  their  pleasure  changed  sees, 
appointed  bishops,  and  actually  thrust  into  St.  Peter's  chair  their  own  gallants,  false 
popes.  Take  simply  the  case  of  John  XII.  Bowden  wrote  :  '  The  Lateran 
palace  was  disgraced  by  becoming  a  receptacle  for  courtezans ;  and  decent  females 
were  terrified  from  pilgrimages  to  the  threshold  of  the  Apostles,  by  the  reports 
which  were  spread  abroad  of  the  lawless  impurity  and  violence  of  the  represent- 
ative and  successor '  of  two  others  equally  vile.  -'  But  these  were  no  woi'se 
than  Sixtus  IV.,  who  erected  a  house  of  ill-fame  in  Rome,  the  inmates  of 
which,  according  to  Dr.  Jortin,  '  paid  his  holiness  a  weekly  tax,  which  amounted 
sometimes  to  20,000  ducats  a  year.  The  purest  spirits  in  the  hierarchy  blush 
to  tell  the  hard  narrative  of  monastic  life  in  the  sixteenth  century,  although  it 
made  pretension  to  spotless  virtue.  Archbishop  Morton,  1490,  accused  the  Abbot 
of  St.  Albans  with  emptying  the  nunneries  of  Pray  and  Sapnell  of  modest  women 
and  tilling  tlicMu  witli  vile  females.      The  clergy   kept   concubines   openly  from  the 


378  TWIN  FANATICISMS. 

pope  down.  Ten  priests  addressed  a  letter  to  tlic  Bisliop  of  Constaiiee,  asking 
permission  to  many,  confessing  tliat  tlirir  widveil  mistresses  had  been  tlieir  'scandal 
and  ruin.'  He  absolved  tliem  and  ntlui^  mi  the  payment  of  five  gulden;  and 
Hettinger  writes  that  the  revenue  tVom  this  source  was  7,000  gulden.  This  was  a 
full  match  for  the  obscenities  of  Miuister.  Sucli  transactions  in  sacred  life  led  these 
madmen  to  throw  away  all  license  in  civil  life. 

A  word  as  to  the  nude  indecencies  of  Miiiister  must  tinisli  this  chapter.  People 
appeared  naked  at  the  baptistery  and  in  public  places.  Where  had  they  learned 
these  I'evolting  practices  'i  For  centuries  the  fanaticism  of  Rome  had  immersed  all 
persons  in  a  state  of  nudity.  As  far  back  as  A.  D.  347,  the  Eitual  of  Jerusalem 
required  the  candidates  for  baptism  •  U>  put  ulf  the  garments  wherewith  they  are 
clothed.'  Brenner,  the  great  Catholic  authority,  says:  'For  sixteen  hundred  years 
tlie  candidate  for  immersion  was  completely  undressed.'  The  Synod  of  Cologne,  in 
1280,  carried  tliis  fanaticism  to  such  an  extent,  that  they  decreed  that  an  infant 
must  have  watei-  piiurccl  upon  its  head  in  the  name  of  the  Ti'inity  to  save  it  from 
perdition,  if  dyin-;  when  liut  lialf-liuni.  How  like  Landjecius.  who  lilamed  the 
Danes  and  Swedes  for  deliiyini;'  ba]>tisni  through  '  baslifulness  and  shame.  .  .  . 
Since,  formerly  men  and  women  laying  aside  their  baslifulness,  their  wliole  bodies 
being  entirely  nude,  were  baptized  in  the  presence  of  all ;  and  that  not  by  sprinkling, 
indeed,  but  by  imniei'sion  or  sinking  them.'  ^  These  are  the  men  who  now  shudder 
at  Miinster  !  These  are  the  inen  who  formerly  put  hundi-eds  ai  thousaTids  upon  the 
rack,  of  every  rank,  age  and  sex,  to  be  tortured.-' 

Rome  practiced  the  same  indecencies  in  flagellation,  borrowed  from  the  heathen 
feast  of  Lupercale,  in  which,  according  to  Vergil  and  Plutarch,  young  noblemen 
walked  through  the  streets  naked,  cutting  themselves  with  wiiips  and  rods,  in  au- 
sterity, while  sacrifices  were  burning  to  the  gods.  The  same  barliarity  was  practiced 
by  Christian  women  in  France,  Mezaray  being  authority.  For  two  centuries  this 
flagellant  madness  ran  through  Bavaria,  Austria,  the  Upper  Rhine  and  Italy,  nay, 
through  Saxony  itself.  These  morbid  fanatics  practiced  all  stages  of  undress,  formed 
a  brotherhood,  swept  in  thousands  through  these  lands,  singing  hymns,  having  rev- 
elations from  angels  and  the  Virgin,  and  with  a  letter  from  Christ  himself,  which 
they  exhibited  in  their  pilgrimages.  Motley  calls  the  Miinster  men,  'Furious  fanat- 
ics, who  deserved  the  mad-house  rather  than  the  scaffold : '  and  how  much  better 
were  Catholics  or  Protestants,  in  practicing  the  same  things?  It  is  hardly  worth 
while  sending  the  Minister  fiends  to  perdition  alone,  nolens  volens,  for  unbearable 
beastliness.  There  was  this  difference  between  their  Initchery  and  the  legal  mur- 
ders of  Protestant  and  Catholic,  called  martyrdoms,  namely :  that  theirs  were  acts  of 
violence  perpetrated  in  a  religious  craze  or  frenzy,  M'hile  the  others  were  the  result 
of  deliberate  legislation,  put  on  the  statute-book,  in  that  icy  sublimity  which  dresses 
itself  in  the  guise  of  human  and  divine  law.  But  history  will  mete  out  to  all 
these  parties  that  tardy  justice  which  will  be  honestly  accepted  by  all  in  due  time. 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE   REFORMA.TION-THE  GERMAN   BAPTISTS. 

THE  German  and  Swi.-^s  Kuforniation  preceded  tlie  Englisli  in  point  of  date,  all 
being  due  to  the  same  causes,  while  each  in  a  sense  stood  alone.  When 
"Wessel,  the  mystic,  died  Zwiiigli  was  a  boy  of  five  years,  Luther  of  six,  Erasmus 
was  a  man  of  twenty-two,  Eeuchlin  of  thirty-four  and  Melanethon  was  unborn. 
Luther  did  not  nail  his  theses  to  the  cathedral  door  at  Wittenberg  till  1517,  but 
the  Bohemian  Reformers  sent  a  delegation  to  Erasmus  at  Antwerp  as  early  as  1511, 
asking  him  to  point  out  any  errors  in  their  Confession  of  Faith,  but  he  found  none. 
Sebastian  Frank,  who  published  his  history  A.  D.  1531,  says:  'The  Pieards  in 
Bohemia  are  divided  into  two,  or  as  some  say,  into  three  parties,  the  large,  small, 
and  very  small,  who  hold  in  all  things  with  the  Anabaptists,  have  all  things  common, 
baptize  no  children,  and  do  not  believe  in  the  real  presence.'  So  far  from  finding 
the  origin  of  the  so-called  '  Anabaptist '  movement  in  the  lawless  extravagance  of 
Miinster,  1534^35,  it  is  seen  that  the  Swiss  history  of  the  Baptists  whicli  has  been 
given,  preceded  that  date,  and  a  similar  history  marks  their  movements  in  Bohemia. 
Addis  and  Arnold,  in  their  Catholic  Dictionai-y,  say  that  various  sects  repudiated  infant 
baptism  in  the  Middle  Ages,  and  they  trace  not  only  a  genetic  but  an  historical  con- 
nection between  these  and  the  Baptists,— agreeing  with  the  '  Encyclopedia  Britannica,' 
that  '  The  continuity  of  a  sect  is  to  be  traced  in  its  principles,  and  not  in  its  adherents.' 
MoKAViA.  After  Hubmej'er  fled  from  Zurich  in  1526,  he  made  his  way  to 
Nicholsburg  in  Moravia,  where  he  established  the  Baptist  cause.  This  became  the 
field  of  his  labor  and  the  churches  multiplied  rapidly,  partly  from  the  banished  of 
all  lands  and  partly  from  new  converts.  They  were  no  more  welcome  to  the  king 
and  emperor  there  than  elsewhere,  but  the  rulers  stood  in  fear  of  the  Turks  at  the 
time  ;  the  Hussites  were  passive,  yet  welcomed  the  Baptists  to  their  estates,  so  that 
they  could  preach  and  celebrate  the  ordinances,  and  they  had  peace.  Ulimann  had 
also  fled  from  Switzerland  to  Moravia,  but  in  1530,  he  returned  to  persuade  his 
Baptist  brethren  to  leave  their  Alpine  home  and  seek  freedon)  there  too.  Full  of 
hope,  many  gathered  their  little  property  and  started  on  this  long  pilgrimage,  but 
were  waylaid  at  Waldsee,  and  because  they  would  not  renounce  their  principles, 
Ulimann  and  the  men  were  beheaded,  while  the  women  were  drowned.  The  ques- 
tion concerning  the  use  of  the  sword  soon  divided  the  Moravian  Baptists,  Ilubmeyer 
believing  in  its  civil  use,  but  a  party  of  non-resistants  withdrew  to  Austerlitz  in 
152S.     That  party  subdivided  in   1531,  when  lleuhlin,  another  Swiss  Baptist,  took 


380  THE  MOUAVIAN  BAPTISTS. 

ii  company  of  one  hundred  ami  fifty  to  Ansjutz,  on  the  jjlea  that  they  had  not  suffi- 
cient freedom  at  Austerlitz  in  puMic  .-pfaidni;-,  tli:it  their  brethren  intermarried 
witli  unbelievers  and  that  they  were  not  trcatiMJ  with  cM|uality.  This  party  soon 
fell  into  -vain  jan,i;liii-s;  and  Krublin  was  ,_-\clu<lcd  for  withholding  from  the 
co!ijnion  funds.'  Jacob  llutcr,  however,  soon  restored  liarniony  by  nieaus  of  a 
coninioii  constitution,  and  his  followers  were  known  as  the  liuterites. 

The  l!u]itists  increased  to  sixty  congi-egations  in  twenty  years,  each  numbering 
several  hundreds;  besides,  many  settled  in  Hungary  and  Transylvania  to  a\oid  per- 
secution.^ By  vote  of  the  people,  each  congregation  chose  its  pastor  and  deacons.^ 
Their  pastors  were  good  Bible  students,  and  their  people  wci'c  fcmd  of  sacred  song, 
some  of  their  hymns  numbering  forty-five  verses  each  ;  for  they  jiut  an  exhortation, 
a  Bible  story  or  the  liistory  of  a  martyr  into  rhyme.  They  formed  themselves  into 
a  community  under  the  direction  of  one  head,  and  divided  into  households ;  each 
with  '  ministers  of  the  word '  and  '  ministers  of  need,'  and  the  whole  fraternity 
labored.  They  taught  their  children  in  a  common  school,  and  when  old  enough 
put  them  to  a  trade.  Marriage  was  restricted  to  their  own  sect,  and  their  joint 
earnings  went  into  a  connnon  treasury,  out  of  which  all  were  supported.  De 
Schweinitz,  a  little  later  than  tlie  middle  of  the  century,  says  of  them : 

'In  Moravia  there  were  many  Anabaptists.  .  .  .  This  sect,  which  numbered 
seventy  communities  in  Moravia,  was  divided  into  three  factions;  the  communists, 
who  kept  up  a  community  of  goods,  tlie  Gabrielites,  and  the  Sabbatarians.  It  is 
said  of  the  Anabajjtists,  that  they  were  the  best  farmers,  raised  the  best  cattle,  had 
the  best  vineyards,  brewed  the  best  beer,  owned  the  best  flour  mills,  and  engaged 
on  a  large  scale  in  almost  every  kind  of  trade  known  in  their  day.'  He  further  says 
that  in  spite  of  frequent  persecutions  they  prospered.  '  Their  industrial  pursuits, 
for  which  tliey  became  celebrated,  won  the  good-will  of  powerful  families  among 
the  nobility;  and  when  Maximilian  e\pi'(-->e<l  his  surprise  that  they  had  not  been 
extirpated  in  his  father's  time  and  (•a^ting  his  tolerance  to  the  winds,  proposed  to 
drive  them  out  of  the  country,  the  Upper  House  of  the  Diet  protested  against  such 
a  measure  as  destructive  to  the  interests  of  the  kingdom.  Hence  they  were  allowed 
to  remain,  but  loaded  with  taxes.'  *  Keller  says :  '"in  Moravia,  where  the  Baptists 
for  a  long  time  found  influential  protectors,  persecution  begun  in  1628.  At  Easter, 
in  Briinn",  Thomas  Waldhausen,  witli  two  associates,  was  burned,  and  at  Znaym  and 
Olmutz  several  of  the  leaders  were  put  to  death.  Also  at  Bruck,  in  Steinmark, 
nine  men  were  beheaded  and  three  women  were  drowned.'^ 

Erhard  tells  of  a  curious  Catholic,  who  visited  them  and  evidently  '  cast  a  wish- 
ful eye'  u})OU  their  full  cheer.''     He  complained  : 

'  They  will  not  have  any  poor  among  them,  the  sisters  dress  like  the  nobility  in 
silk  and  satin,  though  they  are  only  waiters'  and  porters'  wives.  They  have  no  lack 
of  grain,  but  gather  every  year  enough  for  seven.  They  have  plenty  of  ducats  and 
gold  crowns,  so  that  they  paid  one  bill  of  twenty -two  hundred  gulden.  Their  tables 
are  loaded  with  hare,  fish,  fowl,  nor  do  they  lack  good  Holland  cheese.  They  ride 
in  beautiful  wagons  and  on  line  horses.  Their  stalls  arc  filled  with  fat  cattle,  swine 
and  sheep.  Tliey  monopolize  all  the  trades,  and  it  looks  as  though  they  would  soon 
buy  out  the  lords.' 


TiiHii!  nnnrv  and  simi'i.icity.  38 1 

Good  for  tlie  •  Aiialiaptists,'  for  once  thuy  cviiu-ud  iiraiid  coininon  suiisc,  and 
none  the  less  for  keeping  tliat  liungry  monk  out,  even  if  his  eyes  did  water.  Still, 
they  were  kind,  and  when  famine  passed  over  the  land  they  had  enough  and  much 
to  spare  for  tiicir  iuMghlmrs.  Tliun  tiieir  aliundance  made  Moravia  a  sort  of 
'  Proinisetl  Land"  fur  tiiuir  pinclied  lirftluvn  who  came  flocking  to  them  from  other 
countries,  for  ])read  and  iihcrty.  Whc-n  tlioc  gaunt  wretches  arrived  they  said  : 
'Brother,  it  is  ours  i)y  (iod's  gift.  In  your  pt)verty  we  will  give  you  and  your  little 
ones  food  and  clothes,  shelter  and  schools.'  And  they  had  many  such  calls,  as  in  one 
year  sixteen  hundred  Baptist  emigrants  left  Switzerland  and  Bavaria  for  Moravia. 
Tlieir  manner  of  life  was  very  frugal,  they  used  few  words,  were  vehement  in  dis- 
putation, and  willing  to  die,  but  not  to  yield.'  They  called  themselves  'Apostolical ; ' 
and  elected  their  general  superintendent,  who  instructed  thorn  in  the  rules  of  faith 
and  life,  and  prayed  with  them  every  morning  before  they  went  to  woik.  A 
quarter  of  an  hour  before  eating  they  covered  their  faces  with  their  hands  in  medi- 
tation. Their  dress  was  plain  and  dark,  and  they  conversed  much  on  (he  future.' 
Erliard,  an  eye-witness,  wrote  in  Latin  rhyme:  'Would  that  Diogenes  might  see 
your  baptism  and  make  sport  of  your  washings.  Vou  will  .sometime  be  called 
Trito-Baptists,  when  you  arc  inuncrsi-d  in  tlie  Stygian  lake.'  This  evidently  alludes 
to  tlicir  method  of  baptizing  believers,  for  they  denounced  infant  baiitism  severely. 
When  Zeiler  visited  them  long  afterwards,  1618,  he  reported  them  as  still  living 
after  the  same  simple  order,  and  says  that  they  numbered  .seventy  thousand.  His 
account  of  their  coninumioii  is  very  interesting. 

'  In  summer,  they  would  gather  at  some  central  point  to  "  break  bread,"  as  they 
called  the  communion.  Long  tables  were  arranged  with  seats  for  the  company. 
The  day  preceding,  preparatory  sermons  were  preached,  with  another  early  on  the 
day  of  the  celebration.  After  reading  the  words  of  the  institution  and  a  prayer,  a 
slice  of  a  large  loaf  of  bread  was  handed  to  the  presiding  preacher,  in  this  case  one 
of  the  nobility,  he  broke  off  a  piece  and  passed  the  rest  to  his  neighbor,  and  so  on 
from  table  to  table.  Slice  after  slice  was  broken  until  every  one  hacl  taken  a  morsel. 
In  like  manner  the  wine  was  poured  out  of  large  vessels  into  smaller  ones  and 
passed  around." 

When  we  bear  in  mind  the  constantly  recurring  outbursts  of  persecution,  their 
steady  increase  seems  remarkable.  They  were  deprived  of  Hubmeyer,  their  great 
leader,  in  1528,  seven  years  before  the  Miinster  uproar.  The  Austrians  imprisoned 
him  at  Vienna,  where  Faber  and  Beck  tried  earnestly  to  lead  him  back  into  the  fold 
of  Rome,  but  he  would  not  yield  a  hair's-breadth  and  was  burnt,  March  10th.  Three 
days  after,  his  wife  was  thrown  from  a  bridge  into  the  Danube  with  a  heavy  stone 
around  her  neck,  and  drowned.  He  was  a  great  character  and  a  prolilic  author  of 
large  literary  ability.  His  motto,  '  Truth  is  immortal,'  gives  the  key-note  to  his 
high,  bold  and  logical  spirit.  His  full  mind  overflowed  with  original  thought, 
delighting  in  that  keen  insight  which  eagerly  hails  the  truth  of  God  without  gloss 
as  supreme.     His  translations  of  the  (iospcls,  E])istles  to  the  Romans  and  Corinth- 


382  lll'llMKrEll's   AUdl'MKNT. 

iiiiis,  with  his  twenty-toiir  wm-ks,  ;iiv  |ii-.,liil.itc(l  in  the  Index  ;it  Rome,  altliouirli  lie 
WMs  ,.iic  ,.[  th.-  iii..>t  puix-  an.l  ainiahlu  iiirii  ,,f  hi^  a-v.  llcr/o-  in  >|,eakiljg-  of  liis 
great  controversy  witli  CEeohunpailius,  remarks :  '  From  what  has  come  down  to  us 
concerning  the  discussion,  the  claim  (of  victory)  is  not  a  matter  of  surprise.  The 
only  direct  consequence  of  the  whole  affair  was  to  confirm  the  Anabaptists  in  their 
position.'^"  Here  is  a  specimen  of  his  aijility.  shown  in  his  collo(piy  with  the  great 
professor  at  Basel : 

CEeolaniiiadius.  '  It  is  ridiculous  to  say  the  Christian  Church  has  hem  in  the 
wrong  so  many  centuries.'  Hubmeyer.  '  That  is  a  loose  argument,  comni(.)nly  used 
by  the  godless.  You  must  be  hard  pushed  to  brandish  this  sword  of  straw.  If  it 
had  been  sharp  it  would  have  pierced  you  long  ago,  when  handled  by  the  papists.' 
CE.  '  It  has  been  the  custom  of  Mother  Church  to  baptize  infants.'  H.  '  Yes,  of 
the  papal,  but  not  of  the  Christian  Mother  Church.  Not  of  the  Father  of  the 
Church,  who  is  in  heaven,  or  he  would  have  his  Son  plant  it.'  CE.  '  What  need  is 
there  of  separation  on  account  of  water  ? '  H.  '  It  is  not  a  matter  of  water,  but  of 
the  high  command  and  baptism  of  Christ.  Water  is  not  Iwptism ! '  (E.  '  I  will 
23rove  my  statement  out  of  Exodus.'  H.  Baptism  is  a  ceremony  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament. I  demand  a  text  witli  which  you  support  infant  baptism  out  of  the  New 
Testament.'  Another  asked,  '  Whether  Christ  did  not  entitle  those  to  baptism  who 
were  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.'  Hubmeyer  answered  :  '  Tell  me,  were  the  infants 
our  Lord  loved,  embraced,  and  l)lessed,  preinously  h^-^Wz^^  or  not  ?  If  yes;  you 
throw  away  your  argument  against  those  who  keep  them  back  from  baptism.  If 
no;  am  I  to  understand  that  Clni^t  calls,  embraces  and  loves  unbaptized  children? 
What  need  have  they,  then,  of  baptism  ; " 

He  had  met  Zwingli  much  in  the  same  way,  when  the  Reformer  said :  '  The 
child  is  born  of  Christian  parents.'  H.  '  What  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh.' 
Z.  '  All  Judea  came  to  John  to  be  baptized,  surely  there  were  infants  in  Judea.' 
H.  '  Then  Annas,  Caiaphas,  Pilate  and  Herod  came,  too,  1  suppose.'  Z.  '  There 
are  many  things  besides  infant  baptism,  not  expressly  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  not 
against  God.'  H.  'Be  still,  Zwingli,  or  the  Catholic,  Faber,  will  hear  you.  That 
is  what  he  said  to  you,  but  you  demanded  a  plain  j^assage  from  him.'  Z.  'Paul 
says  he  baptized  the  household  of  Stephanus.  Is  it  not  credible  that  children  M-ere 
in  that  household  ? '  H.  '  That  is  credible  which  can  be  proved  by  the  word  of 
God.  Paul  was  glad  that  he  had  baptized  no  more  than  this  household,  lest  they 
should  hoast.  Now  infants  would  not  trouble  the  Apostle  in  that  way.'  Zwingli 
might  well  'be  still.' 

Ilubmeyer's  death  scattered  his  flock  to  the  forests  and  mountains,  and  they 
were  scarcely  settled  again  when  a  second  storm  burst  upon  them,  in  1.535.  But 
Huter  became  a  leader,  and  soon  displayed  great  independence  of  mind,  with 
large  resources.  He  did  not  believe  in  the  use  of  the  sword,  but  was  very 
forceful  with  the  pen.  His  letter  to  the  Governor  of  Moravia  is  a  marvel  of 
intelligence,  manliness  and  reason,  indicating  one  of  those  strong  minds  which 
rise  above  passion  into  the  calm  and  broad  penetration  of  right  and  honor.  King 
Ferdinand  had  slaughtered  the  Baptists  without  mercy,  destroyed  their  prop- 
erty and  driven  them  into  exile,  and  now  the  remnant  were  ordered  to  leave 
the  land.  But  so  faithful,  fearless,  kind  and  statesmanlike  was  Huter's  demand 
for    human  rights    that    its    scope    and    spirit    ctmimanded   the    conscience  of   the 


A  CA  r/roLia  .s/.ui'ih'roy.  383 

persecutor,  wlio  revoked  liis  cruel  decree  to  extirpate  them,  a  tiling  scarcely 
known  before  in  lii>t(>rv.  The  i-esult  was  that  they  returned  to  their  homes 
and  had  rest  for  twelve  years;  then  for  seven  years  Ferdinand  hounded  them  again, 
when  their  landlords  were  threatened  with  royal  displeasure  if  one  was  found 
on  their  estates,  and  after  a  time  they  were  obliged  to  fly  to  Hungary.  Soon, 
however,  the  gallnws  were  erected  before  tlieir  own  doors;  their  new  home  to- 
gether with  Poland  and  Wallacliia  rejected  tliem.  and  they  sought  refuge  again 
in  Moravia,  but  gave  up  the  attempt  to  keep  together  and  liid  in  woods  and  caves 
till  1554. 

When  the  ferocity  of  their  foes  abated  they  prospered  again  in  Moravia  for 
nearly  fifty  years,  and  became  very  numerous,  as  we  have  seen.  As  early  as  1528 
two  thousand  had  joined  them  from  Silesia  through  the  influence  of  Gabriel  of 
Scherding,  and  Hast  says  that  by  152(5  infant  baptisin  was  almost  obsolete  in 
Silesia. "  In  1530  there  were  about  fifty  Baptist  churches,  ranging  from  four  to 
six  hundred  attendants  each  and  stretching  from  the  Eifel  to  Moravia.  '-  After 
half  a  century's  quiet  Rudolph  II.  made  another  savage  attempt  to  extirpate  them. 
He  was  a  descendant  of  Ferdinand,  inherited  his  hatred  of  the  Baptists,  and  flned 
any  one  of  his  subjects  five  hundred  ducats  who  fostered  them.  In  1622  nearly 
forty  congregations  of  them  were  driven  out  of  Moravia  into  Hungary  and  Tran- 
sylvania." For  w^hati!  In  the  height  of  their  prosperity,  1589,  Christopher 
Erhard,  a  Catholic,  had  spent  some  time  with  them  and  published  his  observations 
in  a  book.  He  says  that  the  devil  helped  them  to  repeat  long  passages  from  the 
Bible,  quoting  chapter  and  verse ;  that  they  regarded  baptism  as  the  covenant  of  a 
good  conscience  and  the  Supper  as  a  memorial  of  Christ's  death.  He  thought, 
however,  that  they  were  armed,  because  some  said  that  they  shot  rabbits  and  ducks, 
and  Kelner,  of  Austerlitz,  had  swords  hanging  over  his  bed.  Then  he  tells  this 
story  to  prove  their  pugnacity  : 

'They  say  that  they  do  not  strike,  hut  let  any  one  try  and  see.  He  will  prove 
by  his  own  skin  whether  they  smite  or  not.  The  lioly  David  wrote  concerning  them  : 
"  He  toucheth  the  hills  and  they  smoke."  One  day  I  spoke  to  one  of  them,  and  called 
him  an  Anabaptist.  He  resented  the  name,  and  when  I  proceeded  to  justify  the 
appellation,  he  proceeded  suddenly  to  lay  a  stick  five  times,  with  all  his  might,  upon 
my  back,  and  might  have  seriously  harmed  me.  When  I  met  another  and  told  him 
the  insult  I  had  received,  he  repeated  the  same  thing.  These  are  the  men  that  never 
use  the  stick.'  ^* 

If  Sliakespear  had  called  out  this  verdant  gentleman  in  'Mucli  Ado  about 
Nothing,'  he  would  probably  have  introduced  him  as  he  did  Dogberry  :  '  ()  that  he 
were  here  to  write  me  down  an  ass.  But,  masters,  remember  that  I  am  an  ass ; 
though  I  be  not  written  down,  yet  forget  not  that  I  am  an  ass.'  He  was  unwise  to 
call  his  Baptist  brethren  nicknames,  when  they  carried  sticks. 

All  kiiuls  of  evil  reports  concerning  the  Moravian  Baptists  were  sent  back  to 
Bavaria,  but  despite  these  a  constant  stream   of  enn'gration  flowed  thither ;  and  so 


absolute  was  tlie  satisfaction  ationied  by  thi;  new  faith  that  few  were  terrified  into 
recantation.'^  By  great  judiciousness  the  many  companies  of  women  and  cliiklren 
who  crossed  tlie  borders  completely  eluded  the  officers  of  the  law,  traveling  at  night 
in  disguise  and  in  the  by-ways;  thus  they  foiled  their  enemies.  Prince  William  V. 
offered  a  reward  of  forty  gulden  for  every  Bai)tist  cajitured,  with  sixty  extra  for  a 
mis.si(iii;ir\-.  "■'  'Die  missionaries  lived  in  ileiis  and  caves,  as  did  David  whoa  he  was 
hunted  by  Snul,  and  the  gatherings  of  the  penplu  were  as  secret  as  those  of  the 
Covenanters  ill  tlie  Highlands  of  Scotland.  As  early  as  1547  the  Iluterites  had 
published  what  tliey  called  u  >  Reckoning  of  their  Faith,'  fruiii  the  pen  of  Peter 
Keidemann.  The  ,leMiits  attempted  to  bint  this  Ixiok  out  of  exisieiice.  and  nearly 
succeeded.  No  copy  is  known  to  remain  of  tlie  first  edition,  and  but  two  of  the 
second ;  one  of  which  is  in  the  Baptist  Seminary  at  Morgan  Park,  Illinois.  Their 
enemies  distributed  the  so-called  '  Nicholsburg  Articles '  through  Europe  as  their 
doctrinal  standard,  which  charged  various  heresies  upon  them.  But  this  '  Eeckon- 
ing,' as  well  as  the  investigations  of  Cornelius,  shows  that  these  'Articles'  are  a 
forgery,  most  probably  made  u))  by  an  inquisitor.  "  Scultetus  says  that  the  Iluter- 
ites were  still  in  Moravia  in   ITl^^. 

The  pen  was  wielded  against  them  as  well  as  the  sword,  and  in  all  its  power. 
In  152S  Bislio]i  Fabri  published  six  serjiions  ugainst  them  at  Pi'ague.  He  stoops 
to  tantalize  them  with  their  forced  wanderings,  as  evil  spirits  seeking  rest  and 
finding  none;  places  tlk'Hi  in  roiiiiKiny  with  Herod  for  shutting  infants  out  of 
heaven  by  refusing  baptism  to  them,  which  he  calls  the  luunler  of  the  innocents. 
As  to  confessing  Christ  before  baptism,  lie  demanded  with  ^i^\v\nuh\  r.r  cufhedra : 
'What  will  you  do  with  mutes?  And  where  do  the  Sci-iptuivs  say  that  a  babe  shall 
confess?  You  say  that  preaching  goes  before  ba|)tisni  :  well,  we  always  preach 
before  we  baptize  an  infant.  If  you  are  so  literal  yon  have  no  right  to  baptize 
any  one  until  you  have  gone  into  all  the  world.'  i)i'.  Leopold  Dick  published  a 
tractate  against  them  in  1531.  He  took  ground  that  '  it  is  certain  the  Apostles 
always  baptized  infants,'  because  '  it  cannot  be  shown  that  they  did  not  baptize 
them,' — in  substance  Luther's  argument.  In  the  same  way  he  could  as  easily  have 
proved  that  they  gave  them  the  Supper  after  they  were  circumcised.  '  Wolves, 
he  says,  'ought  to  be  killed,  and  the  Anabaptists  are  wolves."  iJnllinger,  the  suc- 
cessor of  Zwingli,  launched  a  volume  against  them  full  of  hard  wonls  and  weak 
arguments.  He  complains  of  them  bitterly  to  this  effect :  They  say  such  good  and 
pious  things  of  God,  that  they  must  be  bad — they  praise  God  when  they  are  mis- 
treated, and  joyfully  die  for  their  religion,  and  there  must  be  something  wrong 
about  such  people, — the  reason  why  they  withdraw  from  others  is  that  they  will  not 
tolerate  wicked  folk  in  their  fellowship,  and,  in  fact,  say  that  it  is  vain  to  demand 
that  people  forsake  sin  and  then  draw  no  line  between  saint  and  sinner ;  then 
he  insists  that  doctrine  is  more  than  baptism,  although  he  confesses  that  baptism  is 
doctrine.     He  is  grieved  because  their   traveling  preachers  will  go  to  people  and 


STUASBUHO.  38S 

read  tlie  New  TcstiiTiient  and  keep  up  tliat  practice,  too,  until  they  are  baptized ; 
that  they  always  carry  books  with  them,  even  when  they  labor  at  cutting  spoons 
and  twisting  baskets — nay,  tlicy  arm  their  converts  with  power  to  dispute  out  of 
the  New  Testament  with  the  regular  clergy,  and  meet  in  barns  and  forests  instead 
of  going  where  infant  baptism  is  defended  ;  and  what  is  quite  as  bad,  they  actually 
refuse  interest  for  loans  of  money,  ;ind  tliink  slavery  as  bad  as  usury.  After  calling 
them  most  of  the  harsh  names  wliich  the  liberal  vocabulary  of  his  day  furnished, 
he  appeals  to  them  affectionately  to  desist.  The  essence  of  his  appeal  is  this : 
Dearly  beloved  Anabaptist  brethren,  do  not  divide  our  State  churches  after  this 
fasliion.  Let  those  remain  Christians  whom  Clirist  has  not  positively  rejected. 
You  want  to  be  called  Christians,  and  are  very  devout  Christians.  Why  do  you 
act  so  ?  You  ought  to  know  better.  And  if  you  will  not  learn  better,  you  deserve 
to  be  burnt.     Light  the  fagots  for  them,  brethren. 

Returning  now  to  the  Rhine,  we  find  there,  that,  when  the  Baptists  were  driven 
over  the  borders  of  Switzerland,  they  made  their  way  into  Baden,  JJavaria  and 
Austria,  where,  as  Uhlhorn  expresses  it,  they  propagated  their  tenets  'by  itin- 
erant missionaries,'  and  great  success  attended  them  at  Strasburg,  Nurnberg  and 
Augsburg. 

Strasbueg.  This  free  imperial  city  was  the  Wittenberg  of  the  South  and  a 
Ba|)tist  stronghold.  It  was  famous  for  its  wealth,  refinement  and  tolerance,  so  that 
persecution  filled  it  with  fugitives  from  every  quarter,  for  its  magistrates  leaned 
toward  liberty  of  conscience.  Bucer,  Zell  and  Capito  were  the  three  great  Reformed 
preachers  there.  Bucer  wished  to  adopt  vigorous  measures  against  heretics,  but  his 
coadjutors  were  reluctant,  and  for  once  suppression  was  the  unpopular  side.  He 
preached  to  small  audiences,  his  books  were  little  read,  the  people  favored  the  Bap- 
tists, and  he  demanded  a  disputation.  Capito  entertained  them  at  his  hospitable 
home,  and  spoke  of  their  godliness  in  the  highest  terms,  so  highly,  indeed,  that 
Zwingli  and  CEcolampadius,  in  1528,  thought  that  he  had  become  one  of  them.'* 
He  never  rejected  infant  baptism,  however,  but  in  1524  he  wrote  to  Zwingli  that 
he  was  undecided  on  the  subject.  He  utterly  rejected  the  notion  that  baptism  was 
a  channel  of  grace,  for  unless  the  condition  of  heart  corresponded  with  the  signif- 
icance of  the  rite  it  becomes  a  false  sign.  He  had  published  his  '  ('onimuntary  on 
Ilosea,'  in  1528,  in  which  he  said  of  the  Bai)tists: 

'  (treat  good  comes  to  all  the  Churches  by  their  appearance.  Tlie  people  are 
more  prudent,  the  preachers  more  watchful,  all  offices  are  better  filled.  Those 
wlio,  in  tlie  face  of  the  hardest  tyranny,  defend  Anabaptism  in  connection  with 
the  confession  of  Christ,  err,  if  they  err,  without  bad  intention,  for  they  make  use 
of  rcbaptism  not  as  a  means  of  dividing  tlie  Churches,  but  as  a  sign  that  they  believe 
the  Word  of  the  kingdom  and  are  ready  to  lay  down  their  lives  for  their  Redeemer. 
We  should,  however,  pray  that  the  Lord  would  fill  with  the  knowledge  of  his  name 
these  servants  of  (tikI,  witnesses  of  Christ,  and  our  dearest  brothers;  though  I  do 
not  think  less  of  them  if  they  are  weak  in  this  point.' 
26 


386  ciiiKF  ciTJ'/.Kys  (•(L\vi':irri:i>. 

AVlicn  tlic  Austriiin  i:(,v(Tniii<-iit  went  to  liiitrlicriiii;-  tlic  I!;ipt,ists  at  Rotliciibui-ir. 
ill  ir.L'T,  Capih.  plead  tlicir  caiiM'  tliiis.  witli  his  pen: 

'In  regard  to  l)aptisiii,  iiKi-i-iiary.  ;iiid  oatlis,  our  dear  brothers  and  Ijrave  con- 
fessors of  the  trutli  may  liax'e  (Ti'eil  swrncwhat ;  but  in  other  matters,  they  are  glo- 
rious witnesses  of  the  truth  and  ve>SLls  of  honor,  and  this  error  does  not  affect tlieir 
salvation,  for  God  knows  his  own.  Of  the  elect,  surely  are  these  prisoners,  for 
they  have  the  fear  of  God,  and  their  very  zeal  for  his  honor  has  led  them  to  this 
error.  In  chief  matters  of  faith  and  essential  points,  they  do  not  err.  Do  not, 
therefore,  punish  them,  but  rather  instruct  them.'  '" 

The  first  so-called  rebaptisni  at  Strasburg  was  administeivd  l)y  Jacob  (4ross,  a 
disciple  of  Ilubmeyer,  in  1520.  lie  had  lied  from  Waldshut  in  C(ini]>any  with 
Reublin,  the  man  who  at  Basel  joined  a  Eomish  procession  following  a  ivlic  and 
holding  up  a  Bible  above  his  head,  cried :  '  This  is  the  only  true  relic,  the  rest  are 
dead  men's  bones.'  Many  were  converted  at  Strasburg,  and  not  a  few  of  the  most 
learned  and  distinguished  citizens.  Amongst  them  was  Otto  Bi-unfels,  who  was 
first  a  monk,  then  a  teacher  and  a  physician.  He  was  the  publisher  of  the  works 
of  Wickliff  and  IIuss,  and  Linnseus  himself  calls  liim  'the  father  of  botany.'-" 
Lucas  Hackfurt,  the  Superintendent  of  Charities ;  Fridoliii  Meyer,  the  Notary ; 
John  Schwebel,  tlie  teacher ;  Jacob  Vielfeldt,  a  noted  seholai-,  and  Paul  Volzius,  to 
whom  Erasnms  dedicated  his  '  Enchiridion  '  and  willed  one  hundred  gulden,  whose 
piety  equalled  his  learning.  But  the  most  marked  of  them  all  was  Pilgi-am  Mar- 
beck,  a  noted  civil  engineer  from  the  Tyrol.  lie  built  aqueducts  about  the  city  and 
constructed  a  M^ood-slide,  by  which  timber  was  brought  to  market  frons  distant 
mountains,  which  timber  long  bore  the  name  of  '  Pilgram-wood.'  He  had  been 
driven  from  the  Catholic  Tyrol  for  conscience'  sake,  to  stand  at  the  head  of  the 
Baptists  in  a  Protestant  city,  and  he  boldly  attacked  the  errors  of  the  Reformers. 
He  reached  Strasburg  in  1530,  and  in  1531  published  two  books  advocating  Baptist 
views.  The  sale  and  reading  of  these  books  were  immediately  forbidden,  and  he 
was  summoned  before  the  Council.  Before  that  body,  he  said :  '  This  matter  is  sub- 
ject to  no  human  tribunal,  though  I  gladly  speak  of  it  before  all  Christians.'  He 
begged  the  Council  not  to  regard  the  person  of  any  one  for  his  religion,  but  to 
judge  imjjartially.  He  said :  '  It  is  baptism,  everywhere  misused,  that  involves  us 
in  hate.  I  have  received  it  as  the  sign  of  an  obedient  faith,  looking  not  at  the 
water  but  at  God's  command.'  He  charges  the  preachers  witli  ciying  out  against 
the  Baptists  without  warrant  of  Scripture,  for  there  is  not  one  letter  there  in  favor 
of  infant  baptism,  and  so,  they  sought  to  compel  people  thi'ough  infant  baptism  to 
enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  He  denied  that  the  magistrates  had  the  right  to  inter- 
fere with  the  kingdom  of  God,  for  that  in  matters  of  faith  there  is  no  judge 
invoked  but  Jehovah.  Bucer  showed  how  the  aid  of  the  magistrate  had  been 
sought.  Marbeck  replied :  '  He  who  will  not  be  taught  by  the  Word,  let  him  go  to 
the  magistrate.'  But,  December  ISth,  1531,  the  Council  banished  him.  He  said  : 
'  I  have  always  submitted  to  the  ordinances  of  the  magistrates,  and  will  yield  to  this 


HELIGIOUS  LIIiEHTY  DKFEXDED.  387 

decision,  but  if  in  future  tlic  Spirit  nf  (ioij  sIk.uIi!  lead  nie  back,  I  will  make  no 
promises."  lie  tiicn  asked  for  tluve  or  four  days  to  get  ready.  He  thanked  the 
magistrates  that  tliey  had  saved  the  city  from  tiic  stain  of  liis  blood,  and  exhorted 
them  not  to  oppress  the  consciences  of  those  who  had  nowhere  in  the  world  to  go 
for  protection,  and  had  fled  to  them  for  shelter.  After  wandering  all  through  Ger- 
many, lie  died  at  Augsl)urg. 

iS'icholas  Prugner,  an  able  astronomer,  was  strongly  suspected  of  being  a  Bap- 
tist, yet  he  never  fully  identiiied  himself  with  them.  Eckard  Trubel,  a  grand  old 
knight,  sent  out  his  ringing  sentiments  from  his  castle.  To  his  brethren  he  said : 
'Great  is  your  reward  if  you  are  faithful,  but  all  divine  and  human  rights  of 
heathen  and  Christians  forbid  the  execution  of  any  one,  be  he  Jew,  Turk,  heathen 
or  Christian,  (ju  account  of  his  faith.'  This  sentiment  is  worthy  of  use  as  the  te.xt  to 
tiie  '  Bloody  Tenet,"  and  the;  key-note  to  American  lieligious  Liberty.  This  he 
backed  by  such  advanced  and  statesmanlike  utterances  as  these: 

'He  who  has  a  good  conscience,  by  the  word  of  God,  should  not  allow  it  to 
be  broken  by  human  reason  and  opinion,  but  remain  steadfast.  It  is  better  and 
easier  to  go  to  prison  oi-  hang  on  a  tree  with  a  good  conscience,  than  to  liv^e  with  a 
doubtful,  restless  conscience,  even  in  the  glory  of  King  Solomon.  Man's  hands 
make  short  work  of  it,  but  God  gives  eternity.  The  government  has  no  power  to 
use  force  with  consciences.' 

Denk  came  to  Strasburg  in  1526,  and  rendered  great  service  there.  And  in 
1528,  Jacob  Kautz,  who  had  been  the  chief  Lutheran  pastor  at  Worms,  but  had 
become  a  leading  Baptist,  was  banished  thence  and  came  to  Strasburg.  In  1529  he 
was  cast  into  prison  for  the  bold  advocacy  of  his  principles  and  united  with  Reublin, 
his  fellow-prisoner,  in  calling  the  Reformers :  '  Unskilled  carpenters,  who  tear  down 
much,  but  are  unable  to  put  any  thing  together.'  In  the  appeal  of  the  sufferers  from 
their  dark  prison,  they  say : 

'  We  have  told  others  of  the  way  of  salvation  through  Christ,  and  those  who  sur- 
rendered themselves  to  God  we  have  at  their  own  request  ba|ili/,eil,  nut  of  ourselves, 
but  according  to  the  strict  command  of  Christ.  Baptism  i~,  ihe  irgistering  of 
believers  in  "the  eternal  Church  of  God.  It  must  not  lie  refused  to  those  who 
have  heard  the  word  of  repentance  and  yielded  to  it  in  their  heart.  Faith  confessed 
is  wine,  and  baptism  is  the  sign  hung  out  to  show  that  wine  is  within.  What  a  thing 
is  this,  to  hang  out  a  sign  while  the  wine  is  still  in  the  grape  on  the  vine,  where  it  may 
be  dried  up.'  They  mean,  as  in  the  case  of  an  infant  baptized  on  another's  faith 
for  the  future,  that  it  may  fail,  as  the  promised  wine  may  blight  while  in  the  grape 
on  the  vine.  Then  they  say :  '  Infant  baptism  is  not  according  to  the  command 
of  Christ,  for  no  one  can  tell  by  it  who  is  Esau  antl  who  is  Jacob,  a  believer  or 
an  unbeliever.' 

In  process  of  time  they  were  taken  from  the  Tower  and  banished,  and  in  1532 
Kautz  asked  permission  to  return  to  Strasburg,  but  was  refused.  Reublin  went  to 
Moravia.  For  a  long  time  severity  failed  to  dislodge  the  Baptists  in  Strasburg. 
Bucer,  in  writing  to  Blaurer,  1531,  said  :  'They  cause  me  infinite  trouble.'      In  the 


388  A  UOSnURG. 

next  year  he  velieniently  congratulates  liini  upon  liis  bloody  triumph  over  them  at 
Constance,  and  expresses  the  hope  that  necessity  may  comjael  the  Senate  at  Stras- 
burg  to  move  more  heartily  in  this  matter.  And  still,  the  following  year,  he  com- 
plains :  '  We  will  lose  our  Church  ami  coiuinonwcalth,  by  preposterous  and  impious 
clemency  to  the  sectaries.  They  say,  Strasburg  will  cease  to  be  a  free  city  if  vio- 
lence is  done  to  conscience.  But  the  sects  are  so  increasing,  necessity  will  change 
the  mind  of  the  Senate.  Meanwhile,  popular  hatred  is  concentrated  on  Pledio  and 
me.'  Again,  he  calls  this  clemency  'the  sin  of  the  Senate,'  until  it  finally  yielded 
to  his  entreaties  and  drove  the  Baptists  from  the  city,  after  eight  days'  warning,  in 
1 534.  In  1535  the  magistrates  ordered  that,  '  For  the  sake  of  Christian  unity  and 
love,'  nobody  should  thereafter  shelter,  feed  or  assist  any  '  Anabaptist,'  but  every 
one,  old  and  young,  who  hears  of  one  anywhere  shall  at  once  report  the  same  to  the 
authorities.  Moreover,  no  child  was  to  go  more  than  six  weeks  without  baptism,  or 
punishment  should  follow.  Yet,  this  did  not  work  a  perfect  cure,  and  in  1538  the 
Senate  said : 

'  We  have  not  desired  to  take  tlie  lives  of  these  sectaries,  as  we  were  authorized 
and  commanded  by  imperial  law  to  do  ;  l)ut  hereafter,  those  who  return  after  a  sec- 
ond banishment  shall  lose  a  linger,  be  branded  in  the  cheek,  or  put  in  the  neck-iron; 
and  if  any  return  the  third  time,  they  shall  be  drowned.  We  do  this,  not  to  make  men 
believe  as  we  do.     It  is  not  a  matter  of  faith,  but  to  prevent  division  in  the  Church.' 

Yet,  the  axe,  the  lirandingiron,  the  river,  did  not  daunt  Bajitist  consciences, 
the  heretics  remained  and  increased  in  Strasburg,  just  as  if  they  had  not  been 
forbidden. 

AuGBBUEG  was  the  head-(|uarters  of  Baptists  in  Southern  Germany.  It  was  a 
rich  city  with  a  large  laboring  class,  whose  chief  comfort  S])rang  from  the  Gospel. 
Dr.  Osgood  writes  that  in  1527  the  Bajitist  church  there  numbered  800  members.^' 
When  Hetzer  was  a  young  man  he  gathered  the  first  company  of  Baptists  there, 
1524-.  After  him  John  Denk  became  their  leader.^  Uhlhorn  speaks  of  him  as 
intellectual,  of  elegant  manners,  classical  culture  and  profound  nature.  He  was 
born  in  Bavaria,  near  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  studied  at  Basel.  He 
graduated  a  first-class  Latin,  Greek  and  Hebrew  scholar.  For  a  time  he  acted  as 
proof-reader  to  two  publishers  in  Basel  and  attended  the  lectures  of  CEcolampadius, 
who  procured  for  him  the  position  of  principal  in  St.  Sebald's  school,  Niirnberg, 
the  German  center  of  printing  if  not  of  learning.  Accoi-ding  to  Keller,  when  this 
school  was  formed  Melancthon  was  selected  for  its  principal  and  he  accepted,  but 
for  some  reason  did  not  serve.  The  next  best  man  for  the  place  was  Denk,  who 
was  installed  in  1523.  His  high  and  independent  views  of  God's  word  and  of  the 
Supper  soon  brought  him  into  collision,  however,  with  Osiander  the  Reformer,  and 
after  eighteen  months'  service  he  was  banished,  January,  1525,  and  forbidden  to  come 
within  ten  miles  of  this  famous  free  city,  on  pain  of  death.  Osiander  was  one  of 
those  harsh  and  unlovely  spirits  who  anticipated  the  narrow  Lutheranism  of  the  next 


DENK'S  SUCCESS.  889 

generation.  Denk  went  to  Augsburg  and  kept  a  private  school.  There  lie  met 
Ilubmeyer,  who  baptized  him  before  lie  went  to  Moravia. 

Wagenseil,  in  his  '  History  of  Augsburg '  (1820-'22,  ii,  p.  67),  says  of  the 
Baptists  of  1527,  they  held  '  That  baptism  should  be  given  to  none  who  had  not 
reached  years  of  disci'etion,  and  the  candidates  mast  not  be  merely  sprinkled  with 
water,  but  wholly  submerged.'  Clement  Sender,  a  Catholic  contemporary,  from 
1518  to  1533,  in  his  '  Rise  and  Progress  of  Heresy  in  Germany,'  Ingoldstadt,  1649, 
p.  25,  writes  :  '  In  Augsburg,  in  three  gardens  attached  to  houses,  there  used  to 
assemble  more  than  eleven  hundred  men  and  women,  rich,  mediocre  and  poor,  all 
of  whom  were  rebaptized.  The  women,  when  they  were  rebaptized,  put  on  trousers. 
.  .  .  In  the  houses  where  a  baptistery  was  these  trousers  were  always  kept.'  ^ 

Denk  soon  drew  many  noted  merchants  to  the  Baptists,  including  two  members 
of  tlie  lower  council  and  other  citizens,  to  the  number  of  eleven  hundred  in  the  city 
alone,  besides  forming  many  churches  in  adjacent  villages.  Hans  Hut  was  one  of  his 
converts  and  became  a  strong  leader.  Denk's  powerful  pen  was  kept  busy  in  defend- 
ing his  cause  against  attacks  from  Rome,  Wittenberg  and  Zurich.  Rhegius,  the 
Lutheran,  soon  persecuted  him  out  of  the  city,  and  he  found  refuge  in  Strasburg, 
where  most  sects  were  tolerated.  Capito  and  Zell  were  the  leading  Reformed  min- 
isters there ;  both  opposed  police  interference  with  the  Baptists,  whose  ranks  were 
full  of  public  men  and  many  lirst-class  scholars.  Denk  stirred  the  whole  city  by  a 
tract,  and  met  Bncer  in  public  disputation,  winning  great  honor  by  his  dignity  and 
mental  expertness.  This  was  followed  by  violence,  and  he  retired  to  Landau. 
Here  Baader,  the  Lutheran  pastor,  drew  him  into  debate,  the  result  being  that  he 
and  all  his  congregation  abandoned  the  practice  of  infant  baptism.  We  find  Denk 
at  Worms  with  Hetzer  in  1527,  translating  the  Old  Testament  prophets.  Osiander 
had  its  sale  prohibited  at  Niirnberg,  but  with  little  effect,  as  it  soon  passed  through 
tliirteen  editions,  and  in  all  has  numbered  seventeen. 

This  was  the  first  modern  German  translation  of  the  prophets.  Possibly  Keller, 
the  present  archivist  of  Miinster,  has  given  this  subject  as  full  investigation  as  any 
one  now  living.  He  says  that  from  li66  to  1518  eighteen  editions  of  the  entire  Ger- 
man Bible  had  been  issued,  besides  twenty-five  editions  of  the  New  Testament.  Dr. 
Jostes  and  others  claim  Catholic  origin  for  some  of  these,  but  he  stoutly  contends 
that  all  editions  published  down  to  1518  were  the  work  of  the  Waldensians ;  and 
this  is  hkely,  for  the  inquisitors  at  Strasburg  found  and  destroyed  German  Bibles 
in  1401:,  and  at  Freiburg  in  1430 ;  and  in  1468  the  German  primate,  Berthold  of 
Mayence,  prohibited  the  use  of  the  German  Bible.  The  Bible  of  1483  puts  a  print 
of  the  pope  at  the  head  of  the  host  overthrown  by  the  angels  in  the  Apocalypse, 
which  proves  its  anti-catholic  origin.  Dr.  Keller  also  puts  Denk  and  Hetzer 
amongst  the  standard  translators  of  the  German  Bible  ;  and  Metzger  thinks  that 
the  frequent  agreement  between  the  Zurich  and  Wittenberg  versions  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  both  used  the  'Worms'  translation.     The  translation  made  by  Baptists  in 


390  HIS  DEATH. 

1527  leaned  to  the  ancient  Waldensian  version,  and  for  a  century  tlie  Mennonites 
preferred  the  AValdensian  version  to  the  Lntheran. 

In  August,  1527,  there  was  a  gathering  of  sixty  Baptist  leaders  at  Augsburg, 
over  which  Denk  presided,  which,  amongst  other  things,  declared  that  Christians 
should  never  take  possession  of  government  in  an  unlawful  way.  The  result  of 
that  meeting  unified  their  faith  and  enkindled  their  raissionai-y  zeal,  so  that  the 
empire  felt  the  pulsations  which  it  sent  out.  For  a  time  he  sought  rest  in  Basel,  but 
just  before  his  arrival  Baptists  had  been  forbidden  there;  to  the  honor  of  his  old 
friend,  Qicolampadius,  however,  he  was  made  an  exception,  and  the  gentle  wan- 
derer was  protected.  Worn  out  with  labor  and  persecution  while  yet  young,  he 
passed  through  a  quiet  illness,  and  died  a  natural  death  at  Basel,  in  great  peace  of 
soul,  1527.  Almost  his  last  work  was  a  series  of  articles  setting  fui'tli  his  faith  in 
the  sweetest  and  most  apostolic  spirit.  Arnold  was  so  struck  with  tliese  features 
that  he  remarks  :  '  From  them  it  may  be  seen  whether  lie  can  be  regarded  as  godless 
and  Ids  followers  as  diabolical.'  The  following  extract  from  Dr.  Keller  presents 
this  beautiful  character  in  his  true  light : 

'John  Denk,  according  to  the  opinion  of  competent  judges,  belonged  to  the 
most  distinguished  men  of  his  time.  Although  liy  liis  position  in  reference  to 
the  Church  he  di-ew  upon  himself  the  opposition  of  the  ruling  powers,  and  in  all 
places  was  surrounded  by  enemies,  no  one  has  been  able  to  bring  into  doubt  his  masterly 
gifts,  or  to  discover  even  the  smallest  spot  in  his  character.  Unstinted  praise  is  ac- 
corded to  him  in  the  testimonies  that  have  come  down  to  us  concerning  him,  a  fact 
which  is  all  the  more  important  since  we  have  only  the  testimony  of  his  opponents. 
The  well-known  Strasbui-g  reformer,  Wolfgang  Capito,  praises  Denk's  most  exem- 
plary walk  in  life,  his  remarkable  talent,  and  his  outward  bearing,  qualities  which, 
as  Capito  says,  drew  the  people  to  him  and  held  them  in  a  wonderful  niannei-. 
Vadian,  the  friend  of  Zwingli,  made  a  bi'illiant  sketch  of  the  young  man.  "  In 
Denk,  that  distinguished  young  man,"  he  says,  "  were  all  talents  so  extraordinarily 
developed  that  he  surpassed  his  years  and  appeared  greater  than  himself."  The 
pastor  of  St.  Gall,  John  Kessler,  who  had  the  opportunity  of  making  Denk's 
acquaintance,  says  concerning  him  :  "  This  John  Denk  was  exceedingly  familiar 
with  the  letter  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  had  a  good  knowledge  of  the  three  lead- 
ing languages.  In  person  he  was  tall,  of  most  agreeable  manners,  irreproachable  in 
life,  and  highly  indeed  to  be  connnended,  had  he  not  defiled  his  mind  and  doctrine 
with  such  fearful  errors."  '  ^ 

Another  contemporary  said  of  him :  '  The  world  will  not  heed  the  dear  man. 
Well,  when  the  time  of  misfortune  comes,  it  will  have  to  say  that  it  brought  on 
itself  its  evil  days.'  A  late  biographer  says  of  him :  '  The  prophecy  came  true  in  a 
more  powerful  manner  than  could  have  been  anticipated.  As  long  as  Denk's 
words,  "  In  matters  of  faith  every  thing  must  be  left  free,  willing  and  unforced," 
were  despised,  an  unlucky  star  ruled  the  destiny  of  Gei-many.  Nearly  three 
centuries  were  necessary  to  make  room  for  Denk's  ideas.  The  injustice  which  has 
been  done  the  men  of  Denk's  part^'  cannot  be  made  good  by  later  times,  but  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  historian  to  see  that  the  property  right  in  the  ideas  for  which  they 


ma  UIOII   CHAKACTER.  391 

suffered  be  not  siiatclied  frmn  tliem,  or  ascribed  to  those  who  battled  against  their 
principles,  as  may  be  pru\  tnl  in  the  most  decisive  manner.'  Beard  says  in  his  Oxford 
Lectures : 

'There  is  a  great  concurrence  of  testimony  both  to  the  depth  of  tln'  iiiriuence 
which  he  exerted,  and  the  integrity  and  sweetness  of  the  character  wiiieh  justified 
it.'  Franck  calls  him  'a  quiet,  retiring,  pious  man,  the  leader  and  bishop  of  the 
Anabaptists.  .  .  .  He  belonged  to  that  age  of  Anabaptism  when  it  was  at  once  a 
deeply  religious  and  a  truly  ethical  movement,  before  the  relentless  rage  of  stupid 
liersccution  had  de])rived  it  of  its  mitural  leaders,  and  handed  it  over  to  extravagance 
and  license.  Men  gathered  eagerly  about  Denk,  Imng  upon  his  lips,  adopted  his 
prinei])les,  and  were  afterwards  not  afraid  to  suffer  for  their  faith.  He  showed  him- 
self, in  the  three  years  within  which  all  his  activity  was  comprised,  a  great  religious 
leader,  and  he  miglit,  ])ossibly,  had  his  life  been  prolonged,  have  developed  into  a 
philosophical  tlie<)l()gi;in  too.     In  a  quiet,  singular  way,  ]h>  united  the  qualities  which 

kindle  reliiii'Mi-  rntlni.-iasm  in  others  with  a  >\ve(t  iva- iMiiic",  >uch  as  belongs  to 

hardly  any  .■ilni-thclngian,  orthodox  or  heretical,  in  tlic  a-c  ..i  ihc  Kdui-uuition.  .  .  . 
In  him,  radical  I'ruteotantisni  lost  a  leader  wliu^e  place  no  S|iani>h  or  Italian  ration- 
alist can  supply.'  -^ 

This  'Apollo  of  Anabaptism,'  as  Haller  calls  him,  died  nearly  eight  years 
before  the  Miinsler  outbreak.  God  enabled  him  to  lay  the  foundations  of  Baptist 
truths  very  solidly  in  Southei-n  Germany,  and  no  wonder.  His  heart  was  brimful 
of  child-like  purity  and  simplicity,  his  thinking  was  elastic,  forceful  and  ver- 
satile, and  his  literary  compositions  were  finished  and  winsome,  for  his  discussions 
laid  open  his  entire  heart.  No  man  of  his  times  commanded  a  litter  cast  of  mind 
or  broader  literary  powers  to  lead  men  back  to  first  principles  and  make  himself  the 
center  of  a  great  movement.  His  body  was  frail,  but  his  whole  being  delighted  in 
Christ's  teachings,  he  had  no  suspicion  of  his  own  honesty  and  his  heart  never 
failed  him  or  the  truth. 

In  the  year  that  Ueidv  died,  Langenniantel,  a  nobleman,  became  the  Baptist 
pastor  at  Augsburg,  and  faithfully  did  his  work  in  this  powerful  Church.  ^  At  first 
he  received  the  Baptists  to  his  house  and  then  defended  them.  October  15th,  1527, 
he  was  arrested  for  complaining  of  the  reformed  preachers  that  they  were  avari- 
cious, that  they  charged  double  fees  for  baptizing  children,  that  they  neither  preached 
nor  lived  according  to  God's  word,  but  that  they  taught  this  doctrine  :  '  He  who  is 
foreordained  to  sin  must  sin.'  These  he  calls  words  of  '  horrible  blusphemy,  the 
voice  of  Satan,  not  of  Christ,  as  God  gives  no  cause  for  sin,'  and  he  exhorted  his 
brethren  to  '  stand  firm,  for  soon  they  will  hang,  burn  and  behead.'  When  brought 
into  court,  he  was  told  that  he  deserved  to  be  beheaded,  but  because  his  noble  relatives 
pleaded  for  him,  perpetual  banishment  should  suffice.  He  wrote  a  hymn  and  four  tracts, 
which  are  e.xtant.  One  of  the  latter  was  on  the  '  Old  and  New  Papists,'  in  which  he 
defended  the  Gospel  Supper  as  a  simple  memorial,  in  reply  to  Luther's  absurdity  that 
Christ  is  in  the  bread,  as  fire  is  in  the  red-hot  iron.  Another  is  a  complete  defense 
of  the  Baptists  from  the  Sci'ipturcs.  He  rejects  the  term  '  Anabaptist,'  which 
means  to  baptize  again,  for  he  says  :   •  We  are  Co-baptists,  but  you  are  Anti-liaptist.s. 


392  AUGSBURO   MARTYRS. 

.  .  .  You  do  not  keep  the  coiniiuuidments  of  Clinst,  esjjecially  tliat  relating  to  bap- 
tism. Is  it  riglit,  when  Christ  speaks  four  or  five  words,  for  one  to  take  the  last 
word  and  put  it  first  and  the  first  last?  You  tui'U  it  about  and  take  the  last  word 
first,  according  to  your  will.  Where  is  it  said  to  baptize  without  ])reaching  the 
Gospel  and  faith?  Now,  I  demand  testimony  before  the  whole  world,  and  give 
tliem  all  the  Scriptures  to  show  wliere  (bid  has  so  commanded.'  He  was  finally 
put  to  death  by  the  sword,  although  his  family  offered  five  thousand  florins  for  his 
release. 

Several  other  leaders  were  imprisone<l  and  cinidemned  at  Augsburg,  amongst 
whom  were  Gross,  Hut  and  Snyder.  The  '  Martyrology '  says,  that  many  of  the 
Baptists  there  were  branded  and  one  had  his  tongue  cut  out.  Hans  Koch  and 
Leonard  Meyster  were  put  to  death  in  1524,  and  Leonard  Snyder  in  152Y.  Hut 
had  refused  to  bring  his  babe  to  baptism  in  1521.  Early  in  his  religious  life  he  had 
tendencies  to  sedition  and  was  always  a  strong  niillenarian.  Hubmeyer  contended 
with  him  on  these  points,  and  in  his  preaching  he  said  much  of  the  end  of  the  world. 
The  circular  which  called  for  his  capture  described  him  as  'a  very  learned  man  ;' 
his  conduct  shows  him  to  have  been  brave  and  even  daring.  In  his  prison  he 
kindled  straw  to  burn  the  beam  and  loosen  the  chain  which  bound  him,  and  was  suf- 
focated in  the  effort.  His  corpse  was  brought  out  amid  the  ringing  of  the  city 
bells  and  burnt  on  the  public  square,  and  his  ashes  thrown  into  the  Wertacli.  In 
1527  the  Dukes  of  Bavaria  issued  decrees  for  the  arrest  and  imprisonment  of  all 
Baptists.  This  document  was  posted  in  the  market-places  and  read  from  all  state 
pulpits.  Duke  William  was  very  zealous,  and  wrote  a  full  description  of  one  poor 
offender  to  the  Bishop  of  Passau :  '  His  name  is  Anthony,  born  at  Salzburg,  a  last- 
maker,  a  big,  heavy  ft;llow,  thirty  years  old,  lame  in  his  right  hand,  wears  a  red  cap, 
left  Augsburg  without  a  coat,  will  stop  with  Heriiiann  Kheil,  a  brother,  on  the  fish- 
market.'  Soon  the  prisons  were  crowded  with  Baptists,  many  died  in  prison,  others 
were  branded,  burned  or  drowned  in  the  Isar ;  but  few  left  the  Falcon  Tower 
unpunished.  At  Augsburg  it  was  made  the  duty  of  one  of  the  city  councilors 
to  be  present  at  the  opening  and  closing  of  the  gates,  so  that  no  Baptist  should 
enter."'  Sender,  a  monk  of  the  city,  kept  an  account  of  the  daily  outrages  practiced 
upon  them  :  January  12th,- 1528,  twelve  were  banished;  13th,  thirty  were  impris- 
oned ;  ISth,  ten  perpetually  exiled;  19th,  twenty  driven  out  of  the  city  ;  22d,  seven 
scourged  out  of  town  ;  23d,  three  men  and  five  women  driven  out ;  2J:th.  one  refus- 
ing to  take  the  oath  was  branded  on  the  cheek.  ^  The  barbarous  crusade  ran  on  till 
February,  M'hen  a  general  sweep  was  made.  At  Easter  two  hundred  were  surprised 
at  the  house  of  Ducher,  as  they  were  holding  a  'love-feast ; '  then  Seebold  preached 
and  his  sermon  cost  him  his  life,  for  he  was  slaughtered  April  25th,  his  congrega- 
tion being  driven  in  all  directions ;  a  little  later  twelve  were  slain  at  Augsburg. 

Rhegius,  the  reformed  preacher,  was  at  the  bottom  of  this  bloody  work,  and  a 
lady  of  the  nobility,  a  prisoner,  said  to  him  :  '  There  is  a  great  difference  between 


ANOTHKn   MARTYIi.  393 

you  and  me.  You  sit  on  a  soft  cusliion  beside  tlie  Burgomasters  and  declaim  as 
Apollo  from  his  tripod,  while  I  must  speak  here  on  the  ground  bound  in  chains.' 
He  said  that  if  the  '  Anabaptists  would  keep  their  errors  to  themselves  they  would 
be  let  alone  ;  but  if  they  proposed  to  gather  a  peculiar  people  to  God  and  return 
from  banishment,  then  the  government  must  use  the  sword.'  ^ 

In  February,  1527,  George  "Wagner  (Carpenter),  was  captured  by  dragoons  and 
cast  into  prison  at  Munich,  and  every  means  was  used  to  make  him  recant,  even  the 
duke  visiting  him  to  change  his  mind,  Imt  in  vain.  Tlie  fourth  charge  against  him 
was,  'That  he  did  not  believe  that  the  vei-y  element  of  the  water  itself  in  baptism 
doth  give  grace '  (regeneration).  He  was  asked  why  he  esteemed  baptism  lightly, 
knowing  that  Christ  was  baptized  in  the  Jordan.  He  then  showed  why  Christ  was 
baptized,  but  that  our  salvation  stands  in  his  atonement  and  not  in  his  baptism. 
Then  he  opened  the  true  use  of  baptism.  Foxe,  i,  402.  When  brought  out  for 
execution,  the  procession  halted  at  the  steps  of  the  City  Hall  to  hear  the  charges  of 
heresy  read,  and  a  school-master  asked  him,  '  George,  are  you  not  afraid  to  die, 
would  you  not  be  glad  to  go  back  to  your  wife  and  children  ? '  He  replied,  '  To 
whom  would  I  rather  hasten  ? '  '  Eecant  and  you  can  go.'  On  his  way  to  the  stake 
his  wife  and  children  came,  and  kneeling  before  him,  begged  him  to  recant  and 
save  his  life. '"  He  said  :  '  My  wife  and  children  are  so  dear  that  the  duke  could 
not  pay  me  for  them  with  the  revenue  of  the  State,  but  I  part  with  them  for  my 
inmost  love  to  God.'  '  Do  you  really  believe  in  God  as  confidently  as  you  say  ? ' 
'  It  would  be  hard  for  me  to  face  a  death  so  terrible  if  I  did  not.'  He  offered  prayer, 
and  a  priest  promised  to  say  masses  for  his  soul,  when  George  said  :  '  Pray  for  me 
now,  that  God  will  give  me  patience,  humility  and  faith.  I  shall  need  no  prayer 
after  death.'  A  brother  asked  him  for  a  sign  of  perseverance  in  the  flames,  when 
he  promised  to  confess  Christ  as  long  as  he  could  speak.  As  he  fell  in  the  fire  he 
cried,  '  Jesus  !  Jesus ! '  and  was  with  him. 

Two  letters  from  prisoners  fell  into  the  iumds  of  Tlliegius,  l.")2S,  in  which  tliey 
show  most  beautifully  their  reliance  on  the  saving  work  of  Christ.  Amongst  other 
things  this  is  set  forth  : 

'  The  only  answer  to  give  our  enemies  is  faith  and  patience,  for  this  is  the 
hour  and  power  of  darkness.  ...  If  any  one  asks  you  why  you  were  baptized,  tell 
him  to  go  and  ask  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God.  He  will  tell  you  why  he  gave  the  com- 
mand. If  you  reply  out  of  the  Holy  Si)irit  you  will  not  contradict  the  connnand  of 
Christ,  for  the  Holy  Spirit  gave  the  command  through  Christ.  Christ,  our  Brother, 
was  circumcised  after  the  law  when  he  was  eight  days  old,  but  baptized  to  fulfill  all 
righteousness,  accoi-ding  to  the  New  Testament,  when  he  was  thirty  years  old. 
The  truth  says  that  teacliing  is  the  principal  and  most  needful  thing,  for  the  apostles 
made  disciples  before  they  baptized  them.  He  who  baptizes  children  confesses  that 
baptism  is  more  necessary  than  teaching.' 

Another  apostle  amongst  the  Bavarian  Baptists  was  Augustine  Wurzelburger,  a 
school-teacher  who  did  a  great  work  amongst  them,  but  the  dukes  demanded  his  exe- 


894  SHOCKING    CRUELTIES. 

cutioii.  The  ma<;isti-ates  of  Regensburij,  liowever,  iT'jtorted  that  they  found  so  iniicli 
'reason  in  liis  vifws,'  tliat  they  coinitr(|  Iiim  nut  worthy  of  death,  he  had  simply 
been  rebaptized  Tho  dukes  frankly  duclari'd  this  guilt  enough,  according  to  many 
princes  and  prolatcs.  On  a  second  deinand  he  was  iiromptly  put  to  death.  Also, 
at  Salzburg,  many  wvw  slain.  Seventeen  uf  them  were  discovered  in  the  pastor's 
house,  and  all  wei'e  burned,  hut  those  wlm  recanted  had  the  privilege  of  being 
beheaded  beforehand.  Many  were  hacked  in  their  place  oi  worship  and  burned 
therewith.  Also  a  beautiful  child  of  si.\teen  was  condemned  to  be  burned,  and  the 
whole  town  interceded  for  her  life,  lint  siie  remained  steadfast,  and  as  an  act 
of  mercy  the  executioner  carried  her,  like  a  landi,  in  his  arms,  held  her  under 
water  in  a  trough  and  drowned  hei-.  and  then  threw  her  body  into  the  tlames.'"  At 
Vienna  one  day  a  large  number  wei'e  di'owned  iu  the  Danube,  being  bi.jund  together 
in  such  a  manner  that  as  one  fell  into  the  water  he  drew  another  after  him.  All 
met  their  fate  with  joy.=*2  Martyrdoms  took  place  also  in  many  other  cities,  where 
Baptists  were  treated  like  reptiles  and  wild  beasts.  This  was  es|iecially  true  at 
Eothenburg  on  the  Neckar,  where  Michael  Sattler,  who  had  been  a  monk  and  had 
become  a  liaptist,  was  slaughtered.  The  tiendish  sentence  was  carried  out  to  the 
letter  in  15^*7.  His  tongue  was  cut  out,  twice  his  flesh  was  torn  with  red-hot 
pincers,  and  tlien  he  was  brought  in  a  cart  to  the  city  gate,  where  his  flesh  was  torn 
five  times  more  before  he  was  burned  to  ashes.  His  wife  and  several  other  women 
wei'e  drowned,  several  men  wei'e  beheaded  and  about  seventy  more  were  murdered 
in  one  wa)'  oi-  another. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE     REFORMATION— GERMAN    BAPTISTS— Con^in«cd 

MOST  iiitcrcBtiii;^;  facts  are  connectud  with  the  Baptists  of  tlic  Tyrol.  Fugi- 
tives from  other  hiuds  flocked  to  this  Austrian  province  as  early  as  1525, 
and  Ferdinand  began  to  persecute  tlieni  in  1527.  Their  places  of  worsliip  were 
torn  down  and  their  ministers  made  to  suffer  by  water,  fire  and  sword.  Wlien 
Bishop  George  issued  his  command  for  tlieir  arrest,  Uh-ich  Miillcr  was  forthwith 
burnt  alive  at  Brixen,  for  tlie  king  had  confiscated  all  Baptist  property  and  ordered 
the  burning  of  ;ill  their  preachers.  Sunday  after  Sunday  his  decrees  were  read 
from  the  State  pulpits,  and  priests  failing  to  publish  them  were  to  be  punished. 
Despite  all  this  activity,  Baptists  filled  Innthal  and  the  Brenner  Pass.  Schwatz,  a 
town  of  twelve  hundred  people,  had  eight  hundred  of  the  new  faith.  A  prisoner 
at  Innsbriick,  confessed  that  he  had  himself  baptized  four  hundred.  This  sudden 
growth  was  due  in  part  to  the  coming  of  Blaurock  from  Switzerland,  whose 
eloquent  enthusiasm  ranked  him,  in  the  eyes  of  the  people,  as  a  second  Paul.  Many 
fled  from  this  persecution  to  Moravia,  and,  angered  by  their  escape,  the  king  issued  a 
a  new'  order  in  1529,  inflicting  death  on  all,  regardless  of  recantation.  Baptists  were 
burnt  in  every  village  and  city  wherever  found,  and  amongst  them  Blaurock,  at 
Claussen.  The  town  records  say  that  sixty-seven  perished  at  Kitzbuhel,  sixty-six 
at  Rattenburg,  and  twenty-two  at  Kuffstein.  Down  to  1531  one  thousand  had  been 
put  to  death  in  the  Tyrol,  or  two  hundred  and  fifty  a  year ;  whereas  only  two  hun- 
dred and  sixty-four  persons  were  martyred  in  the  reign  of  '  bloody  Mary.'  No 
writer  of  the  present  day  possesses  such  facilities  for  full  and  accurate  statement 
on  this  subject  as  Dr.  Keller,  of  Miinster ;  and,  on  what  he  pronounces  '  reliable 
statements,'  the  number  of  Baptists  put  to  dratli  was  as  follows:  In  1531,  1,000 
had  been  martyred  in  the  Tyrol  and  Gortz,  (iOO  at  Enzisheim,  73  at  Linz,  from  150 
to  200  in  the  Palatinate.  In  1527,  12  had  suffered  death  in  Switzerland  and  about 
20  at  Rottenburg.  He  cites  Hase,  a  stout  opponent  of  the  Baptists,  who  says :  '  The 
energy,  the  capacity  for  suffering,  the  joy  in  believing,  which  characterized  the 
Christians  of  the  flrst  centuries  of  the  Church,  reappeared  in  the  Anabaptists.' 

Under  the  edict  of  1530  all  houses  were  searched,  to  discover  who  refrained 
from  mass,  and  what  children  had  been  held  back  from  baptism;  the  houses  of  all 
who  sheltered  Baptists  were  to  be  destroyed,  informers  were  rewarded  from  twenty 
to  forty  gulden  and  Baptist  property  was  to  meet  the  costs  of  the  Iiupiisition. 
The  trials  were  private,  and  the  purpose  of  Ferdinand  was  to  annihilate  these  home- 


396  SPIES  AND   BETRAYAL. 

less  disciples.  When  tlie  storm  wiis  at  its  height  the  l>upti.sts  of  Moravia  heard 
'  what  a  great  work  God  was  doing  in  the  Tyrol,'  and  sent  Jacob  Hnter,  their  leadei', 
to  assist  tlieni.  He  saved  many  of  them  fi'om  the  blood-thirst  of  Ferdinand  by 
sending  them  into  Moravia;  l)ut  on  his  serund  \isit  he  was  arrested  iind  executed. 
A  gag  was  put  in  his  moutli,  he  was  led  to  Iniisl)ruek,  where  he  was  first  thrown 
into  cold  watci',  tlu'n  into  hot,  tlien  his  tlesii  was  torn  with  j)incers,  tlie  wounds  filled 
witii  bi'aiidy  anil  set  on  lire. 

Sigmnnd  von  Wolkenstine,  a  young  m.iljle  of  seventeen,  was  another  victim. 
After  a  year's  imprisonment  he  was  set  free  for  a  little  time,  to  choose  between 
recantation  and  new  sufferings.  He  selected  tiie  lattei',  but  his  powerful  family 
induced  the  king  to  permit  him  to  enter  the  army.  A  price  was  put  upon  the  head 
of  Griessteller,  now  the  Baptist  leader.  Tlie  otlicers  of  a  dozen  districts  combined 
and  found  him  in  the  mountains,  between  Brnneck  and  Rodeneck.  After  a  long 
hunt,  the  king  was  delighted  with  his  capture  and  he  was  speedily  put  to  death  at 
Brixen.  The  ftxgots  had  been  soaked  in  rain  the  night  before  and  would  not  burn, 
so  the  peo])le  begged  for  the  sword  as  tiie  easier  death,  but  dry  fuel  was  brought  and 
lie  was  burnt  alive.  Spies  were  hired  to  be  bajitizedjto  gain  the  confidence  and  find 
out  the  secrets  of  the  sect,  and  after  all  other  measures  liad  failed  to  crush  them  it 
entered  into  somebody's  head  that  possibly  argument  and  exhortation  might  convert 
them !  Hence,  Cardinal  Bernard  ordered  liis  priests  to  preach  the  word  of  God, 
according  to  the  Scriptures — the  best  cure  for  '  Anabaptism  '  ever  devised.  But,  in 
the  eyes  of  Ferdinand,  this  made  things  woi'sc  and  worse  and  he  went  Ijaek  to  the 
old  weapons.  Then  he  made  his  edicts  cover  all  Austria  and  lier  dependencies,  and 
thus,  in  1545,  Moravia  became  as  perilous  to  the  Baptists  as  the  Tyrol.  Yet,  these 
Tyrolese  bi-ethren  stood  as  firmly  as  their  own  mountains ;  when  the  king  became 
emperor.  State  affairs  so  absorbed  his  attention  that  he  forgot  all  about  this  liated 
people.  When  he  returned  to  his  task,  however,  every  valley  and  ravine  was  scoured, 
and  the  old  scenes  were  re-enacted.  Baptists  swarmed  in  Busterthal,  and  in  An  they 
were  tlie  ruling  power  in  society. 

In  1585  four  Tyrolese  Baptists  ventured  from  Moravia  to  labor  in  their  own 
country.  Jacoli  Panzer  had  left  home  when  seventeen,  but  was  now  a  man  of  forty, 
simple-hearted,  active  and  strong  in  the  faith.  Ruprecht  Sier,  thirty  years  of  age, 
Leonard  Mareez,  aged  forty-two,  and  a  fourth,  whose  name  is  not  given,  formed 
the  heroic  band.  Each  of  them  was  rooted  in  the  faith,  and  would  stretch  upon  the 
rack  rather  than  betray  a  brother.  They  met  their  friends  in  forests,  by-ways  and 
crags,  as  best  they  could,  but  some  of  their  relatives  were  in  prison  and  could  not 
be  reached.  They  were  hunted  at  every  point,  two  of  them  wavered  and  one  fled, 
but  Panzer  met  martyrdom  by  the  axe.  Tiiese  facts,  M-ith  many  others  of  equal  in- 
terest, are  found  in  Kripp's  '  Contril)ution  to  the  History  of  the  Anabaptists  in  the 
Tyrol:'  Innsbriick,  1857. 

The  first   effect  of  the  Reformation  in  (4enuany   was  to  drive  away  the  old 


ruK  DocrniNK  of  a  hack  abused.  397 

Catholic  priests,  often  in  disgust  and  angry  controvei'sy,  long  before  Reformed 
pastors  could  fill  their  places,  and  when  they  did  come  the  community  was  con- 
vulsed more  than  ever.  At  first  the  change  was  not  for  the  better  in  the  public 
iiKirals.  but  the  contrarv.  The  newly-preached  doctrine  of  Justification  by  Faith 
aldiu'  without  the  merit  of  works  was  not  understood,  and  many  acted  as  badly 
as  they  could,  because  good  works  could  nut  save  them.  People  paid  absolute 
obedience  to  the  old  authority;  but  wiien  tliat  discipline  was  thrown  aside  the 
new  clergy  had  little  power  over  tliem,  and  were  oliiiged  to  depend  upon  the 
secular  arm  to  bring  under  mural  restraint  a  multitude  of  nominal  believers 
without  the  bond  of  heart-love  for  the  Gospel.  Blaurer,  the  Keformer  at  Con- 
stance, complained  :  '  Ourselves  bear  a  great  share  of  the  blame.  We  want  to  hear 
so  little  of  real  penitence  that  our  doctrine  itself  is  open  to  suspicion.  My  labor 
and  my  life  become  distasteful  to  me  when  I  regard  the  condition  of  many  cities, 
evangelical  to  such  a  snuiU  degree  that  scarcely  any  trace  of  genuine  conversion  can 
be  shown  in  them  at  all.  Out  of  Christian  liberty  they  make,  by  a  godless  inter- 
pretation, liberty  to  commit  sin.  It  is  agreeble  to  be  justified,  redeemed,  saved  for 
nothing ;  but  there  is  not  one  who  does  not  resist  with  hands  and  feet  mortification 
of  the  flesh,  crosses  and  sufferings  and  Christian  devotion.' 

Luther  said,  in  1526 :  '  Those  who  want  to  be  Christians  in  earnest,  and  confess  the 
Gospel  by  hand  and  mouth,  ought  to  enlist  themselves  by  name  and  assemble  apart 
from  all  kimls  (jf  pecjple  in  a  lidiise  aluiie  to  |ii-ay,  read,  baptize,  receive  the  sacra- 
ment and  [irac!  !(■(,■  (itlicr  ( 'lii-i-i  iaii  <liiii(>.     in  this  manner  we  could  know  who  were 

not  Christians,  jiunisli,  cunei-t,  (AcIihIc  and  cm imunicate.     Then  we  could  expect 

general  thanksgiving,  giving  willingly  and  distributing  among  the  poor.  I  cannot 
yet  found  such  a  church,  for  1  have  not  the  people  to  do  it  witli,  and  do  not  see 
many  who  are  urgent  for  it.' 

This  frank  utterance  shows  tliat  at  heart  he  sliared  tlie  high  and  pure  inten- 
tions of  the  Baptists  for  a  thorough  reform,  and  a  return  to  a  purely  regenerated 
church,  after  the  Gospel  pattern.  But  his  hands  were  tied,  for  the  condition  even 
of  the  German  clergy  was  much  like  that  of  the  Swiss,  of  whom  Bullinger 
honestly  confesses  that  only  three  deans  in  Switzerland  could  read  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, some  did  not  know  of  the  Bible  at  all,  and  not  all  of  them  could  read  the  New 
Testament.  After  the  general  upbreaking,  this  was  the  material  on  which  the 
Eeformation  was  obliged  to  depend  for  its  ministers  in  many  places.  Luther  and 
several  other  leaders  were  more  than  half  Baptists  at  that  time.  Early  in  his  ministry 
he  told  certain  Bohemian  brethren  that  he  did  not  like  their  views  of  infant  baptism 
because  they  used  it  in  hope  of  future  faith  when  they  came  to  years  of  responsi- 
bility. It  either  regenerated  the  children  or  it  meant  nothing.  He  said  :  '  If  you 
receive  the  sacraments  without  faith,  you  bring  yourselves  into  a  great  difficulty, 
for  we  oppose  against  your  practice  the  saying  of  Christ :  "  He  that  believetli  and 
is  baptized  shall  be  saved."  ' '  At  tluit  time  he  also  taught  the  practice  of  immer- 
sion.    He  said : 


898 

'Tlic  trrni 

SdllU' 

lliilii;-    ill   w; 

now 

iiIioHsImmI    a 

little 

water,  \-et 

For 

this  the  etvi 

l>n,pti 

sin  i(tnf.\   i 

tit  til 

at  tlios'e  wli 

l.H.k 

at  what  l.ai 

UArrisr  dix'thim-is   \vii>e-si'i;eai). 

sill  is  Kreek.aiid  iiiav  he  iviidereil  <li])](iiig,  as  when  we  dip 
,n  that  it  is  cex-eivirall  over.  And  althougli  the  custoin  is 
>t  iiiaiiv.  lor  the\-  do  not  dip  cdiildreii,  hnt  oiilv  pour  on  a 
■  oii-ht'  to  1m-  wholly  iinnierMMJ  and  iinmediaterv  withdrawn. 
-V  of  the  term  s.-enis  to  demand.  An.l  the  (o-rman^  als,,  call 
ilepfh,  which  ill  tlH'ir  lan.-iia-e  tliev  eall  i'nf,,  heeaiise  it  is 
ha]>ti/.e(l  .'should  he  deeply  immer-ed.  And  cePtaillly,  if  you 
si^nilies.  \(Mi  will  see  lliat  the  same  i>  reipiired.  For  it  signi- 
tiesthis,  that  the  old  man  and  onr  sinful  nature,  which  coiiM^ts  of  flush  and  hlood, 
are  totally  immersed  by  divine  grace,  which  we  will  point  out  more  fully.  The 
mode  of  baptizing,  therefore,  necessarily  corresponded  with  the  sinnitieiition  of 
baptism,  that  it  might  set  forth  a  certain  and  full  sign  of  it.'  - 

Keller  shows  that  most  of  the  leaders  stood  on  semi-J5aptist  ground  at  that  time. 
CEcolampadins  writes,  February  6th,  1525  :  '  I  have  some  letters  to  friends  advocating 
infiint  baptism,  but  hardly  any  one  will  listen  to  me;'  so  general  was  the  defection 
on  that  subject.  And  in  1528,  William  Farel,  Calvin's  patron,  defended  the  Bajjtists 
against  their  foes.  A  year  before,  September  7th,  1527,  he  said:  'It  is  not  under- 
stood by  many  what  it  is  to  give  one's  name  to  Christ  and  light  for  Christ,  to  walk 
and  persevere  in  newness  of  life  by  the  infusion  of  the  Spirit  with  whom  Christ 
innnei'ses  his  own,  who,  in  this  mind  and  by  this  grace  wish  to  be  immersed  in 
water  \iiitiii(ji  <mjiih\  in  the  presence  of  the  Christian  congregation,  that  they  may 
])ubliely  protest  wliat  they  believe  in  their  hearts,  that  they  may  be  dearer  to  tlie 
brethren  and  closer  bound  to  Christ  by  this  solemn  profession,  which  is  only  rightly 
dispensed  as  that  great  John,  and  that  greatest  of  all,  Christ,  commanded.'  ^ 

In  this  state  of  the  public  mind  Baptist  evangelists  came  preaching  personal 
repentance,  faitli  and  a  holy  life,  salvation  finished,  full  and  free  through  Christ's 
atonement ;  with  a  church  sustained  by  pure  love  to  him  and  not  by  the  secular  arm. 
They  taught  that  '  The  water  of  baptism  does  not  save  by  its  natural  force,  for  it  is 
no  more  than  any  other  creature  of  God,'  bnt  that  men  are  effectually  saved  frona 
their  sins  by  faith  in  Christ's  sacrifice.  '  But,'  said  they,  '  if  faith  in  Christ  saves, 
wherefore  baptism?  Faith  is  a  root  of  a  faithful  heart.  If  you  believe,  you  do 
the  works  of  a  believer,  as  a  good  tree  bears  good  fruit.  Yet,  these  works  do  not 
merit  salvation.  The  word  that  teaches  me  to  believe  teaches  me  to  be  baptized, 
for  faith  without  works  is  dead.'  This  preaching  thi-ew  new  light  upon  the 
whole  Gospel  system,  and  so  effectually  turned  men  to  holiness  that  a  net  of  small 
Baptist  churches  was  formed  in  all  the  districts  of  Germany,  from  Alsace  to 
Breslau,  from  Hesse  to  Etschland.*  In  many  places  the  commotions  of  the  times 
liad  left  the  people  without  teachers,  and  these  evangelists  were  plain  men  who 
supported  themselves,  preached  in  barns,  woods,  gardens,  private  houses,  the  poeple 
heard  them  and  many  were  radically  converted.  These  formed  themselves  into 
simple  churches,  with  the  Bible  as  their  only  guide,  each  choosing  its  own  pastor 
and  officers.  They  met  for  prayer  (the  prayer-meeting  was  commonly  called  '  the 
Heretics'  School '),  for  fellowship,  the  breaking  of  bread,  and  the  exercise  of  brotherly 


iiisrniiY  /roxo/,'/\(!  fiArr/srs.  399 

watch-care  and  discipline.  Not  lu'lievini^  in  State  supiwrt  and  receiving  none,  tliey 
voluntarily  divided  the  results  of  their  daily  industry,  without  seltishness,  as  did  tlic 
Siiiiits  at  Jerusalem  under  similar  circumstances  of  persecution.  They  had  '  all  things 
common,'  not  in  the  sense  of  renouncing  tlie  right  of  i)ru|)erty,  hut  in  the  sense  of 
sharing  it  freely  one  with  another,  in  suffering. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  people  living  such  lives  have  always  been  systematically 
traduced,  as  tiiese  men  were  in  the  heat  of  their  adversaries ;  but  as  the  world  has 
had  time  to  cool,  every  man  now  owes  the  naked  justice  to  himself  to  read  their 
history  with  open  eyes,  throwing  aside  the  old  trick  of  defaming  those  whom  it  is 
not  convenient  to  understand.  Historical  aptitude  should  be  quickened  l)y  the  un- 
veilings  of  three  centuries  to  a  sharper  insight  into  this  great  movement,  so  that  its 
length  and  breadth  can  be  taken  in,  with  that  round  compactness  which  the  Germans 
themselves  call  comhinationsgahe.  The  branding  of  men  with  ink  who  cannot  be 
reached  witli  iron  should  cease.  Day  by  day  their  entire  trend  is  becoming  clearer 
and  clearer,  until  the  best  investigators  of  passionless  history  accord  to  nineteen 
twentieths  of  them  the  honest  aim  of  restoring  apostolic  Christianity  by  molding 
simple  societies  of  godly  men  after  the  ideal  of  Christ.  Their  foundation  idea  was 
to  develop  all  goodness,  not  by  bringing  the  State  into  the  Church  as  a  part  thereof 
but  by  taking  each  citizen  into  the  Church  on  his  individual  consecration  to  Christ. 
This,  of  course,  destroyed  sacerdotalism,  uprooted  all  political  bases  in  religion  and 
made  the  Bible,  which  embodies  Christ's  will,  the  toixch-stone  of  all  Christian  truth. 
The  State  was  to  protect  all  its  citizens  as  citizens,  without  regard  to  their  religious 
opinions,  so  that  the  civil  magistrates  could  control  no  man's  conscience.  Zwingli 
would  have  them  do  no  injustice  in  exacting  titlies,  but  the  Baptists  said  that  the 
civil  authorities  should  levy  no  such  tithes  at  all.  Catholic  and  Protestant  alike 
made  it  the  duty  of  the  magistrate  to  establish  religion  and  enforce  it  by  fine, 
imprisonment  and  death ;  but  the  Baptists  said,  '  No  ;  this  is  a  remnant  of  heathen 
usurpation,  of  which  Christ's  law  knows  nothing.'  Few  authorities  have  caught 
the  broad  view  of  the  Baptists  better  than  the  '  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,'  which 
says  : 

'  The  Anabaptists  of  Germany  were  historically  noteworthy,  not  because  they 
insisted  on  rebaptism  as  a  condition  of  admission  into  tlieir  communion,  but  be- 
cause the  enthusiasm  of  the  Reformation  manifested  itself  to  them  in  a  form  and 
manner  altogether  peculiar.  Their  views  as  to  the  constitution  of  the  Church  and 
its  relations  to  the  State,  and  the  efforts  they  made  to  realize  these  views,  furnish  a 
pi'oblem,  partly  theological,  partly  historical,  of  which  the  satisfactory  solution  is  not 
easy.  Anabaptism,  as  a  system,  may  be  defined  as  the  Reformation  doctrine,  carried 
to  its  utmost  limit ;  the  Anabaptists  were  the  extreme  left  of  the  army  of  the 
Reformation.  It  is  true  that  they  regarded  each  other  as  in  different  cam]3s ;  but 
their  mutual  denunciations  cannot  conceal  the  fact  that  even  the  most  peculiar 
doctrines  of  the  Anabaptists  were  to  them  only  corollaries  illegitimately  drawn,  as 
the  more  orthodox  Reformers  thought,  from  the  fundamental  principle  common  to 
both,  of  the  independence  of  the  private  judgment,  and  the  supivnu'  importance  of 
the  subjective  element,  personal  faith  in  religion.     The  connection  of   this  principle 


witli  tliis  tlicoi 

•V  of  til 

the  sacraiiR'iit- 

-■  and    ( 

dwelt  upon.  '" 

UKIIITS   OF   CON.^CIKNCE. 


],ol 


ie( 

•tioii  witli  the  State,  their  doctrine  of 

isii 

ig,  is   so   obvious  that  it   need  not  be 

Practically,  the  cliiirches  of  the  Reformation  outside  of  the  Baptist  ranks  were 
strangei's  to  the  hi_i;hcst  doctrine  in  the  scale  of  human  rights,  that  of  private 
judgment;  they  alone  expounded,  maintained  and  extended  it  to  all.  All  persons 
were  forced  into  the  national  churches  by  law.  Kn  matter  how  ])riifani'  oi'  skeptical 
they  miglit  be,  the  law  made  all  members  of  the  Church,  and  compelled  the 
most  licentious  to  go  to  the  Lord's  table,  on  pain  of  tine  and  toi'ture.  As  clear  and 
resolute  thinkers,  the  Baptists  saw  that  the  Protest  at  Spire,  in  teaching  personal 
justification  by  faith,  touched  the  very  essence  of  church-building  and  exiiloded  the 
whole  plan  of  National  Church  life.  The  Reformers  saw  the  bearings  of  this  fact, 
at  a  glance,  and  in  order  to  guard  the  nascent  system  they  fortified  it  with  the  sign 
which  Rome  had  created,  and  practically  threw  the  '  Protest'  to  the  winds  by  pun- 
ishing di.ssent  with  bloodshed  throughout  the  continent.  Out  of  that  flow  of  blood 
sprang  the  eternal  rights  of  conscience,  which  the  Reformers  claimed  as  their  own 
right,  and  which  they  denied  to  those  whose  blood  was  shed.  To  them  that  right 
was  a  primary  truth,  to  others  nuallowable.  So,  this  was  not  a  mere  inconsistency 
either  in  logic  or  conduct,  but  a  radical  difference  of  principle  between  them  and 
the  Baptists.     Let  us  examine  this  vital  point  closely. 

In  1526  each  German  State  had  been  left  to  manage  its  own  religions  affairs, 
as  they  might  answer  severally  '  to  their  own  conscience.'  But  it  was  not  intended 
in  this  to  recognize  the  right  of  the  individual  conscience  in  each  man,  but  a  State 
conscience,  a  nonentity,  was  created  as  a  part  of  the  Reformed  system,  so  far  seced- 
ing from  a  universal  conscience  located  at  Rome.  Hence,  at  the  second  Diet 
of  Spire,  1529,  certain  members  began  to  feel  their  way  back  further,  to  a  personal 
conscience,  avowing  that  they  could  do  nothing  touching  their  salvation  but  M-hat 
their  own  '  conscience  directs  and  teaches.'  They  declared  their  willingness  to 
obey  the  Diet  in  '  all  dutiful  and  possible  things,'  but  they  must  obey  God,  as  they 
say,  '  for  our  conscience'  sake.'  They  stated  that  they  could  not  '  hold  and  fulfill 
the  imperial  edict  in  all  points '  with  a  '  good  conscience,'  it  was  '  against  our  con- 
science '  to  '  force  them  nnder  the  edict  in  question ; '  they  based  their  dissent  on 
the  sanctity  of  Christian  conscience,  and  the  Diet  was  obliged  to  qualify  its  previous 
decree,  and  to  tolerate  religious  differences  amongst  the  Lutherans  tbemselves  within 
certain  limits.  Having  admitted  so  much  of  the  principle  of  soul  liberty,  right  there 
the  Baptist  and  anti-Baptist  battle  of  the  Reformation  took  its  sternest  quarters. 
Schenkel  has  caught  the  genius  of  the  struggle,  and  says :  '  The  deepest  source  of 
that  protestation  is,  the  newly  awakened  consciousness  of  the  eternal  rights  of  con- 
science. .  .  .  Protestantism  is,  therefore,  a  great  deed  of  conscience.  ...  In  what- 
ever confession  or  church  institution  this  freedom  is  not  recognized,  that  is  anti- 
Protestant.' 


THE    WOIW    OXLY  IXFAlJ.lIiI.E.  40 1 

But  tlie  famous  Protest  of  Spire  was  defective,  in  tliat  it  attempted  to  make 
provision  against  what  it  considered  the  defects  of  conscience  from  ignorance  and 
a  wrong  hent.  It  assumed  what  is  ti'ue,  namely,  that  personal  conscience  is  no 
more  infallible  than  the  judgment  or  will;  but  it  also  assumed  what  is  not  true 
namely,  that  the  State  conscience  is  more  reliable,  although  its  existence  is  a  mere 
myth.  Yet,  for  the  relief  of  some  parties  who  composed  the  Diet,  it  said  that  it 
would  seek  'the  honor  of  Almighty  God,  of  his  holy  word,  and  the  salvation  of  our 
individual  souls,'  by  the  dictates  of  conscience.  Had  it  taken  one  step  more  the 
battle  between  it  and  the  Baptists  had  been  ended.  It  failed  to  lay  down  the 
doctrine  that  every  Christian  should  be  allowed  to  govern  his  own  conscience  by 
the  absolute  dictation  of  Scripture,  under  the  divine  rigiit  of  its  private  interpreta- 
tion; that  the  Christian  conscience  could  not  otherwise  be  free,  and  that  con- 
science itself,  as  well  as  faith  and  life,  should  be  left  to  the  teaching  of  the 
Scriptures.  This  was  the  firm  Baptist  ground :  that  God  demands  the  vital  sub- 
mission of  the  conscience  itself  to  his  infallible  word,  and  that  every  disciple  should 
be  left  free  to  follow  that,  as  endowing  him  with  a  'good  conscience  toward  God.' 
The  Baptists  located  the  responsibility  of  conscience,  as  well  as  the  exercise  of 
intelligence,  at  the  tribunal  of  inspired  truth,  as  the  last  court  of  appeal  in  all  soul 
life.  The  Eeforiners  could  not  be  made  to  see  that  point  at  all,  but  drifted  further 
and  further  away  from  it,  until  as  Hase  says,  'The  Protestant  Church  appears  only 
like  u  purified  form  of  Catholicism.  In  various  ways  it  practically  represented 
itself  as  infallible,  and  even  expressly  claimed  that  there  was  no  salvation  out  of 
itself.' « 

This  blunder  concerning  the  radical  rule  of  faith  led  the  Ileformers  into  all 
sorts  of  absurdities,  as  the  attempt  to  embody  a  whole  nation  in  a  church,  in  disre- 
gard of  age  or  moral  character,  and  it  explains  the  principle  on  which  they  perse- 
cuted all  whose  consciences  differed  from  their  own.  Their  plea  was,  that  all  hei'esy 
is  ruinous  and  must  be  crushed  out,  and  that  all  consciences  but  ours  are  heretical. 
Looking  at  the  Eeformation  from  this  point,  Luther  lamented  that  it  was  a  failure. 
He  wrote :  '  Our  evangelicals  are  seven  times  worse  than  they  were  before.  For 
since  we  have  learned  the  Gospel  we  steal,  tell  lies,  deceive,  gormandize,  tipple  and 
commit  all  kinds  of  vice.'  Of  course,  it  followed  that  he  must  set  this  to  rights  at 
the  cost  of  any  suffering  to  the  wrong-doer,  in  'all  good  conscience,'  after  the 
example  of  Saul,  and  he  mistook  his  own  imperiousness  as  zeal  for  God,  for  he 
confined  not  his  interference  to  overt  and  immoral  acts.  This  is  his  avowed  claim : 
'  Whoever  teaches  differently  from  what  I  have  taught,  or  whoever  condemns,  he 
condemns  God  and  must  remain  a  child  of  hell.  ...  I  will  not  have  my  doctrine 
judged  hy  any  one,  not  even  by  angels.''  This  Lange  confirms  when  he  avows: 
'  Luther's  imperious  nature  would  allow  no  one  else  to  have  his  own  way.'  He 
seemed  at  first  to  take  the  ground  that  the  Scriptures  were  imperial,  but  fell  back 
upon  persecuting  the  consciences  that  yielded  absolute  submission  to  them.  He 
27 


402  EDICT   OF   CJIAIiLES    V. 

granted  that  conscience  is  tlie  eye  of  the  s..iiK  and  tliciv  stn])ped  ;  but  the  Baptists 
added,  tlie  Hihle  gives  it  light,  and  the  eoiiM-ience  eaniiut  he  free  unless  guided  by  a 
free  Bible.  A  free  conscience  govei-ned  by  a  free  J>il)le  forms  the  i-egnant,  double 
franchise  of  God's  sons. 

Cardinal  Hosius  said  tniiy  that  Luther  did  not  intend  tn  make  all  Christians  as 
free  as  himself ;  thus,  w^hen  they  rejected  his  autlmrity  ii\ei'  tlieii-  consciences,  he 
treated  them  as  the  pope  treated  iiini  ;  so  Luther  became  a  persecutor  by  slow 
degreer  He  wrote  to  Spalatin,  in  1522,  concerning  the  Baptists:  'I  would  not  have 
any  who  hold  with  us  imprison  them.'*  Li  1528  he  also  said :  'lam  very  sorry 
they  treat  the  Anabaptists  so  cruelly,  seeing  it  is  only  on  account  of  belief,  and  not 
because  of  the  transgression  of  the  laws.  A  man  ought  to  be  allowed  to  believe  as 
he  pleases.  We  must  ojipose  them  with  the  Scriptures.  With  fire  little  can  be 
accomplished.''  And  still  he  sanctioned  the  decree  of  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  the 
same  year,  forbidding  any  but  the  regular  ministers  to  preach  or  baptize,  under  pen- 
alty of  imprisonment. '"  Charles  V-  issued  the  terrible  edict  of  Spire  in  1529,  com- 
manding the  whole  empire  to  a  crusttde  against  the  Baptists.  He  ordered  that : 
'  All  Anabaptists,  male  or  female,  of  mature  age,  shall  be  put  to  death,  by  fire,  or 
sword,  or  otherwise,  according  to  the  person,  without  preceding  trial.  They  who 
recant  may  be  pardoned,  provided  they  do  not  leave  the  country.  All  who  neglect 
infant  baptism  will  be  treated  as  Anabaptists.'  This  was  worse  than  any  thing  in 
medifeval  ]>ersecutiou,  for  at  least  the  form  of  a  trial  had  been  observed  ;  but  the 
Protestant  princes  who  assented  to  this  edict  left  no  way  of  escape,  '  The  design ' 
being,  as  Keller  says,  '  to  hun'  the  Baptists  with  no  more  feeling  than  would  be 
shown  to  wild  beasts.'"  The  Peasants'  War  had  only  just  closed  when  this  ferocious 
edict  was  issued,  yet  it  gives  no  liint  that  the  Baptists  were  charged  with  sedition. 
The  decree  of  1529  was  renewed  in  1551,  with  this  explanation:  'Although  the 
obstinate  Anabaptists  are  thrown  into  prison  and  treated  with  severity,  nevertheless 
they  persist  in  their  damnable  doctrine,  from  which  they  cannot  be  turned  by  any 
amount  of  instruction.'  '^  If  the  remedy  lay  in  '  severity  '  they  ought  to  have  been 
cured  effectually,  for  everywhere  they  were  treated  much  after  the  manner  of  ser- 
pents. A  letter  from  a  priest  to  his  friend  in  Strasburg  says:  'My  gracious  lord 
went  hunting  last  Sunday,  and  in  the  forest  near  Epsig  he  caught  twenty-five  wild 
beasts.     There  were  three  hundred  of  them  gathered  together.' " 

Wigandus  breathes  the  same  sjiirit  when  he  asks :  '  l)o  you  patiently  protect 
such  terrible  enemies  of  holy  baptism  ?  Where  is  your  zeal  for  the  house  of  God  ? 
Where  such  people  as  Jews  and  Anabaptists  are  tolerated  there  is  neither  grace  nor 
blessing.' "  Luther,  Zwingli  and  Melancthon  uttered  the  severest  things  possible 
against  them,  without  once  stopping  to  show  that  their  faith  was  contrary  to  the 
teaching  of  Jesus.  Leonard  Kayser  had  been  a  learned  and  eminent  Catholic  priest 
in  Bavaria.  He  became  a  Lutheran,  was  intimate  with  Luther  and  the  Wittenberg 
doctors,  but  soon  saw  that  the  principles  of  the  Reformation  properly  applied  must 


LUTllKli   A.\D   yAVrXGIJ.  403 

lead  him  into  the  Baptist  ranks.  In  less  than  two  years  after  following  his  con- 
victions, he  was  committed  to  the  flames  near  Passau.  When  taken  to  the  fire  in  a 
cart,  he  held  up  a  flower,  saying  :  '  My  lord,  if  you  can  burn  me  and  this  flower  I 
am  rightly  condemned ;  if  not,  reflect  on  what  you  have  done  and  repent.'  They 
piled  on  more  fagots  than  usual,  to  burn  him  quickly.  When  the  wood  was  con- 
sumed only  his  hair  was  burnt,  and  tlie  flower  was  left  unhurt  in  his  hand.  In  giv- 
ing an  account  of  his  martyrdom,  Luther  liimself  says  that  a  larger  tire  being  made, 
his  head,  hands  and  feet  were  burnt  off,  but  the  body  was  unconsumed.  Braght  tells 
us  that  the  body  was  cut  to  pieces  and  thrown  into  the  river  Inn.  Luther  described 
the  martyrdom  of  his  old  friend  as  wonderfully  ecstatic  and  steadfast,  yet  he  said 
of  other  Baptists  that  it  was  '  all  of  the  Devil,'  with  whose  councils  he  seems  to 
have  been  uncoimiiniily  intimate.  '  Holy  martyrs,' he  said,  'such  as  our  Leonard 
Kayser,  die  with  humility  and  meekness  toward  their  enemies,  but  these  go  to 
their  death  strengthening  themselves  in  their  obstinacy.'  Cornelius  informs  us 
that  Kay.ser  was  an  elder  of  the  'Anabaptist'  Church  in  Scherding. 

Zwingli  shared  Luther's  views  in  the  persecution  of  the  Baptists.  In  his  book 
against  them  he  denounces  them  as  '  bitter,'  '  full  of  anger,'  '  hypocrisy  and  slander,' 
and  '  ought  of  all  godly  men  to  be  suspected  and  hated.'  He  charges  them  with 
crying  out  against  '  witnesses  in  baptism '  (godfathers  and  godmothers),  '  saying  that 
the  Scripture  doth  nowhere  appoint  them.'  Zwingli,  said  they  not  that  truly  ?  do 
the  Scriptures  anywhere  appoint  them  ?  Was  he  free  from  bitterness  and  anger 
when  he  and  the  magistrates  convulsed  the  whole  land  with  fire  and  sword,  to  en- 
force the  senseless  usage  of  godfathers  and  godmothers  ?  Or  did  he  think  a  few 
bundles  of  Swiss  pine-knots  threw  the  strongest  possible  light  upon  the  words : 
'  Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself  ? '  Few  of  the  Eeformers  possessed  as  many  lovable 
traits  of  character  as  the  Swiss  Eeforiner,  yet  he  could  allow  himself  to  say  of 
these  men  who  had  never  harmed  him :  '  Most  of  them  find  it  easy  to  withold  from 
the  joys  of  the  world,  for  they  belong  to  the  di-egs  of  society.  .  .  .  But  now  out  of 
their  baseness  they  make  a  nobility  to  suit  themselves,' — an  unintentional  tribute  to 
their  godly  genius.  Melancthon  was,  possibly,  the  most  lamb-like  spirit  amongst 
the  Eeformers.  Both  Luther  and  Zwingli  were  excessively  arbitrary  and  impe- 
rious, failing  of  that  higher  manhood  which  can  brook  contradiction  with  inquiring 
meekness.  Their  opinions  differed  on  the  Supper,  and  Zwingli  said  that  '  Luther 
was  not  possessed  by  one  pure  spirit,  but  by  a  legion  of  devils.'  When  attempts 
were  made  to  promote  mutual  good  feeling  between  them,  notwithstanding  their 
differences,  Luther  replied  :  '  No,  no ;  cursed  be  such  alliance,  which  would  endanger 
the  cause  of  God  and  men's  souls.  Begone !  You  are  possessed  by  another  spirit 
than  ours.  .  .  .  The  Zwinglians  are  a  set  of  diabolical  fanatics,  they  have  a  legion 
of  devils  in  their  hearts,  and  are  wholly  in  their  power.'  But  who  would  expect 
Melancthon  to  belch  out  such  rage  as  this  against  any  human  being?  Yet  even 
gentle  Philip  allowed  himself  to  say :  '  One  Anabaptist  is  better  than  another,  as 


404 

Mi':LAN('rn()y. 

iiiucli   as   one   devil    is   hi'ttcr 

tlian   another." ''^       •] 

calhmsto.lcath;'"      In   his  1 

etters  to   Myeoniiis.   1 

lic^iimiiii;-  (if  tliis  iiKixeiiifiii 

t    lie    was    •  r.M.li^lily    1 

tlnMii  as  a  (lialiolical  ,-cct,  not 

to  he  lohTalech'" 

•MildMi'lanctlKniMillV' 

i-cm1  from  olhel-  lier.-eci 

in  wliicli  lie  defended  the  sla 

U-hteror(;o,l'>,.|eet. 

esv;  he  ealled  it  '  hlaspheniv. 

;  hut  tlie  vietinis  kiie' 

t(i  vipers.      His  mildne.-s  of  i 

iiamiernia<h'the],ion 

Jt  is  tlie  .levil  tliat  makes  them 
l.-.;'.(i  :;i.  lie  tell,  him  thai  at  the 
mereifui;  hut   now  he  looked  upon 

UI01-.  onl.v  ill  the  .lelihei-ate  manner 

The  Jiojie  ealled  their  erime  '  her- 

w  only  death,  dealt  out  to  them  as 

IS  hoinicide  the  moi-e  ei-uel.  and  he 

nuist  have  blushed  when  the  three  siniiilediearted  IJaptists  eonfi'onted   him   at  .leiia. 

He  had  fled  thither  tVom  tlie  pest,  1535,  when  a  c imisM.m  wa>  examininii'  certain 

poor  imprisoned  llaj)tist  peasants,  and  the  CVmucil  invited  him  to  act  with  them. 
The  Miinster  disgrace  was  at  an  end,  and  he  asked  the  peasants  whethei'  they  were 
there.  They  replied  that  they  had  never  been  at  Miinster.  and  that  their  consciences 
could  not  approve  of  sedition.  AVheli  he  examined  them  on  the  doctrine  of  the  Ti'inity 
they  answered  that,  not  lieini;-  leai-lied.  they  could  say  little  of  that  hi-h  ai'ticle  of 
faith.  He  demanded.  AVhy  they  preache.l  in  secret^  They  replied  :  'The  divine 
word  is  relentlessly  ]iersecuted.  we  aiv  not  allowed  to  preach  piihlicly,  and  now,  we 
are  forbidden  not  only  to  be  hearei-s,  hut  doers  of  the  word.'  As  to  the  community 
of  goods,  they  thought  it  their  duty  to  share  their  jiroperty  with  their  poor  brethren 
who  were  suffering.  They  also  denied  the  lawfulness  of  oaths  and  of  infant  baptism.'* 
He  reports,  with  a  ila\or  of  disgust,  in  his  own  narrative,  that  they  said: 

'  Baptism  of  infants  was  not  enjoined,  and  that  all  children  are  saved, 
whether  of  Cliristians,  heathens  or  Turks.  God  was  not  such  a  God  as  would 
damn  a  little  child  for  the  sake  of  a  drop  of  water,  for  all  his  creatiires  were 
good.  And  they  denied  original  sin  in  children,  for  such  have  never  covenanted 
to  it ;  but  when  a  man  grows  up  and  consents  to  sin,  then,  for  the  first  time,  original 
sin  has  power.' 


ites.     They  sai 

(1  that  they  needed 

•onilemn  civil 

goveiaiment  for  the 

ill    their   faith 

.  they  woidd   eheer- 

y  were  examii 

led  concerning  the 

(icid   made  of 

liread.'     Hase  says 

He  asked  them  of  obedience  to  civil  magisti 
none,  they  cleaved  to  God  alone,  but  they  did  not 
world.  K  the  magistrates  would  let  tlu'in  alone 
fully  pay  taxes  and  do  as  they  were  bidden.  Th 
Supper,  and  said  they  did  '  not  believe  in  a  T.ord 
that  Melancthon  found  these  unlettered  peasants  orthodox  on  the  Trinity  and  the 
incarnation,  but  a  little  unsound  on  original  sin.'"  Still,  they  denied  infant  baptism, 
and  that  was  enough ;  so,  on  the  27th  of  January,  1536,  they  sealed  their  faith  with 
their  blood.  Melancthon  wrote  what  he  thought  a  full  refutation  of  their  doctrines 
for  John  the  Elector,  but  his  real  reply  to  the  innocent  peasants  was  the  unanswer- 
able anti-Baptist  logic  of  ax  and  flame.  Jobst  ]\Ioller.  the  chief  speaker  of  these 
helpless  villagers,  was  purely  illiterate,  and  yet  he  held  his  own  against  Melancthon 
with  great  strength.  '  Since  that  time,'  says  Beard,  '  the  world  has  thrashed  out 
many  of  the  questions  which  were  in   dispute  between   Jobst  Moller  and   the  first 


CONCURRENT    TESTIMONY.  405 

scholar  of  Germany  ;  autl  tlio  result  is  iu>t  in  ail  i-uspects  what  the  theoloj^ians  of 
Wittenberg  would  have  expected.'  ^ 

In  what  bold  contrast  the  immortal  words  of  John  Denk  stand  to  all  this: 

■  There  are  certain   brethren   who   think   they  have  coinplctely   fathomed    the 

Gospel,  and   whoever  does  not  assent   to  their  dictii m-t  be  a  heretic  above  all 

heretics.  If  an  account  of  faith  is  t^iven,  they  call  ir  -owiim  mcIs  of  division  and 
dissension  among  the  people.  If  reproaches  are  pa—rd  bv  unnoticed,  they  say  it 
shows  fear  of  the  light.'  fn  lii>  treatise  on  the  'Law  of  God,'  published  in  1.52(i,  a 
year  before  his  death,  arc  ilir>r  words  from  this  profoundly  serene  spirit:  'Love 
forgets  itself,  and  the  possi--or  of  it  minds  no  injury  which  lie  receives  for  the  sake 
of  the  object  of  his  love.  Tiie  less  love  is  recognized,  the  more  it  is  pained,  and  yet 
it  does  not  cease.  Pure  love  sti-etches  out  to  all,  and  seeks  to  be  at  one  with  all. 
But  even  if  men  and  all  things  are  withdrawn  from  her,  she  is  so  deep  and  rich  she 
can  get  along  without  them,  and  would  willingly  |Kri^h  herself  if  she  could  there- 
by maki'  others  happy.  This  love  is  God,  who  \v.\<  made  all  things,  but  cannot 
make  himself;  who  will  break  all  things,  but  cannot  break  himself.  Love  cannot 
be  understood  except  in  Christ.' 

Casper  Schwenkfeld  was  far  from  being  a  Baptist,  but  he  knew  and  loved 
Denk,  and  writes :  '  The  Anabaptists  are  all  the  dearer  to  me,  that  they  care  about 
divine  truth  somewhat  more  than  many  of  the  learned  ones.'  Then  he  candidly 
states  what  he  understood  the  Baptists  to  believe,  thus :  '  The  Old  Covenant  was  a 
slavery,  in  so  far  as  God,  on  account  of  man's  perversity,  constrained  them  to  serve 
him.  Hence,  the  sign  of  the  covenant,  circumcision,  was  put  upon  them  before 
they  desired  it.  They  received  the  sign  whether  they  were  willing  or  not.  liut 
baptism,  the  sign  of  the  New  Covenant,  is  given  only  to  those  who,  being  brought 
by  the  power  of  God,  through  the  knowledge  of  true  love,  desire  it,  and  consent  to 
follow  true  love.  Unless  love  forces  them  they  should  not  be  compelled.'  Melanc- 
thon  fell  into  the  mistake  of  all  history,  in  compelling  infant  baptism.  It  was  all 
right  with  him  that  the  Council  of  Nice  ordered  the  rebaptisra  of  Novatians,  whether 
they  desired  it  or  not;  but  when  the  Baptists  baptized  a  man  on  his  own  request, 
because  of  his  love  to  Christ,  he  became  at  once  the  worst  of  all  men  and  must 
welter  in  his  own  blood  for  his  crime. 

Voltaire,  the  atheist,  had  the  common  sense  to  say  that  the  Baptists  •  laid  open 
that  dangerous  truth,  which  is  implanted  in  every  breast,  that  numkind  arc  all  i)orn 
equal.' ^'  And  Beard  says  that  their  sins  can  be  easily  counted :  'They  did  not 
baptize  their  children ;  they  thought  it  sinful  to  take  an  oath  ;  they  refused  military 
service.'  The  Anglican  Gregory's  sum  of  their  tenets  is  this:  'Baptism  ought  to 
be  administered  only  to  persons  grown  up  to  years  of  understanding,  and  should  be 
performed,  not  by  sprinkling  them  with  water,  but  by  dipping  them  in  it.'  -  Ilozek, 
the  Catholic,  gives  this  summary  :  '  The  Church  was  to  be  a  perfect  Christian  people, 
living  without  reproach,  observing  the  Gospel  faithfully,  possessing  and  governed 
by  the  Spirit  of  God.'  Ilejjpe,  the  Calvinist,  gives  this  analysis  of  their  doctrines: 
'  1.  Against   all  external   churchism.     2.   Against   infant  baptism.     3.  Against  any 


view  of  justification  that  does  not  involve  .saiictification,  by  the  direct  and  essential 
indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  human  hciii-t.'  ^  Hast,  tlie  critic,  who  resided 
at  Miinster,  says  that : 

'  To  realize  regeneration  among  men  was  the  Anabaptist  aim,  and  if  they  failed, 
the  noble  and  exalted  thouglit  that  animated  them,  and  for  which  they  strove,  must 
not  be  deprecated.  They  have  deserved  in  this  particular  the  respect  of  an  un- 
prejudiced later  age,  before  a  thousand  others;  and  they  seem  in  the  clioice  of 
niciins  t<i  attain  this  end,  to  have  been  generally  equally  worthy  of  respect.  It  is 
mil  XI  inncli  the  advocacy  of  the  doctrine  of  regeneration  that  is  so  noticeable  and 
cliararti'iistic  of  them,  but  the  fact  that  they  held  on  so  hai'd  for  its  I'ealization. 
They  stood  in  their  consciousness  much  higher  than  the  world  about  them,  and,  there- 
fore, wore  not  compreliended  by  it.'  •^ 

Whatever  follies  a  few  oi  them  fell  into,  their  high  purpose  and  advanced 
thought  put  them  as  a  people  in  the  van  of  genuine  reformers,  whose  standard  the 
world  is  aiming  to  reach  at  the  close  of  the  nineteentli  century.-"  Hence,  to-day, 
we  hear  the  impartial  and  philosophical  Uhlhorn  say  of  these  German  Baptists: 
'  The  general  character  of  this  whole  movement  was  peaceful,  in  spite  of  the  prevail- 
ing excitement.  Nobody  thought  of  carrying  out  the  new  ideas  by  force.  In 
striking  contrast  to  the  Miinzer  uproar,  meekness  and  sufferings  were  here  under- 
stood as  the  most  essential  elements  of  the  Cliristian  ideal."-"  Tims,  it  came  to  pass, 
in  the  words  of  Ritschl,  that  '  The  decision  against  the  Anabaptists  was  effected  by 
the  power  of  the  magistrates.'  ^ 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE    REFORMATION— BAPTISTS    IN    THE    NETHERLANDS. 

RECENT  investigators,  and  especially  Keller,  have  clearly  sliuwn  that  the 
principles  of  the  Waldensians  spread  very  early  in  Bohemia  and  influenced 
uhe  Reformation  under  Huss,  giving  rise  at  last  to  the  Bohemian  Brethren.  Tra- 
dition says  that  Waldo  himself  went  thither,  and  that  his  followers  abounded  in 
Austria  on  the  Bohemian  border.  It  is  equally  clear  that,  as  early  as  1182,  the 
views  of  Waldo  had  fonnd  their  way  into  Holland,  and  when  persecution  raged 
against  the  Waldensians  in  Southern  Eurojie,  many  of  tiiem  found  refuge  in  the 
Netherlands,  so  that  by  1233  Flanders  was  full  of  them.  Many  of  these  were 
weavers  (Tisserands),  and  the  first  Baptists  found  in  Holland  were  of  that  trade.  So 
numerous  were  they  that  Ten  Kate  says,  All  the  weaving  was  in  the  hands  of  '  Ana- 
baptists.' A^an  Braght  records  the  martyrdom  of  hundreds  of  these  refugees,  who 
were  known  by  different  nicknames,  and  were  living  quietly  in  the  Netherlands, 
long  before  Luther  was  born.  Limborch  describes  them  as  '  men  of  simple  life  and 
judgment,'  and  thinks  that  if  '  their  dogmas  and  institutions  are  examined  without 
prejudice,  it  must  be  said  that  of  all  Christian  sects  which  exist  to-day  no  one  more 
nearly  agrees  with  them  than  that  called  the  Mennouite.'  Ypeig  and  Dermout  are 
of  the  same  opinion.  They  say :  '  The  Waldensians  scattered  in  the  Netherlands 
might  be  called  their  salt,  so  correct  were  their  views  and  devout  their  lives.  The 
Mennonites  sprang  from  them.  It  is  indultitable  that  they  rejected  infant  baptism, 
and  used  only  adult  baptism.' ' 

Further  they  say  that  their  principal  articles  of  faith  were :  The  sole  authority 
of  the  Scriptures ;  the  headship  of  Christ ;  the  rejection  of  Church  authority ;  the 
accounting  of  the  pope  as  a  layman  ;  confession  to  a  priest  as  useless,  as  God  alone 
can  pardon  sin ;  salvation  only  by  Christ ;  good  works  in  obedience  to  God,  and  con- 
firmation of  faith;  no  adoration  of  saints;  and  the  observance  of  Baptism  and  the 
Lord's  Supper.  He  declares  that  they  cultivated  religion  of  the  heart,  and  regulated 
their  lives  by  our  Saviour's  teachings,  that  they  condemned  the  bearing  of  arms  and 
self-defense  against  unrighteous  power,  and  were  known  as  the  people  who  say  '  Yea 
and  Nay.'  This  is  added :  'From  this  histuriral  account  of  the  ancient  Waldenses 
of  the  Netherlands,  as  they  were  in  the  twrllth  century,  and  of  their  doctrine  as  it 
then  was  and  continued  to  be  in  the  succcciliiii;-  centuries,  it  can  be  seen  how,  in 
every  iispLcr,  tlic  ;incitnt  and  modern  Baptists  of  the  Netherlands,  whose  condition 
and  (I'Mtriiic  iiic  -iin  i;dly  known,  resembled  them.  Yet  we  must  notice,  as  an  ex- 
ception U>  this,  the  characteristic  article  of  faith  respecting  baptism.  In  none  of  the 
Confessions  of  Faith  of  the  Waldenses,  it  is  true,  is  the  article  found,  and  yet  it 
\s  certain  that  the  Netherlands  Waldenses  always  rejected  infant  baptism,  and  ad- 


408  STItONG   PEDOBAPTIST    TESTIMONY. 

iiiiiii.-trivd  I  lir  ordinance  ,,iilv  r.iailnlt^.  We  may  find  tlii.s  po-itivulv  asserted  respoct- 
iii-tlu-  Netherlands  \Vali|eiiM>  l,v  1 1  ier.Mi  \  mils  Verdiisseii,  In' tlie  A  i.K.  .t  a(  niigny,and 
(it'lier  Kumaiiist  wrilei's.  IliMiei'  it  is  lliat  tlicv  arc;  better  kiiuwn  in  this  country  by 
the  name  ..f  Anabaptists  i  han  by  that  ..t  Wahl'eii.es. 

natural  it  was  that,  when  in  tlie  sixtecntli  century  seme  Anabapti.-ts  joined  the 
seditious  rabble,  this  evil  was  laid  ii[ien  all  Aiiaha|iii,-r>.  and  all  who  afterwards  pre- 
ferred to  be  called  liaptisls  ^\■ere  hranded  by  their  eiiemius  with  the  .same  hated 
name.  .  .  .  They  weiild.  witliDiil  duulit.  ([iiiotly  ha,\e  dcmc  mucli  good  liad  tliey  not 
made  their  doctrine  ii  >]Mciin-  the  lia|iiiMn  uf  adults  too  prominent.  In  this  respect 
their  religious  zeal  w  a-  iioi  united  \\\\\\  \\isdom.  They  did  not  hesitate  0]ienly  to  en- 
tice many  from  the  Koini^h  Cliurcli  to  their  community,  and  upon  their  initiation  to 
rcl)aptize  them.  This  greatly  ex.itid  tliean^erof  the  people  ami  tlie  disapj.robation 
of  tlie  g.iveinment,  which  strictly  b.rla.le  tll.>  practice.  Ileb.iv  th.'  name  ,,f  I.uther 
asa  Judoi-mei-  was  known,  it  api>'e.iiv  iliai  the  Anabaiitist^  in  this  land  carrieil  (.n  the 
M'ork  of  J  Reformation  originally  undertaken  by  others, and  drew  many  from  the  Church 
of  liome  to  them,  and  rebaptized  them.  ...  In  the  sight  of  the  authoi-ities  they  lived 
as  peaceful  citizens,  obedient  and  noted  for  tlieir  nj)right  honesty,  conscientiousness, 
temperance  and  godliness.  The  earlier  Roman  writers  wlio  are  willing  to  pay  a 
proper  respect  to  the  truth  admit  this  to  have  been  the  fact.  From  this  naia-ation 
it  is  not  difficult  to  understand  liow  greatly  tlie  "Waldeiises  of  the  .Netherlands,  or  .so- 
called  Anal;)aptists,  were  pleased  when  Luther  and  his  followers  so  zealously  com- 
menced the  lieforinatiou.  They  immediately  made  known  their  aiijn-obation,  they 
glorified  God,  who  in  their  time  had  raised  up  brethren  «ith  whom  they  could  so 
well  unite,  at  least  in  the  main  points.  \^\  they  adhered  firmly  to  their  own  peculiar 
views,  especially  respecting  the  baptism  of  adults.' 

These  writers  then  go  on  to  slmw  that  there  was  amongst  tliem  a  mystieal  and 
fanatical  element,  known  as  tlie  '  i><  rp^i  ;'  then  there  were  the  •  niq"rftct,'  who 
adorned  their  pure  faith  liy  a  jiraisewoithy  mode  of  life. 

'These  were,  indeed,  ornaments  of  the  Christian  Church,  who,  as  lights  placed 
upon  a  hill,  sent  forth  a  wide  illumination  in  the  midst  of  the  surrounding  darkness. 
Persons  of  both  classes  were  scattered  through  Germany,  Switzerland,  the  .Netlier- 
lands,  etc.  Was  it  indeed  surprisiiii;-  that  the  folly  of  many  of  the  so-called  pi  rfect 
.should,  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  have  allec'ttMl  the  wiiole 'i  This  will  appear 
the  le.->  a>ionishing  if  it  be  remembereil  thai  among  the  Lutherans  and  the  Zwin- 
gliaiis  might  be  found  fanatical  errorists  win.  weiv  learned  instructors  of  the  people, 
r  .  .  By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  Anabajitists  of  the  tiist  class,  and  absolutely  all 
of  the  second  sort,  were  the  most  pious  Christian^  rhar  the  Church  ever  had,  and  the 
most  valuable  citizens  of  the  State.  These  worthy  ..Viiabajitist.-,  or,  as  they  may  more 
pi'operly  be  called.  Baptists,  were  to  be  found  in  great  numbers  in  the  Netherlands, 
in  Friesland,  Groningen  and  Flanders.  In  the  provinces  that  we  have  not  men- 
tioned their  ancestors,  tlie  Waldenses,  were  settled,  as  we  have  said,  in  the  twelfth 
century.' 

After  giving  a  full  account  of  their  extensive  interiud  influence  upon  all  the 
Protestant  Christians  in  the  Netherlands,  these  authors  add : 

'Although  there  were  among  the  liaptists  few  1 
students  of  the  doctrines  of  the  ( 'Ini-iian  i-eligion. 
writings,  but  with  greater  eagerne.-s  studying  the 
diligence  in  the  umlerstanding  of  this  precious  voli 
this  must  have  had  on  the  other  I'rotestants,  both  ; 


arnc 

•d  men.  v< 

et  they  -were  zealous 

,illii 
IJili 

i-lv  read 
le  and  in 

iiig  moral,  jiractical 
ciring  each  other  to 

ne. 

What  a 

beneficial  intiuence 

i  ret; 

:-ards  a  vii 

rtuous  course  of  life 

PAPrrSTS   AXD    WALDEXSfANS.  409 

and  an  iiiqniry  into  the  tnitli  of  the  faith.  Even  among  the  Protestant  teacliers, 
wlio,  in  other  respects,  were  wholly  Lutheran,  there  were  found  many  wiio  openly 
stated  tiiat,  on  account  of  the  above-mentioned  facts,  they  hold  the  Baptists  in  tlie 
highest  estimation  and  loved  them  as  brothers.'  Amongst  these  they  mention  the 
renowed  Jolin  Anastatius :  A  '  very  sensible,  sedate,  noble,  thinking,  upright  Luth- 
eran, wiio  considered  the  Baptist  brethren  to  be  in  error  in  some  doctrinal  points,  but 
elevateil  above  the  other  Protestants  on  account  of  their  peace-loving  disposition, 
strength  of  faith  and  godliness  of  life.  This  appears  from  a  work  wliicii  he  wrote  at 
Str;isburg  in  1550,  in  the  Lower  Rhine  dialect,  or  Gelder  language,  entitled  ''The 
Guide  of  the  Laity."  '  " 

Here  we  see  why  the  Haptists  went  by  the  name  of  'Anabaptists'  rather  than 
by  tliat  (if  A\'aldensians.  At  the  appearance  of  Luther  they  came  out  of  their 
obscurity  and  hiding-places,  and  undertook  to  scatter  the  light  of  a  more  certain 
Gospel,  and  to  break  the  power  of  Romish  superstitions.  Their  zeal  in  i)usliing 
their  doctrine  of  adult  b:ipii>m  aroused  the  opposition  of  government,  which  issued 
the  sternest  edicts  against  them.  Nevertheless,  they  baptized  many  Catholics  before 
Luther  was  heard  of.  The  first  question  of  Inquisitors  was :  '  Have  you  been  re- 
baptized  ? '  so  wide-spread  was  this  practice. 

Li  the  Reformation,  according  to  De  Hoop  Scheffer,  quite  as  many  of  the 
Waldensians  in  Holland  identified  themselves  witli  the  Baptists  as  with  the  Luther- 
ans or  Zwiuglians,  and  those  who  fled  from  persecution  in  Germany  proper  and 
Switzerland  made  many  converts.  In  1523  a  book  appeared  in  Holland,  without 
the  name  of  the  author,  entitled  '  The  Sum  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.'  It  was  soon 
translated  into  English,  French  and  Italian,  and  so  many  editions  were  sold  that  it 
aided  largely  in  spreading  Bajitist  views  throughout  Europe.  It  has  recently  been 
reprinted.     On  baptism  it  says  : 

'So  are  we  dipped  under  as  a  sign  that  we  are,  as  it  were,  dead  and  buried,  as 
Paul  writes,  Rom.  vi,  and  Col.  ii.  The  life  of  man  is  a  battle  upon  earth,  and  in 
baptism  we  promise  to  strive  like  men.  The  pledge  is  given  when  we  are  plunged 
under  the  water.  It  is  the  same  to  God  whether  you  are  eighty  years  old  when  you 
are  baptized,  or  twenty ;  for  God  does  not  consider  how  old  you  are,  but  with  what 
purpose  you  receive  baptism.  He  does  not  mind  whether  you  are  Jew  or  heathen, 
man  or  woman,  nobleman  or  citizen,  bishop  or  layman,  but  only  he  who,  with  per- 
fect faith  and  confidence,  comes  to  God,  and  struggles  for  eternal  life,  attains  it  as 
God  has  promised  in  the  Gospel.' 

One  of  the  commonest  errors  classes  the  Baptists  of  Holland  with  the  Minister 
insurrection,  cliieHy  because  John  of  Leyden  and  otliers  from  that  country  took 
part  in  that  outbreak.  Keller  corrects  this  error  thus  :  '  Xo  one  who  imjiartially 
studies  the  history  of  Menno  Simon  and  of  John  of  Leyden  can  deny  that  the 
doctrines  and  the  spirit  of  the  two  men  were  infinitely  unlike,  and  much  more  unlike 
than,  for  e.xample,  the  doctrines  and  spirit  of  the  Lutheran  and  Catholic  Cliurches.' 
The  '  Encyclopedia  Britannica '  says :  '  That  after  the  iliiuster  insurrection  the  very 
name  "  Anabaptist"  was  proscribed  in  Europe.'  This  of  itself  introduced  confusion 
in  tracing  their  histor}',  because  the  uauje  ceased  to  identify  any  specific  sect,  and 


410 


MENNO   SIMON. 


itli 


the  Miuistur  uproar  who  were  no  more 
■  piipc;  liiiiLsulf.  lUit  says  this  authority:  'It  must  be 
and  his  fbllowei's  expressly  repudiated  the  distinctive 
Anabaptists.  .  .  .  They  never  aimed  at  any  social  oi- 
ive  been  as  remarkal)le  for  sobriety  of  conduct  as  the 


warned  every  man 


ciasbilied  inunensc  nunil)e 
connected  with  it  than  th 
rcnicmljered  tliat  Meiino 
doctrines  of  tiie  Minister 
political  i-evi)hitinii,  and  h 
Miinster  sect  was  [uy  its   fanaticism.'     Menno  himself  says:  'I 

against  the   Miinster  al linatiuns,  in   rei;ard   to  a  king,  to  polygamy,  to  a  worldly 

kingdom,  and  to  the  use  of  tiie  sword,  most  faithfully.'  Ypeig  and  Dermout  tell 
us  that  the  Netlierland  Baptists  were  much  scattered  until  l.j:iO.  when  they  obtaine<l 
the  position  of  a  rcguhii'  conimiinity  separated  from  the  German  and  Dutch  Protest- 
ants ;  but  at  that  time  tluy  had  n(  it  l)een  formed  into  one  body  by  any  band  of  union. 
This  privilege  was  obtained  U>v  them  by  the  sensible  course  of  Menno  Simon. 

Menno  Simon  was  burn    in    Friesiand,  in    1492.     He  was  thoroughly  educated 
and  possessed  large  native  powers,     lie  became  a  Catliolic  priest,  but  in  due  time 

went  to  Luther  for  counsel  in  seeking  his 
soul's  salvation.  He  tells  us  little  of  the 
result,  but  details  fully  the  impression 
which  tlie  martyrdom  of  Snyder  made 
upon  his  mind.  Sicke  Snyder,  so  called 
because  he  was  a  tailor  by  trade,  was 
slaughtered  at  Leeuwarden  in  1531,  by  the 
sword,  his  body  laid  on  the  wheel  and 
his  head  set  upon  a  stake,  because  he 
had  been  rebaptized.  Menno  says:  'I 
heard  from  some  brethren  that  a  God- 
fearing man  had  been  beheaded  because 
he  had  renewed  his  baptism.  This  sounded 
wonderfully  in  my  ears,  that  any  one 
should  speak  of  another  baptism.  I 
searched  the  Scriptures  witli  diligence, 
and  reflected  earnestly  upon  them,  but 
could  find  no  trace  of  infant  baptism.' 
He  says  that  he  consulted  Luther's  writings  on  that  subject,  who  told  him:  'We 
must  baptize  them  on  their  own  faith,  because  they  are  holy  ; '  but  he  could  not  see 
that  they  were  holy,  or  that  they  had  any  '  faith '  if  they  were.  He  went  to  Bucer, 
who  told  him  that :  '  We  should  baptize  them  in  order  to  bring  them  up  in  the 
ways  of  the  Lord.'  He  went  to  Bullinger,  who  said  that  we  should  baptize  all  our 
children  because  the  Jews  circumcised  their  sons.  Then,  as  none  of  them  gave  him 
scriptural  authority  in  the  case,  he  went  to  the  Bible  as  his  only  guide,  and  finding 
it  silent  on  the  subject,  he  cast  the  doctrine  aside  as  a  human  figment,  united  with 
a  Bai>tist  ehui-ch   and  began   to   preach  the  Gospel.      For  a  quarter  of  a  century  he 


MBxyo  snroys  la  nous.  4ii 

dill  tlie  work  of  an  evangelist  from  country  to  fuuutry,  enduring  every  sort  of 
suffering  for  Jesus'  sake,  and  established  churches  in  Friesland,  Holland,  Brabant, 
Westphalia  and  the  German  provinces  on  the  Baltic.  One  Eeynerts  sheltered 
Meniio  in  his  liouse,  but  this  was  a  crime,  and  while  the  preacher  escaped,  his  heroic 
host  died  a  martyr  rather  than  betray  him.  Blunt  says  that  his  followers  became 
'  notorious  for  their  deference  to  the  Scripture,  and,  instead  of  claiming  an  inspiration 
superior  to  it,  bowed  down  to  the  most  literal  interpretation  of  its  precepts.'  The 
Lord  of  Fresenburg,  from  admiration  of  the  purity  of  his  disciples,  invited  them  to 
settle  on  his  estate  in  Holstein  and  promised  them  protection.  Many  fled  there, 
who  established  churches,  and  there  Menno  died  in  peace,  1559. 

The  two  Dutch  historians  quoted  so  largely  already  say  of  him  that  he  ex- 
cluded from  the  community  'some  of  the  so-ciiiled  perfect  who  had  either  taken 
part  in  the  riots  or  had  not  disapproved  of  them.  He  also  excluded  and  gave  over 
to  the  contempt  of  the  brethren  all  the  rest,  who  could  not  be  checked  in  their 
wicked  fanaticism  by  his  sensible  instructions.  His  abhorrence  of  these  perverse 
men  was  so  strong  that  he  was  not  only  ashamed  of  them,  but  he  counted  it  a  sin  to 
eat  and  drink  with  them.  As  he  also  inspii-ed  others  with  the  same  abhorrence  of 
their  conduct,  the  whole  community  of  Baptists  was  soon  freed  from  the  loathsome 
leaven  of  the  riotous  "  Anabaptists."  Through  his  instructions  also  the  tolerably 
pure  doctrines  of  some  Baptists  were  made  purer ;  much  more  nearly  allied  to  the 
spirit  of  true  Christianity.  It  was  one  of  his  fundamental  principles  that  in  the 
search  for  religious  doctrines  nothing  should  be  embraced  that  is  not  found  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  and  in  the  use  and  application  of  these  mere  human  deductions 
should  be  avoided.'  ^ 

Whether  he  was  ever  immersed  is  a  matter  in  dispute.  Scheffer  thinks  that  he 
was  not,  although  he  says  that  '  in  Germany,  until  1400,  there  was  no  other  method 
than  immersion.'  It  is  clear  that  after  that  date  the  method  changed,  and  that  the 
Mennonites  practiced  pouring,  at  an  advanced  stage  in  their  history.  Menno's 
great  testimony  lodged  against  infant  baptism,  for  which  he  and  his  people,  in  com- 
mon with  all  the  so-called  '  Anabaptists '  of  the  Netherlands,  endured  great  persecu- 
tion. The  accounts  given  of  their  sufferings  by  such  secular  historians  as  Motley, 
as  well  as  by  the  martyrologists,  are  horrible  in  the  extreme.  Christians  of  various 
sects  were  butchered  in  cold  blood,  so  that,  in  fivc-and-twenty  years,  under  Charles 
v.,  50,000  persons  are  said  to  have  been  hanged,  beheaded  and  buried  or  burnt  alive 
in  the  Netherlands  alone.  A  very  large  proportion  of  these  were  Baptists.  June 
10,  1535,  a  furious  decree  was  fulminated  at  Brussels,  calling  for  the  death  of  tliis 
entire  people.  Even  if  they  recanted  they  were  to  die  by  the  sword  instead  of  fire, 
the  women  were  to  be  buried  alive,  and  all  persons  were  forbidden  to  petition  for 
any  grace,  favor  or  forgiveness  for  them.  Before  suffering  death  in  any  of  its 
sanguinary  forms,  these  lielpless  victims  were  generally  put  to  the  rack.  Motley 
thus  describes  this  atrocity : 


412 

mUlIAL    AL 

•  Tlio  rack  wns  t 

he  cc, 

art    u 

f    justicr:    thr 

t.idc.  .   .  .  The  victi 

ni,  wli 

el  her 

iii'aii,  mati'uii 

MII,1     stlVtclu-.!     UpMI, 

fhr   w 

1    hciicli.       W; 

:ij)|ianitiis  ]<y  wliicli  1 

he  >ill 

cws  (• 

(lul.l    hr  sfniilH 

without   l)l-c:ilsin-',  ;ii 

I.I     th. 

■     ImkI 

,V    racked    r\,| 

was  now  put  in  i>\>rr. 

ilii)ll. 

'i'h(' 

'cxrciiriuiicr.  ( 

foot,    with    lii>    t_'\r> 

\'j   at 

hi-  viclini    th 

muffled    iiis    lace.  |il-: 

ICli(T( 

\\urr 

vsMvcIv  all   th 

ingenuity  of  the   uk 

Hiks    h 

;mI     il 

iv,'iil('(i.      The 

keep  i)ace  w  ith  tliesc 

dread 

Itul   i-c 

•alitics."^ 

iirHiial's  only  advocate  was  liis  forti- 

iiiidrr  \ii'::iii.  was  stripped  naked 

■.    wriiihts,   pidlies,  screws,  all   the 

without  ri'ackiuf,',  the  bones  crusiied 

itcly  w  ithout   giving  up  the  ghost, 

(■lo|)i(l  in  a  black  robe  from  head  to 

hi-MiiL;h    holes   cut    in   the   hood   wliich 

lis  of  torture  whieli  the  devilish 

illation  sickens  when  striving  to 


It  was    niui-e  coiiiui.iii  to  bury  the  wuiiini  alive  than  tlie   men.  iiu.l   it  \v;is  done 

generally  in  this  manner.      A  coliin  was  ma.le,  so  small  that  the  [ r  wivt.-h  must  be 

squeezed  into  it  without  room  to  struggle,  with  holes  for  iron  Ijai-s  to  keep 
the  body  down.  After  laying  it  on  a  .M-albild  and  ton-ing  the  body  into  it,  a  cord 
was  rim  through  the  boltoni  of  the  coliiii,  tied  round  the    neck    and    violently  drawn 

tiglit.      Tiieli  earth    was   thrown  up.Mi  it,  an<l    th.'  living   bnri;il  was ipleted.      Dr. 

Rule  relates  the  case  .jf   a  harmless  w.miaii   at   L./eii war.leii.  L."i4.s.  in  whose  house  a 

Latin   Testament   was   found.      She   was   jiiit   .m 

'  e.\])ected  to  be  saved  by  baptism  '.  '      She  answer 

cannot  save  me,  n.ir  anything  else  but   that  sal\ 

commaiiiled  me  to  love  the  L.ird  my  (io.l  ab.i\e  : 

s.df.'     A  i>rinter  at  Liesvelt  M-as  behea.led   be.-aus 

the  ]nanted  Bibles:  '  The  salvation  of  mankin.l  s| 

154'.t,  the  Baptists  were  persecutcl  with  great  vig 

at  Anister.lam,  when  all  but  live  men  and  thive  v 

Jansen,  a  lame  man,  might  have  es.'ape.l   but  refus,..!,  aii.l  ..ii  the  I'nth  of  March  he. 

with  seven  others,  was  burnt,  on  the  ciiarge  '  that  they  had  sulfered  themselves  to 

be  rebaptized  and  had  wrong  notions  of  the  sacraments.'     Rule  mentions  nine  other 

men  at   Amsterdam  who,  for  being   Baptists,  were    taken    out  of  their  beds   and 

removed  to  the  Hague.     There  they  were  behe.i.le.l  an. I   their  heads  sent  back  to 

Amsterdam  in  a  herring-barrel,  where  they  were  set   np.iii  stakes.     Hans  of  Over- 

<lam   was   put   to  death   at   Ghent   in    l.">.^<>.      lie  was  a  talented  man.  of  gentle  but 

indomitable  spirit  anil  of  great  spirituality.      In    the  touching  account  of  his  siitfer- 

ings  it  is  said  that  he  thus  addressed  his  brethren : 

'Dearly  beloved,  it  is  not  enough  that  we  have  received  baptism  on  the  confes- 
sion of  our  faith  and  by  that  faith  have  been  engrafted  into  Christ,  unless  we  hold 
fast  the  beginning  of  our  confidence  steadfast  unto  the  end.  The  Council  began  to 
speak  to  us,  why  we  were  not  satisfied  with  the  faith  of  our  parents  and  with  our 
baptism.  We  said:  We  know  of  no  infant  baptism,  but  of  a  ba])tism  upon  faith, 
wliich  God's  word  teachetli  us.' 

The  account  of  liis  arrest  is  most  interesting.  One  Sunday  morning  himself 
an.l  a  frien.l  had  met  in  the  woods  to  worship  God,  with  a  company  of  their  brethren. 
Tliey  sought  other  brethren  in  vain  for  near  an  hour,  and  were  about  to  return,  but 


he    i-ack 

an.l 

ask.'. 

1    whether  she 

.1,  -No: 

all 

the    ^v■. 

Iter  in  the  sea 

ti.iii  win 

ch   i 

s  in   ( 

'hrist,  who  has 

,1  things. 

an.l 

my  n. 

eighb.n- as  iiiy- 

he  ha.l 

put 

this  11. 

ote  int.i  one  of 

■iiigs  fn, 

hrist  ; 

done.'      About 

r.     ^r\vei 

tity  . 

..F  thei 

n  lay  in  jirisoii 

alien    m; 

i.le  t 

heir  e 

s.-ape.      Elbel-t 

DUTCH   MARTY  US.  413 

began  to  sing  softly,  tliat  if  tlicir  friends  were  at  liand  tiicy  niigiitliear  tiieni.  Tiiey 
lieard  a  rustling  and  stopped,  when  three  armed  men  stood  before  them.  Hans 
said  i)leasantly  :  '  Well,  comrades,  you  have  been  seeking  a  hare  and  have  not  caught 
it.'  TJie  three  bid  them  surrender  as  prisoners;  and  immediately  their  eyes  fell 
upon  a  wagon  loa<l  of  their  l)ret]iren,  who  were  guarded  by  three  justices  and  their 
otlicers.  Hans  and  his  friend  were  then  l)ound  together  in  irons  and  led  to  the 
castle,  about  a  mile  distant.  Here  they  were  kept  for  three  days  and  then  taken  to 
Glient,  where  they  met  their  betrayer.  They  were  charged  with  holding  'assemblies 
of  this  new  doctrine,'  contrary  to  the  order  of  the  emperor.  Hans  replied :  '  It  is 
not  given  him  of  God  to  make  such  laws  ;  therein  he  exceeds  the  power  granted  him 
of  God.  In  this  matter  we  know  him  not  as  a  ruler,  for  the  salvation  of  our  souls 
is  dearer  to  us  and  we  must  give  our  obedience  to  God.'  They  went  through  various 
examinations  and  disputations,  but  were  finally  condemned  to  death.  The  Procurer- 
general  said :  '  The  reason  you  are  condemned  as  heretics  is  that  various  learned 
persons  have  disputed  with  yon,  and  you  have  not  suffered  yourselves  to  be  instructed.' 
Motley,  quoting  at  large  from  Brandt,  records  the  noted  case  of  Dirk  Willem- 
zoon,  who  was  guilty  of  no  crime  but  that  of  being  a  Baptist.  Being  sentenced  to 
death,  he  made  his  escape  over  a  frozen  lake,  late  in  the  winter,  when  the  ice  had  be- 
come \veak.  Three  officers  pursued  him,  and  one  of  them  breaking  through,  he  cried 
for  help,  as  he  was  drowning.  The  other  two  fled,  but  the  tender-hearted  Baptist  left 
the  shore  at  the  peril  of  his  life,  flew  across  the  cracking  ice  to  his  rescue,  and  the 
liero  saved  him.  Having  thus  magnanimously  rescued  his  enemy  from  death,  he 
was  himself  biirnt  at  the  stake  for  his  pains.  *  Time  fails  to  enlarge  upon  these  indi- 
vidual cases  of  suffering  for  Christ's  sake,  for  Baptists  were  tolerated  nowhere. 
Other  dissenters  fled  to  lands  where  they  were  safe,  but  no  voice  pleaded  for  them, 
and  no  arm  was  raised  for  their  defense ;  hence  Ten  Kate  says  that  in  the  Nether- 
lands they  furnished  ten  martyrs  where  other  Reformed  sects  gave  one.  The  fol- 
lowing figures  are  appalling.  The  Dutch  Martyrologies  mention  in  Ghent,  103 ;  in 
the  Province  of  Holland,  111 ;  at  Antwerp,  229 ;  and  this  ratio  was  kept  up  every- 
where, except  in  the  province  of  Groningen.  Nor  did  it  matter  if  they  fled  to 
other  lands.  The  Martyrology  relates  the  sufferings  of  900  martyrs  by  name,  and 
makes  reference  to  1,000  others.  Liliencron  collected  the  martyr  hymns  of  Luther 
ans  and  Baptists.  He  found  three  Lutheran  hymns,  commemorating  four  martyrs, 
but  sixty-two  Baptist  hynms,  extolling  the  steadfastness  of  three  hundred  brethren. 
De  Hoop  Scheffer  says  : 

'In  1635  the  magistrates  of  Zurich  undertook  to  compel  the  Memiunites  by 
force  to  enter  the  Reformed  Church.  They  were  thrown  into  prisoi\,  and  their 
property  was  confiscated.  Schaffhausen,  Berne  and  Basel  joined  hands  with  Zurich, 
and  great  cruelties  were  perpetrated.  Berne  sold  a  number  of  its  Mennonites  as 
slaves  to  the  king  of  Sardinia,  who  used  them  on  his  galleys.  In  the  course  of 
about  seventy  years  all  Mennonites  were  expelled  from  Zurich,  Schaffhausen  and 
St.  Gall.' « 


4  1  4  FIKNDISII   TonrVllKS. 

The  niiiinr  foi-ms  ol'  ])ersecutii>ii  \wvv  iiuiiil)t'rlc-s.s.  Baptists  met  where  they 
could  to  \\vdY  t\\v  ( iiispel,  in  darkness,  in  hain.  and  brake,  and  bush,  through  cold,  and 
snow,  and  hail.  Dragoons  hunted  them  by  the  light  of  moon  and  stars,  to  detect 
their  secret  places  of  meeting,  and  tragedy  commonly  followed,  in  one  form  or 
another.  Their  first  crime  was  to  worship  God  and  administer  baptism  at  midnight ; 
then  came  separation  from  home,  wife,  child,  parent  and  other  kindred.  Flight  or 
banishment  followed ;  arrest,  imprisonment,  inquisitors  and  torture  were  only  the 
beginning  of  the  end.     Said  a  simple-hearted  pri.sjner : 

'  The  chief  rea.son  for  torturing  me  is  to  make  me  tell  how  many  preachers 
there  are,  what  their  names  and  where  they  live,  where  I  went  to  school,  how 
many  I  have  baptized,  where  I  was  ordained,  and  by  whom.  They  wanted  me  to 
call  the  magistrates  Christains,  and  say  that  infant  baptism  is  right.  Then  I  pressed 
my  lips  together,  left  it  all  with  God  and  suffered  patiently  while  I  thought  of  the  Lord's 
words:  "No  one  has  greater  love  than  this,  that  a  man  should  die  for  his  friends.'" 

Nothing  was  left  undone  to  terrify  them  into  recantation,  but  they  were  strang- 
ers to  fear.  '  Let  us  not  be  frightened,'  said  they.  '  though  the  bounds  bay,  and  the 
lions  roar  ;  for  God,  who  is  with  us,  is  a  mighty  God  and  will  keep  his  own.' 
Ursula  Werdum,  a  noble  lady  at  Overyssel,  was  taken  from  her  castle  to  the  stake. 
Her  mother  and  sister  came  from  afar  to  change  her  mind,  but  their  entreaties  had 
no  effect.  On  the  way  to  execution  she  joined  hands  with  one  'Mary,'  who  had 
been  disowned  by  her  family,  and  they  sung  the  praises  of  God  as  they  walked. 
They  gave  each  other  the  kiss  of  peace  and  prayed  for  their  persecutors.  Mary 
begged  the  judges  to  shed  no  more  innocent  blood,  but  a  priest  drove  Ursula  from 
her  and  the  burning  pile.  Slie  turned  back,  saying  that  she  wanted  to  go  to  the 
same  glory,  in  the  same  way ;  and,  turning  to  the  stake,  said :  '  Our  Father,  who  art 
in  heaven.'  '  Yes,'  said  the  priest, '  that's  where  he  is  found.'  She  replied :  '  Because 
I  look  for  him  there,  I  can  face  death  here.'  "When  she  ascended  the  pile  her  foot 
slipped,  and  the  judge  thought  that  she  yielded.  '  No,'  said  she,  '  the  wood  slipped ; 
I  will  remain  steadfast  to  Christ,'  and  died. 

Buckle  quotes  from  the  official  report  of  the  Venetian  embassador  to  the  court  of 
Charles  V.,  made  in  1546 :  '  That  in  Holland  and  in  Friesland  more  than  30,000 
persons  have  suffered  death  at  the  hands  of  justice  for  Anabaptist  errors.'  '  Hist,  of 
Civilization,'  i,  p.  189.  No  chapter  in  history  is  more  horrible  than  that  which 
records  the  persecutions  of  the  Netherland  Baptists  under  Charles  V.  He  ordained 
the  amputation  of  a  hand  or  the  extraction  of  an  eye  on  every  author  or  printer  of 
their  books.  All  the  accused  were  to  be  examined  as  to  the  baptism  of  their  babes, 
midwives  were  sworn  to  baptize  new-born  children,  mothers  whose  infants  were 
born  away  from  home  must  bring  baptismal  certificates,  and  all  pastors  were  com- 
manded to  keep  baptismal  registers,  that  the  parents  of  the  unchristened  might  be 
brought  to  punishment.  State  baptismal  records  have  figured  largely  in  the  persecu- 
tion of  Baptists.     They  appear  to  have  been  created  for  that  purpose  first  by  Zwingli : 


TIIK   rillXCK   OF   OUANGE.  41 S 

'  P.ecaiise  tlie  P.aptists  liavc  (.Iumi  siid  tliat  tliey  did  iu>t  know  wlii'tliur  tliey  were 
Ijajjiizcd  111-  not ; '  he  i-cquested  tlie  Council  at  Zuricli  to  record  tlic  names  of  each 
cliiid,  wit!)  its  fatiicr  and  godmother,  'as  it  will  estabiisli  wlio  are  baptized,  and 
Anabaptism  will  not  be  able  to  break  in  again  overnight.'  Hence,  according  to 
IloHing  ('  Sacrament  of  Baptism,'  2,245),  on  May  24,  lo2('),  the  keeping  of  registers 
was  decreed,  because  'many  people  would  not  have  their  children  baptized.'  Hol- 
land understood  this  way  of  entrapping  Baptists  as  well  as  Switzerland. 

The  whole  land  was  stricken  with  terror  and  the  cries  of  the  torturetl  were  heard 
perpetually,  gallows  and  trees  on  the  highways  were  hung  with  dead  bodies.  Dr. 
Rule  says:  'The  very  air  was  polluted  with  the  stench,  and  the  knell  of  death 
sounded  lieavily  from  every  belfry.  Alva  gloated  over  the  carnage.'  This  fiend 
invented  many  new  methods  of  torture  for  the  amusement  of  the  soldiery,  amongst 
them  the  screwing  of  iron  to  the  tongue  and  the  burning  of  the  end  till  it  droj)ped 
off,  and  when  the  sufferer  screamed  they  mocked  at  his  fine  'singing.' 

Despite  these  persecutions  they  perpetually  nniltiplie<l.  Keller  says  that  in 
1530  there  was  scarcely  a  village  or  city  in  the  NLtlR  ilamls  where  Baptists  were 
not  foimd.  Bullinger  complains  that  the  whole  province  of  Belgium  was  infested 
with  them ;  and  Micronius  wrote,  that  Menno's  kingdom  not  only  extends  through 
Belgium,  but  from  '  Flanders  to  Dantzic'  In  1550  the  leading  reformed  element, 
according  to  Ten  Kate,  was  Baptist,  and  in  Friesland,  in  15S0,  one  inhabitant  in 
every  four  was  a  Baptist.  The  magistrates  of  Deventer  refused  admission  to  the 
inquisitors,  saying :  '  "We  can  make  all  the  examination  needful  of  the  faith  of  our 
burghers.  You  have  nothing  to  do  in  this  matter,  and  we  order  you  to  leave  with- 
out delay  and  never  return  on  such  an  ei-rand.'  Baptist  industry  and  frugality 
distinguished  them  in  trade  and  commerce.  Peter  Lioren,  one  of  them,  introduced 
the  cat-boat  and  extended  the  herring  and  whale  fisheries,  to  the  enrichment  of  the 
nation.     Halbertsma  asks : 

'  How  was  it  possible  to  find  better  citizens  ?  They  brought  into  the  treasury 
their  thousands  every  year,  and  never  took  out  a  penny  as  officials.  They  set  fire  to 
no  property,  but  dug  wells  to  put  out  fires.  They  fired  no  musket,  but  they  nursed 
the  wounded.     They  were  not  soldiers,  but  they  furnished  the  sinews  of  war.' 

When  men  were  martyred  publicly  a  straw  hut  was  built  around  the  stake 
and  the  martyr  consumed  with  it,  so  that  he  should  neither  be  seen  nor  heard. 
Verbeck,  a  Baptist  pastor,  suffered  in  this  way  in  Antwerp,  1561.  The  people 
could  endure  this  diabolical  work  no  longer,  and  the  States  of  Holland  declared 
the  Prince  of  Orange  Viceroy,  in  their  determination  to  shake  off  at  once  the 
Spanish  and  Papal  yoke. 

William  had  been  governor  of  Holland  under  the  king  of  Spain  from  1559. 
In  1556,  while  still  a  Catholic  himself,  he  wrote  to  his  subordinates:  'I  have 
neither  the  will  nor  the  means  to  help  the  Inquisition,  or  execute  the  placards. 
If  peace  is  to  be  preserved  in  this  land,  liberty  of  worship  must  be  guaranteed 


4  If,  TWO  n.M'risr  I'UKAciiFJts. 

1,,  cvciT  iiilml.iliint.  1'lirrc  iiin>t  !„■  ;i  li;ilt  in  |mtmm- 
l,c  iiiiHir  t..  Ilic  kill-;  AVIirli  he  wa>  rcijuiivil  I,, 
iiiiiii.l  tiiMinviicIrr  l,i>  n\\\vr,  aii.l  tlicn  to  taki'  up  aim-  ; 
<li,l  11, ,t  at  niH-,-  .•oiiiiHvlicii.l  all  tliaf  liis  in,, tin  niraii 
Lewis,  inaivlir,!    iiit,>   ( ilU'liltTlaihl   lii.    new    ii.itc    \vas,    "J. 


idii    until 

1   an  iippeul  can 

,|,l-,.„t     lu 

•icsy    lie    duter- 

aiii>t  Ah 

•a.     Possibly  he 

hut    wli 

rll     his    hrntlRT. 

irrly  .jf  1 

iati,in  and  cm- 

wirli   the 

tires  of   pcrse- 

,.>  a,  licttu. 

rilay.      PiMtest- 

It.  an,l    h. 

ulli    against    the 

„l    Spi, 

V,  was  the  ,.nly 

A.  1).  I. -,7:::  the  .■,,ntinent  was  still  ahlaze.  h„\\ 
cutiiMi,  an, I  liuniaii  lH.,li,'s  were  li-htiu-  nuMi  everyw 
ant  rave,l  a-ainst  Catli.ilie  and  ('atli,.lie  a-aiiist  I'r 
Jiajitists.  I'hilip  ,if  Hesse,  the  l,,ne  dissenter  at  tli: 
prinee  ,.f  that  ,la.v  wh,.  was  unwillin-  t,.  dye  liis  sw,.r,l  in  inn,,.-ent  hhM.d.  He 
wouM  imprison  liereties  aii,l  exile  them  to  lands  where  tliey  met  with  no  mercy,  but 
lie  w,iul,l  nut  slay  them.  An,l,  p,)ssibly,  ins])ireij  by  his  example,  God  was  raising 
u])  a  -reater  than  he,  wh,,  s]i,,ul,l  ,lei'en,l  every  Christian  aa'aiiist  the  blood-thirst  of 
his  bnither  Christian.  N,,  ,-,,untry  was  m,,re  th,,r,,n-lily  s,,ake,l  with  the  blood  of 
the  saints  than  Holland,  tinder  riiili],  II.  ,,f  Spain.  Duke  Alva  ami  the  Impiisition, 
but  its  bitterest  trial  came  in  the  ,,peniin;-  ,,f  l.",7i',  in  its  ,',,ntest  with  the  Sjianiard. 
As  far  back  as  i:,:,;t,  the  Priinr  ,,1'  Oraii-e  was  in  Paris,  when  Henry  IL  tohl  liha 
that  he  and  ]'hilip  ha,]  nia,le  a  treaty  t,_,  ])ut  all  Xetherland  Pi',.,testants  to  the  sword. 
At  that  time  the  y,,un--  pi'inee  was  but  twenty-six,  but  he  then  and  there  mentally 
resolved  to  thwart  that  bloody  ]„,liey  by  arousini;-  the  Protestant  population  of  the 
Netherlands  to  throw  off  the  Spanish  y,,ke.  In  ,lue  time  he  appealed  to  them  and 
to  the  courts  of  Northern  Euiupe  to  aid  him  in  rescuing  Holland,  but  at  first 
largely  in  vain.  After  several  victories  had  awakened  poj)ular  sympathy,  his 
appeals  for  aid  to  the  wealth  of  HolhiTid  were  met  with  coldness  and  frowns.  He 
had  thrown  all  his  own  possessions  into  the  contest,  had  even  sold  his  plate  and 
jewels  and  mortgaged  his  estates,  to  carry  on  the  war  against  Spain,  and  was  nearly 
obliged  to  abandon  the  attempt,  when  a  trivial  circumstance  gave  him  ne\v  courage. 

Early  on  an  April  morning,  and  oppressed  with  anxiety,  he  was  walking  near 
his  head-quarters  at  Dillenburg,  when  two  simple  strangers  approached  him  and, 
taking  him  to  be  one  of  the  royal  household,  asked  if  they  could  have  an  audience 
with  the  prinee.  He  led  them  into  the  castle  and  made  himself  known.  On  asking 
who  they  were  and  their  business,  he  found  that  they  were  Jacob  Fredericks  and 
Dirk  Jans  Cortenboseh,  two  Holland  Baptist  preacliers.  They  had  been  visiting 
their  brethren  on  the  Rhine,  and  on  their  return  home  came  to  see  whether  they 
could  serve  the  prince.  They  explained  to  him  their  principles,  and  he  told  them 
his  general  purposes  and  needs,  asked  them  to  urge  their  friends  to  contribute 
money  to  the  advancement  of  the  common  Christian  cause,  and  thaidced  them 
heartily  when  they  promised  to  do  so.  On  the  20th  of  the  same  month  he  issued 
the  following  decree :  '  Be  it  known  to  the  magistrates  and  the  officials  in  the 
North,  that  you  are  by  no  means  to  allow  any  one  who  preaches  and  observes  the 


MOTLEY'S   STATEMENT.  417 

true  word  of  Gud,  according  to  the  Gospel,  to  be  liindered,  injured  or  disturbed, 
or  to  Imve  his  conscience  examined,  or  on  tliat  account  to  be  i>ersecuted  by  inqui- 
sition or  placards.'  A  fortnight  later,  May  5tli,  he  sent  his  secretary  with  a  letter 
to  his  Baptist  friends  pleading :  '  Let  every  one  contribute.  This  is  a  time  wlien 
even  with  small  sums  more  can  be  effected  than  at  other  times  with  ampler  funds. 
Ilis  lordship  will  ever  be  ready  to  reward  them  for  such  good  and  faithful  service 
to  the  common  cause  and  to  their  prince.' 

With  slight  variations  in  minor  things,  J\Iotley  also  touchingly  details  these 
circumstances.     lie  says: 

'Theseappealshad,  however,  but  little  effect.  Of  tlinH^liundrcil  tlinus;iud  crowns, 
promised  on  behalf  of  leading  nobles  and  merchants  nf  the  .Niilnihiiids  by  ^larcus 
Perez,  but  ten  or  twelve  thousand  came  to  hand.  Thi>  appeals  t"  ilic  gentlemen  who 
had  signed  the  com]iromisf,  anil  to  many  others  who  had,  in  times  past,  been  favor- 
able to  the  liljeral  party,  were  powerless.  A  poor  Anabaptist  preacher  collected  a 
small  sum  from  a  refugee  congregation  on  the  outskirts  of  Holland,  and  brought  it, 
at  the  peril  of  his  life,  into  the  iniiice's  camp.  It  came  from  peojile,  lie  .siid,  whose 
will  was  better  than  the  gift.  'I'licy  never  wished  to  be  repaid,  he  ^aiil.  except  by 
kindness,  when  the  cause  of  i-eforni  ^lioulil  l)e  triumphant  in  the  Xetliirlain!-.  The 
l)rince  signed  a  receipt  for  the  money,  expressing  himself  tondieii  by  thi-  >\  mpatliy 
from  these  poor  outcasts.  In  the  course  of  time,  other  coiitribiitiun^  li-,.iii  .-imilar 
sources,  principally  collected  by  dissenting  preachers,  starving  and  per,-ecnt<Ml  chui'ch- 
connnunities,  were  received.  The  poverty-stricken  exiles  contributed  far  nnjre,  in 
proportion,  for  the  establishment  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  than  the  wealthy 
merchants  or  the  haughty  nobles.''  The  same  author  speaks  of  the  ]iriiu-e,  as  con- 
ceiving '  the  thouglit  of  nligious  toleration  in  an  age  of  universal  dugmatistn,' for 
that 'he  had  long  tliuughf  1 1 lat  emperors,  kings  and"  popes  had  taken  ahogcfher  too 
much  care  of  men's  souls  in  times  past,  and  had  sent  too  many  of  them  (neiuaturely 
to  their  great  account.  He  was  equally  indisposed  to  grant  full  powers  for  the  same 
purpose  to  Calvinists,  Lutherans  or  Anabaptists.' ' 

Immediately  on  giving  their  promise  the  Baptists  made  the  collections,  but, 
owing  to  the  loss  of  one  of  their  collectors  in  the  perilous  undertaking  and  the  pov- 
erty of  their  churches,  their  returns  were  delayed.  Fifty  years  of  unrelenting  per- 
secution had  left  them  but  little  besides  their  patriotism ;  yet,  on  July  29th,  they 
brought  their  patriotic  offering  of  a  thousand  florins  to  the  prince  at  Eemund.  The 
prince  had  faithfully  kept  his  word.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Estates  of  Holland,  July 
loth,  he  had  been  declared  governor,  in  place  of  the  Duke  of  Alva ;  and  had  pro- 
claimed that  '  the  freedom  of  religion  shall  be  guarded,  every  body  shall  exercise  it 
freely  in  private  or  in  public,  in  church  or  in  chapel,  without  let  or  hinderance  from 
any  one.'  And  eight  days  later,  in  camp,  he  made  proclamation  to  protect  Catholics. 
'  No  one,  whether  priest  or  layman,  shall  be  wronged  or  injured  in  property  or  per- 
son ; '  and  offenders  against  this  order  were  to  be  put  to  death,  as  malcontents  and 
disturbers  of  the  general  quiet  and  welfare.  When  the  Baptists  made  their  offering 
to  him  out  of  the  penury  of  their  confiscation,  burdened  by  hosts  of  widows  and 
orphans,  left  by  thousands  of  their  martyrs,  he  asked  them :  '  Do  you  make  no 
demand  ? '  They  answered,  '  Kotliing  but  the  friendship  of  your  grace,  if  God 
28 


MOTLEY'S    TESTIMONY   CONTINUED. 


^■nints  to  yim  tlic  ,<;:(ivc 

riiiiiciit  of  o 

i.r  iXcthcTlands.'     He 

assii 

red   them 

of    hi.s  Byn 

Kitliv    for  tlicm  :n.,l    f 

or  all   men. 

All. I   In.   kq.t   faith 

wit 

h   them  t 

o    tlie  lette 

iltlicu-h  liis  lidi'lity  ii 

ixdlvc'il  him 

in  pLTjiutuul  turmoil  \ 

vith 

hi.s  l,e^t  f 

riemk     Mo 

vy  says  that: 

'Jli.s  intimate  eoniiselor,  the  accomplished  vSaint  Aldeironde,'  was  'in  despair 
because,  the  prince  refused  to  exclude  the  Anabaptists  of  Holland  from  the  rights 
of  citizenshij).  At  the  very  moment  when  William  was  straining  every  nerve  to 
unite  w-arrinii;  sects,  and  to  persuade  men's  hearts  into  a  sy.stem  by  which  their 
coiiscic'iices  were  to  be  laid  open  to  God  alone,  at  the  moment  when  it  was  most 
iKMH'.-sai-y  foi-  the  very  existence  of  the  fatherland  that  Catholic  and  Protestant 
should  miii,i;le  their  social  and  political  relations,  it  was  indeed  a  bitter  disappoint- 
ment for  him  to  see  wise  statesmen  of  his  own  creed  unable  to  rise  to  the  idea  of 
toleration.  "  The  affair  of  the  Anabaptists,"  wrote  Saint  Aldegonde,  "  has  been 
renewed.  The  pi'ince  objects  to  exclude  them  from  citizenship.  lie  answered  me 
^hai  ply.  that  their  yea  was  equal  to  onr  oath,  and  that  we  should  not  press  this 
matter  unless  we  were  irillhig  to  confess  that  it  toas  just  for  the  Pajt'tsts  to  compel 
IIS  t(_i  a  divine  service  which  was  against  our  conscience."  It  seems  hardly  credible 
that  this  sentence,  containing  so  sublime  a  tribute  to  the  character  of  the  pi'ince, 
should  have  been  indicted  as  a  bitter  censure,  and  that,  too,  by  an  enlightened  and 
accompli.slied  Protestant.  "  In  short,"  continued  Saint  Aldegonde,  with  increasing 
\r.\ation,  "I  don't  see  how  we  can  acci.inphVli  our  wish  in  this  matter.  The  prince 
\vd>  uttered  reproaches  to  me  that  our  eleii^y  are  striving  to  obtain  a  mastery  over 
consciences.  He  praised  lately  the  saying  uf  a  monk  wlio  was  not  long  ago  here, 
that  our  pot  had  not  gone  to  the  tire'  as  often  as  that  of  our  antagonists,  but  that 
when  the  time  came  it  would  be  black  enough.  In  short,  the  prince  fears  that  after 
a  few  centuries  the  cleri(;al  tyranny  on  both  sides  will  stand  in  this  respect  on  the 
same  footing."  ' ' 

Nor  did  it  matter  that  his  most  intimate  friends  were  offended  with  liis  broad 
toleration.  Motley  further  says  :  '  No  man  understood  him.  Not  even  his  nearest 
friends  comprehended  his  views,  nor  saw  that  he  strove  to  establish,  not  freedom  for 
Calvinism,  but  freedom  for  conscience.  Saint  Aldegonde  complained  that  the  prince 
would  not  persecute  the  Anabaptists,  Peter  Dathenus  denounced  him  as  an  atheist, 
while  even  Count  John,  the  only  one  left  of  his  valiant  and  generous  brothers, 
opposed  the  religious  peace — except  where  the  advantage  was  on  the  side  of  the 
new  religion.""  Again,  he  adds  :  '  Sincerely  and  deliberately  himself  a  convert  to 
the  Reformed  Church,  he  was  ready  to  extend  freedom  of  worship  to  Catholics  on 
the  one  hand  and  to  Anabaptists  on  the  other,  for  no  man  ever  felt  more  keenly  than 
he  that  the  Reformer  who  becomes  in  liis  turn  a  bigot  is  doubly  odious.'  "  He 
moreover  relinked  those  who  would  interfere  with  his  generous  imjnilses  and 
principles,  as  another  remarkable  pas.sige  from  this  distinguished  writer  will  show: 

'  The  I'l-iiici'  of  ( )i-:niL:e  was  more  than  ever  disposed  to  rebuke  his  own  church 
for  praeti.-ini;-  pii-.-ccutioii  in  her  turn.  Again  he  lifted  his  connnandiug  voice  in 
behalf  of  the  Analiapti>ts  of  Middleburg.  ite  reminded  the  magistrates  of  that  city 
that  these  peaceful  bui-ahers  were  always  jieiiVcrly  willing  to  bear  their  part  in  all 
the  common  burdens,  thiit  their  word  was  a^  -oo.i  a.-  tlicir  oifh,  and  that  as  to  the 
nuitter  of  military  service,  although  their  principles  torhade  them  to  bear  arms,  they 
had  ever  been  ready  to  provide  and  pay  for  substitutes.     "  We  declare  to  you,  there- 


rnixcE  MAunicE.  419 

fore,"  said  lie,  "tliat  ymi  liave  iiu  right  to  troiiMf  yourselves  witli  any  man's  con- 
science, so  long  as  notiiing  is  done  to  cause  private  harm  or  pulilic  scandal.  We 
therefore  expressly  ordain  tiiat  yon  desist  from  molesting  these  Baptists,  from  offer- 
ing liiiideranee  to  their  handicraft  and  daily  trade  by  which  they  can  earn  bread  for 
their  wives  and  children,  and  that  yon  admit  them  henceforth  to  open  their  shops 
and  to  do  their  work,  according  to  the  custom  of  former  days.  Beware,  therefore, 
of  disobedience  and  of  resistance  to  the  ordinance  which  we  now  establisli."  '  '^ 

In  William's  letter  to  Mi(klleburg,  1577,  he  i)raises  the  Hai)tists,  who  had 
brought  their  contributions  at  the  peril  of  life,  and  had  '  helped  to  win  liberty.'  lu 
the  previous  year,  when  writing  to  induce  Amsterdam  to  join  the  States,  he  had 
said  :  '  I  am  determined  to  oppress  no  man's  conscience,  and  to  force  no  one  to 
adopt  my  religion.'  When,  therefore,  in  1577,  the  Reformed  preacliers,  headed  by 
Vander  Heiden  and  Jan  PafHn,  tried  to  persuade  him  to  limit  the  liberty  of  the 
Baptists,  he  replied  that  '  the  time  is  past  for  the  clergy  to  assume  control  over  con- 
sciences, and  attempt  to  subject  all  men  to  their  opinions.' 

The  result  of  tliis  long,  dark  struggle  of  the  Baptists  was  that  through  this 
'  silent '  but  sincere  man  their  radical  principle  of  soul  liberty  for  Christians  found 
its  way  into  the  first  compact  of  States  since  the  foundation  of  Christianity. 
While  this  instrument  was  not  a  constitution,  but  only  a  compact,  yet  Motley  says 
that  it  became  '  the  foundation-stone  of  the  Netherland  Republic'  '^  And  that  re- 
public, says  IVIotley,  '  became  the  refuge  for  the  oppressed  of  all  nations,  whether 
Jews  or  Gentiles ;  Catholics,  Calvinists,  and  Anabaptists  prayed  after  their  own 
maimer  to  the  same  God  and  Father.'  "  In  1579,  Article  XIII  of  the  Union  of 
Utrecht  declared  :  '  Every  one  shall  be  free  in  the  practice  of  his  religious  belief, 
and  that,  in  accordance  with  the  peace  of  Ghent,  no  one  shall  be  held  or  examined 
on  account  of  matters  of  religion.'  '* 

Many  of  the  Reformed  clergy  were  extremely  restless  under  this  provision,  and 
some  of  them  sought  to  turn  the  prince  against  the  '  Anabaptists '  in  utter  disre- 
gard thereof.  But  his  answer  was  that,  '  To  persecute  them  would  justify  the 
Catholics  in  the  persecution  of  the  Protestants.'  These  transactions  and  especially 
the  testimony  of  the  prince  to  the  true  character  of  tlie  '  Anabaptists,'  serves  to  put 
them  in  their  true  light,  despite  all  the  conscienceless  slanders  of  their  enemies. 
He  speaks  of  them  as  '  Peaceful  burghers,  always  perfectly  willing  to  bear  their 
part  in  all  the  common  burdens.'  In  governmental  matters  they  held  substantially 
to  the  views  of  the  Society  of  Friends  in  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  but 
they  were  found  amongst  the  most  loyal  and  firm  supporters  of  the  government,  in 
all  that  left  their  religious  rights  untouched.  The  thousand  florins  which  they 
wrung  from  their  poverty  to  speed  the  cause  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  are  a 
thousand  flat  contradictions  of  the  slanders  which  liave  been  thrown  in  their  faces, 
and  the  testimony  of  their  prince  should  make  any  man  blush  to  the  ears  who  has 
the  impudence  to  repeat  them,  and  enter  biiu  on  the  list  of  false  witnesses. 

Prince  Maurice,  his  son  and  successor,  showed  the  same  noble  spirit.     Zeeland 


420  RELTOIOVS  LTnEUTY  IMPAIRED. 

went  <in,  still  tivatiii--  the  '  AnaltMptist.s '  with  severity  liy  iiisistinj;-  tliat  tliey 
i^ll(Ull(l  tal<i'tlic(,atli,  althou-li  tliey  Were  as  loyal  to  the  guveriiiiu-iit  withdiit  tlienath 
as  others  wliu  swure.  They  were  also  refused  permission  to  print  a  huuk  or  hold 
a  meeting,  without  the  consent  of  their  zealous  and  petty  tyrants.  Maurice  came  to 
their  rescue  and  demanded  that  they  should  be  let  alone  ;  nothing  should  be  exacted 
of  them  wliicli  injured  their  consciences.  Even  after  the  victory  for  religious  liberty 
at  Middlel)urg,  and  regardless  of  all  honorable  obligations  which  the  authorities  had 
given  to  maintain  it,  in  1591,  when  a  scurrilous  edict  was  issued  against  the  Baptists, 
he  wrote  thus:  'Although  the  declai-ation  of  the  Estates  and  of  the  prince,  our 
father,  of  glorious  memory,  suffices  to  regulate  your  conduct  toward  the  Anabap- 
tists, nevertheless  we  have  judged  it  necessary  to  write  you  to  observe  the  statutes 
and  to  let  the  Anabaptists  alone,  until  the  Estates  pass  .some  other  order.' 

The  noble  spirit  of  William  lived  after  him  ;  fur  in  1.^S2  the  magistrates  of 
Leyden  dared  to  use  tliese  words  to  the  Estates  of  Holland:  'We  will  tolerate  no 
i-eligious  oppression  whatever,  in  great  or  in  small,  nor  receive  any  statutes  or 
decrees  that  involve  it.  Our  unanimous  ojiinion  is,  not  to  trouble  each  other  in 
matters  of  woi-ship;  and  we  will  not  be  tui-ned  from  this  position  by  any  synod's 
decree.  We  will,  by  (Jod's  grace,  maintain  this  position  to  the  death,  for  liberty 
ever  consists  in  the  freedom  of  every  man  to  speak  his  opinion.  We  exhort  the 
estates,  therefore,  to  join  hands  with  us,  to  bear  in  love  each  party  in  its  peculiar 
beliefs,  so  far  as  they  do  not  conflict  with  public  security,  and  tluis  have  a  good- 
natured  people  united  against  the  common  enemy.' 

Afterwards,  the  Articles  of  the  Union  of  Utrecht  were  so  interpreted  and 
amended  as  to  permit  their  persecution,  but  the  names  of  William  the  Silent  and 
his  son  will  ever  stand  as  the  first  amongst  princes  to  advocate  liberty  of  conscience. 
And  all  honor  to  Holland,  which  ever  after  remained  a  land  of  comparative  safety, 
if  not  of  comfort,  for  the  men  of  all  faiths.  This  was  amongst  the  first  of  reasons 
which  led  to  her  speedy  rise  to  a  front  rank  amongst  the  nations,  in  commerce, 
wealth  and  learning,  and  opened  her  hai-biirs  to  the  noblest  fugitives  from  all  lands. 
For  these  blessings  Baptists  should  give  thanks  to  their  simijle  preachers  and  their 
brethren,  who  cheered  the  grand  prince  in  his  darkest  hoiu's,  and  for  whose  sake 
he  threw  the  shield  of  liberty  over  the  heads  of  all  hounded  and  hated  men  who 
love  God.  In  addition  to  the  pen  of  Motley,  the  above  facts  may  be  found  in 
Doopsgezinde  Bijdragen,  J.  G.  De  Hoop  Scheffer,  1873;  Ottii  Annales,  p.  158; 
Brandt,  Hist.  Eeformation,  i,  p.  609 ;  Schrock's  Hist.  Ch.  on  Anab.  in  Holland ; 
and  Hist,  des  Anabaptistes,  pub.  by  Desbordes,  1599,  p.  244. 

The  Baptists  of  the  Netherlands  fell  into  many  divisions  on  church  discipline, 
about  marriage,  dress  and  social  relations ;  they  laid  great  stress  on  managing  the 
members  of  their  own  congregations.  Meuno  lodged  the  true  marks  of  a  Christian 
congregation  in :  The  faithful  preaching  of  God's  word,  and  obedience  thereto ;  in 
the  confession  of  Christ's  name  by  the  observance  of  baptism  and  the  Supper;  in 


MENNONITE  BAPTISM.  421 

love  toward  men.  a  lioly  life  and  the  endurance  of  persecution,  if  need  be,  for  Christ's 
sake.  The  following  are  some  of  their  acts  of  discipline.  In  1538,  at  a  conference 
at  Buchold,  they  separated  from  every  seditious  remnant  of  the  Mfinster  fanatics, 
will)  wiTo  led  l)y  l!atteiiliur<j:.  In  1554,  at  a  conference  held  at  Wismar,  Menno's 
h(itiu>,  tiu'v  recdiiiiiicnded  tiic  temporary  exclusion  of  members  who  married  outside 
the  congregation  and  their  restoration  if  they  maintained  their  faith.  But  some  in- 
sisted on  the  separation  of  husband  and  wife,  in  case  of  the  exclusion  of  one  of 
them.  On  these  and  other  questions,  they  split  up  into  numerous  sects,  disfellow- 
shiping  one  another;  some  of  them  even  required  rebaptisin  of  those  coming  to 
them  from  the  other  factions,  and  they  called  each  other  all  the  unlovely  names  that 
commonly  disgrace  quarreling  Christians.  Their  divisions  and  subdivisions  abounded 
in  petty  questions,  such  as  the  treatment  of  bankrupts,  whether  or  not  they  should 
patronize  the  vessels  of  excluded  members,  and  similar  points,  until,  in  the  little 
city  of  Hoorn  there  were  thirteen  sorts  of  Baptist  Churches.  Their  contentions 
became  so  perfectly  disgraceful  that  Menno  said:  'My  sadness  was  as  bitter  as  death, 
and  I  knew  not  for  grief  what  to  do.  Yes,  if  the  gracious  breath  of  the  Almighty 
had  not  preserved  me,  I  should  have  lost  my  senses.'  As  to  the  question  of  immer- 
sion a.nongst  the  Netherland  Baptists  : 

There  is  not  conclusive  evidence  that  they  immersed  as  a  rule,  until  after  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century.  As  sprinkling  and  pouring  had  commonly  taken 
its  place  amongst  all  sects,  they  adopted  the  prevailing  method,  though  often  prac- 
ticing immersion,  as  was  still  done  by  the  Catholics.  Yet  that  many  of  them 
clung  to  immersion  is  evinced  by  the  fact  that  some  of  the  followers  of  Menno 
pleaded  that  they  could  not  immerse  in  prisons,  nor  always  in  their  own  houses,  and 
so  practiced  pouring.  Eobinson  says  of  Menno,  that  '  he  was  dipped  himself,  and 
he  baptized  others  by  dipping.'  Dr.  Angus,  a  critic  in  Mennonite  lore,  says  that 
he  '  always  laid  great  stress  on  immersion.'  Menno's  own  words  imply  this  :  '  After 
we  have  searched  ever  so  diligently  we  shall  find  no  otluM-  baptism  Iicsidcs  dipping 
in  water,  which  is  acceptable  to  God,  and  maintained  in  his  wunl.  .  .  .  Let  who 
will  oppose,  this  is  the  only  mode  of  baptism  that  Jesus  Christ  instituted,  and  that 
the  Apostles  taught  and  practiced.'  '* 

Most  of  the  Church  historians  in  Germany  and  the  Netherlands  accord  to  the 
Baptists  of  those  countries  a  high  antiquity,  which  they  are  able  to  trace  by  lines 
more  or  less  distinct,  but  which  the}'  do  not  formulate  into  full  and  authentic  record. 
For  example,  Mosheim  says  of  the  Dutch  Baptists  that  their  true  origin  'is  hid 
in  the  remote  depths  of  antiquity,  and  is,  consequently,  extremely  difficult  to  be 
•ascertained.'  Drs.  Dermout  and  Ypeig,  in  reporting  their  historical  investigations 
to  the  King  of  Holland,  say  that :  '  The  Baptists,  who  were  formerly  called  Ana- 
baptists, and  in  latter  times  Mennonites,  were  the  original  Waldenses,  and  have  long 
in  the  liistor}'  of  the  Church  received  the  honor  of  that  origin.  On  this  account, 
tiic  I'ajifists  m;iy  be  coiisidtred  the  only  Christian  commnnity  whicli  has  stood  since 


Dli. 

KELLEU. 

cicty 
,  l)'r 

.  wlii<-li  li; 
.  Keller,  ii 

rv  o\ 

■   tlie  (ieri 

tlie  Apostles,  and  as  a  Cliristian  sdeiety,  whicli  has  invserved  pure  the  doctrines  of 
tlie  Gospel  tlirongh  all  a_i;-es.'  Sn  Dr.  .Keller,  in  liis  i-eeent  work,  wliicii  throws  a 
flood  of  light  upon  the  early  liistoi-y  tif  tlie  (Teriiian  I'.aptists,  says,  after  describing 
their  great  numbers:  'It  w.mld  he  a  great  mistake  if  (Hie  .-houM  believe  that  all 
these  remarks  have  reference  uiily  tu  the  period  of  tlie  Minister  kingdom ;  much 
rather  can  it  be  iimved  tliat  in  the  lands  mentioned  ilaptist  Churches  existed  for 
many  decades  and  even  cent\ii-ies.'  lie  also  adds:  'The  more  I  examine  the  docu- 
ments of  that  time  at  njy  command,  the  more  I  am  astonished  at  tlie  extent  of  the 
diffusion  of  Anabaptist  views,  mi  .rfnit  <,f  n-Iurli  m,  ,,ilu  r  i),i; .■^flijitfui-  Jms  had  any 
Jcnowledge.  Even  Zwingli,  wiio  <lied  in  iri;;i.  saiil  :  ''J'he  institution  of  Anabaptism 
is  no  novelt}',  but  for  thirteen  hundred  years  lias  caii^ed  givat  distni'bance  in  the 
Church.'  Yet,  in  the  main,  these  writers  do  not  trace  tlie  line  lieyond  the  state- 
ment of  the  countries  and  cities  where  they  existed,  of  Mdiicli  Keller,  who  is  possibly 
the  most  learned  investigator  of  the  subject  now  living,  gives  a  long  list,  but  adds 
that  a  perfect  list  of  'Baptist  Churches  cannot  be  enumerated,  for  the  reason  that 
their  existence  was  a  profound  secret.' 

For  the  same  reason  it  is  difficult  to  trace  the  history  of  the  ('..llegiants  to  tiieir 
origin,  but  this,  at  least,  is  known,  namely,  that  they  ^\■el■e  found  in  Holland  as 
early  as  1619,  and  can  be  traced  down  for  about  two  hundred  years,  under  the  name 
of  Collegiants,  from  their  collegia,  and  rdieinsbergcrs,  from  the  name  of  the  village 
near  Leyden,  where  tliey  held  their  great  assenddies.  They  are  suppc.ised  to  have 
received  immersion  from  certain  Bapti.sts  exiled  from  Poland.  They  laid  out 
grounds  and  put  up  buildings  at  Eheinsberg,  wdiere  they  sunk  a  stone  baptistry  on 
their  own  ]iremises  and  immersed  their  converts,  the  candidate  kneeling  in  the 
water,  his  head  being  bowed  forward  and  buried.  Their  Confession  made  the  Bible 
their  standard  of  faith  and  life,  they  required  faith  in  Christ  as  the  Son  of  God, 
before  the  reception  of  baptism  and  the  Supper,  they  demanded  a  holy  life,  exer- 
cised the  liberty  of  prophesying,  defended  the  right  of  private  judgment,  and  kept 
their  piety  active  by  prayer  and  conference  meetings,  when  these  were  unknown 
elsewhere  in  Holland.  They  first  organized  into  an  Assembly,  after  the  decree 
of  the  Synod  of  Dort,  ir,19,  which  removed  two  hiin.lreil  Ai-minian  pastors,  for  they 
were  Arminian  in  doctrine,  and  were  opposed  to  war  and  oaths.  Tlieir  leaders  were 
the  bi'others  Van  der  Kodde,  members  of  a  devout  family,  which  had  suffered  per- 
secution for  more  than  a  hundred  years,  as  Reformers.  Their  grandfather,  "William 
Jansoon,  was  a  great  Bible  student,  who  kept  the  Scriptures  hid  for  safety  on  his 
farm.  His  seven  grandsons  were  good  Latin  scholars  and  one  of  them  taught 
Hebrew  in  the  high-school  at  Leyden.  Prince  Maurice  said  to  D'Aubert,  the 
French  embassador,  one  day  as  they  rode  througli  the  Collegiant  lands:  'Our  peas- 
ants can  read  Latin.'  He  then  summoned  these  brothers  from  their  work  in  the 
field,  and,  to  the  astonishment  of  the  diplomat,  talked  with  them  in  Latin  and 
French. 


THE   rOI.LEarAXTS.  428 

They  establislied  an  orpliaii  asylum,  for  wliicli  tlic  widow  of  the  clerk  of 
Kotterdain  gave  tlieiii  10,(iOO  gulden;  they  frequently  raised  60,000  gulden  a  year 
to  take  care  of  their  own  poor,  and  when  the  dykes  burst,  in  1740,  they  commenced 
a  subscription  for  repairs  which  reached  60,000  gulden.  They  had  meetings  in 
eighteen  different  towns  in  1740,  but  their  meetings  ceased  at  Rheinsberg  in  1787. 
At  the  beginning  of  the   present   century   Tfcfele  still   tnu-od   snnie   remains  of  the 


BAMISM  AT 


sect,  but  they  divided  into  two  parties,  one  of  them  running  into  Unitarian  views. 
They  built  two  places  of  worship  at  Rheinsberg,  and  continued  the  contest  for  thirty 
years ;  but  at  present  the  sect  is  about  extinct,  some  of  them  being  absorbed  into 
the  Mennonite  and  other  bodies,  from  which  originally  they  were  entirely  separate. 
Dr.  Angus  kindly  forwards  the  above  picture  of  baptism  as  administered  in 
PJu'inslierg  l)y  the  CoUegiants,  and  as  representing  the  Mennonite  baptism  of 
those  times. 


424  MENNO'8  SAD   WORDS. 

Tlic  liistory  nf  tlie  Netlierland  Baptists  is  a  inost  oxliilaratiiii,^  and  sad 
one.  As  a  Ijody,  they  liave  lar^fly  faded  away  in  tlirir  original  testimony.  I'er- 
liaps  they  did  the  g-rcat  work  wliidi  called  tlieni  into  existence  and  kept  tlieni 
alive  so  long,  namely,  the  defense  of  i)enk"s  izreat  principle,  '  Tiiat  the  civil  magis- 
trates should  not  use  force  in  nnitters  cd"  faith."  Fcn-  this  they  suffered  all  tliat  men 
can  suffer.  In  the  language  of  Fronde :  '  On  them  tiie  laws  of  the  country  might 
take  their  natural  course,  and  no  voice  was  raised  to  speak  for  them.  For  them  no 
European  agitated,  no  courts  were  ordered  into  mourning,  no  royal  hearts  trembled 
with  indignation.  At  their  deatli  the  world  looked  on  complacently,  indifferently, 
or  e.xuitingly.  For  them  history  has  no  word  of  praise.'  Menno  Simon  said 
tiiat  wdiile  their  murderers  were  'saluted  by  all  around  as  doctors,  masters,  lords,  we 
are  compelled  to  hear  ourselves  called  Anabaptists ; '  and  so  are  treated  as  the  pests 
of  society.  '  What  nnsery  and  anxiety  have  I  felt  in  the  deadly  perils  of  persecution 
for  my  poor  sick  wife  and  little  children  !  "While  others  lie  on  soft  beds  and 
cushions,  we  must  often  creep  away  into  secret  corners.  Wliile  otliers  engage  in  fes- 
tivities to  the  music  of  fife  and  trumpet,  we  must  look  armuid  whenever  a  dog 
barks,  fearing  tlie  spies  are  on  our  track.  Yet  those  wJio  suffered  with  Jesus  tlien 
reign  with  him  now.'' 


BAPTISTS  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN. 


CHAPTER  I. 


IMMERSION    IN    ENGLAND. 


iptifJin  was  : 
;il  F<,nts,'  ol 
tins  Clmrcli 


intiiersioii. 
wliicli  lie 
until    the 


"P^ROil  tlie  iiitrodiictioii  of  Cliri.- 

X  Simpson  says,  in  tlie  prefat-e 
names  353  in  England  :  '  As  imm( 
Reformation,  and  perhaps  oc- 
casionally later,  as  will  aftei'- 
wards  appear,  all  fonts  were  np 
to  that  period  snfficiently  large 
for  the  pnrpose.'  Grose  also 
says  of  the  baptisteries  in  the 
churches,  that:  'The  basins  were 
very  large.  There  was  an  ante- 
room where  the  ceremony  of  im- 
mersion was  performed.''  So 
Lingard,  in  his  *  History  of  the 
Early  English  Clnirch'  tells  us: 
'WJKMi  an  adult  solicited  bap- 
tism, lie  was  calkMl  upon  to 
profess  his  faitii  in  the  true 
God,  by  the  repetition  of  the 
Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Apostles' 
Creed,  and  to  declare  his  inten- 
tion of  leading  a  life  of  piety. 
...  He  then  descended  into  the 
font,  the  priest  depressed  liis 
head  below  the  surface,  saying, 
I  baptize  thee,'  etc.  The  candi- 
date 'was  plunged  into  the 
water,  the  mysterious  words  were  pronounced,  and  he  emerged  a  member  of  the 
Church.'  The  same  author  says  again,  that  when  infant  baptism  had  been  intro- 
duced, 'The  priest  himself  descende.l  into  the  water,  which  reached  to  his  knees. 


ANCIENT  PONT  AT  ST    MARTIN'S,  CANTERBURY 


TESTIMONIES    GIVEN  BY  TSEDK. 

(Iclivcrod  midrosscl   into  liis  linn.ls,  .■iiid  lie  plini.-r,l  it 
(iiv-.Tv  the  (livat  is  tlir   initli. ,ril  v  fur  tlir  staf.'inciit  that 

liiis>i,,iKmcs    liajitizcl    trn    tl >ali.l    in    mi,,   day,  to   wliicli 

^  add   tliiit   tliis  liaptiMii  was  in  tlir  rivci-  SwaU'.     Tliis  river 

.■en  the  Js!e  uf  Sheppy  and  tlic  main  land,  and  is  navigable 

nrden.     (ireun  speaks  of  this  seeiie,  saying:  'The  Kentish 

in  the  i-iver  Swale.'s     And   Gocelin   calls  it  'the  river  of 

Vll  entered  the  dangerous  de]itli  <d"  the  rivei',  two  and  two 

1    I  s,,lid  plain  ;  ami  in  the  true  faith,  confessing  the  exaltcl 

'(  d  one  by  the  other  in  turns,  tlie  ajiostolic  leailer  blessing 

.  It  I  ]>rogeny  for  heaven  boi'ii  out  of  a  deej)  irhn-Ipn,,] .'"  ^ 

bk  I'.ede  has  given  an  account  of  a  lai-ge   wooden  li:ij)tistcry 

liastily  built  at  York,  A.  D.  ii:.'7.  for  the  baptism 

of    Edwin,  king  of  Nortlaimlierlaml,  lie    describes 

the    baptism    of    Paulinus    in    the    Yoi-kshire  I'iver 

'Swale,   wliieh   flows  past   tlie   village  of    Cateract 

(('arric);  for  as  yet  oi-atories  or  baptisteries,  in  the 

v.Ty   beginning  of  the  infant  Church  there,  could 

not   lie   built."      Aleuin.   when    sjieaking  of  the   im- 

mersi f  the   king  and   his   nobles   'in   tlie   sa.Ted 

fountain."  says  that  York  remained  illustrious: 
•J'.ecausi'  in  that  sacred  pLice  King  Edwin  was 
washed  in  thi'  water.'  Theodore.  Archliishop  of 
Cantei-bury.  (W.K  enjoined  triple  inmiersion.  Canon 
Ladaius  said:  'If  any  bishop  or  presbyter  does  not  perform  the  one  initiation  with 
three  immersions,  hut  witli  giving  one  immersion  only,  into  the  death  of  tlie  Lord, 
let  him  be  deposed.'  Ih'own's  •  TIisto)T  of  York  Afinster"  marks  the  position  of  the 
wooden  baptistei-y.  '  inrlosing  a  sjiring.  still  remaiidng.  which,  according  to  Dr.  Giles, 
was  discovered  while  making  ri'pairs  of  the  ]. resent  cathedral."  In  gathering  up 
tliese  and  otlier  cases,  lii'de.  who  died  A.  D.  T-"..'>.  says:  '  For  he  truly  wdio  is  bap- 
tized is  seen  to  descend  into  thi'  fountain,  hi'  is  seen  to  be  dijiped  in  the  waters,  lie 
is  seen  to  ascend  from  the  waters."  The  Council  of  Caliehyth  (Chelsea),  held  under 
Kenw'olf,  king  of  the  ]\rei-cians.  in  sltl.  ]iassed  this  canon:  'Let  the  presbytei-s  know 
when  tliey  administer  sacred  baptism,  not  to  pour  holy  water  upon  the  lieads  of  the 
infants,  but  always  to  immerse  tlietn  in  the  laver,  after  the  example  given  by  the 
Son  of  God  himself  to  every  believer,  when  he  was  three  times  immersed  in  the 
waters  of  Jordan.'  In  tlie  following  century  the  baptism  of  Etlielred  took  place  on 
this  wise,  according  to  William  of  Malmesbury :  'When  the  little  boy  was  immersed 
in  the  font  of  liajjtism,  the  bishops  standing  around,  the  sacrament  was  marred  by  a 
sad  accident.'  Such  immersion  is  in  keeping  witli  the  '  Sarum  Use'  (Liturgy), 
which  existed  from   1(IS7,  and   of   which  Dr.   Wall   remarks,  tliat  it   did  all   along 


ornER  AuriioniTiEs.  427 

enjoin  (li])pinii-,  witlumt  any  nicntiDn  of  jiouriiig  or  sprinklini^.  Cardinal  Pulii?,  a 
lecturer  at  Oxford  and  I'aris,  in  a  treatise  jMiblislied  about  1150,  writes:  'Whilst 
the  candidate  for  baptism  in  water  is  immersed  the  death  of  Christ  is  suggested; 
whilst  immersed  and  covered  with  water  the  burial  of  Christ  is  shown  forth  ;  whilst 
he  is  raised  from  the  winters  the  resurrection  of  Christ  is  proclaimed.  Tlie  inuner- 
sion  is  repeated  three  times.' 

In  1200,  the  Council  of  London  enjoined  immersion;  tliat  of  Sarum  in  1217, 
and  that  of  Oxford  in  1222,  did  the  same  :  while  the  Synod  of  Worcester,  12-10, 
decreed  that  '  In  every  church  where  baptism  is  performed,  there  shall  be  a  font  of 
stone  of  sufficient  size  and  depth  for  the  baptism  of  children.  .  .  .  And  let  the 
candidate  for  baptism  always  be  immersed.'  Two  Councils  held  at  Perth,  1242, 
1296,  by  canon  instructed  the  minister  what  to  do  before  immersion,  and  in  the 
days  of  Wallace  and  Bruce,  a  barbarous  custom  prevailed  in  the  elanish  feuds, 
amongst  the  border  countries,  M'hich  left  the  right  hands  of  male  children  undipped 
in  baptism,  in  order  that  they  might  with  this  unsanctiiied  hand  deal  the  more 
deadly  blows  upon  their  foes,  as  one  of  our  great  poets  embodies  the  sentiment  : 

'  And  at  the  sacred  font  the  priest 

Through  ages  left  the  master  hand  unblest, 

To  urge  with  keener  aim  the  lilood-incnistod  s])ear.' 

Sir  Walter  Scott  refers  to  this  custom  in  his  notes  on  the  minsti-els}'  of  the  border, 
and  says,  that  it  existed  in  Ireland  also.  The  Percy  Society's  poems  of  Wm.  do 
Shorham,  vicar  of  Seven  Oaks,  gives  an  exposition  of  baptism  about  1313,  in  which 
he  says,  that  men  may  dip  in  warm  water  'in  whaut'  (winter)  and  in  the  'salt  sea.' 
But  he  forbids  dipping  at  baptism  in  wine,  'sither'  (cyder),  'ne  in  pereye,'  also  in 
ale  and  'other  liquor  that  changeth  water's  kind,'  a  ])ractico  which  prevailed  to 
some  extent.  Water  only  must  be  used,  but  he  alli>wed  ice  to  be  melted,  for  the 
purpose  of  procuring  water.  Pope  Stephen  allowed  baptism  in  wine,  if  death 
impended,  atid  water  could  not  be  had,  and  several  cases  are  on  record,  in  the  Irish 
Church,  where  children  were  immersed  in  milk.  They  had  water  enough  at  hand 
anywhere  for  the  purpose  of  aspersion,  but  immersion  in  some  fluid  was  indispcMisa- 
bly  necessary  in  the  absence  of  water,  even  if  rarer  and  more  expensive  than  water. 
Before  this  time,  however,  as  these  man}'  injunctions  show,  aspersion  was  made 
an  exceptional  method  of  administering  the  rite,  in  consequence,  no  doubt,  of  the 
permissive  decree  of  the  Council  of  Ravenna,  1311,  before  which  it  had  no  sanction. 
But  the  exceptions  were  few  for  a  long  period.  Arthur,  the  eldest  brother  of 
Henry  V^IIL,  and  Margaret  his  sister,  were  immersed  in  the  years  14SC  and  1502 
with  elaborate  ceremonies.  Leland  describes  at  length  the  new  font  made  for  the 
baptism  of  the  prince  at  Winchester,  lined  with  cloth  to  prevent  the  cold  sides 
touching  the  child,  and  saj-s,  that  '  the  prince  was  put  into  the  font.'  The  same 
writer  describes  the  baptism  of  Margaret,  grandmother  to  Mary  Queen  of  Scots, 
at  Westminster  Abbey:  '  As  soon  as  she  was  put  into  the  font  all  the  torches  were 


42S  TTNDALE'S   TESTIMONY. 

liglitcd.'  lie  gives  simihir  accounts  of  the  dipping  of  Edward  VI.  and  Queen 
Elizabeth,  sliowing  tliat  tlie  royal  family  was  immersed  as  well  as  the  conmion 
people,  according  to  tlie  ecclesiastical  requirements  of  the  times. 

It  is  clear  enuiigh  tliat  dipping  continued  as  the  normal  form  of  the  rite  all 
through  Edward's  reign  ( ir)47-r.2),  but  Walker  says,  •  Sprinkling  was  sometimes 
used.-  Indeed,  the  lirst  Cliurcli  permission  found  in  Engkind  for  any  thing  but 
immei'siun  is  in  tlie  J'rayer-llook  of  \:A\t.  whi.'h  says,  that  '  If  the  child  he  weak,  it 
shall  suffice  to  ixiur  water  upon  it.'  With  this  exceiitioii  the  ruliric  demanded  that 
the  priest  shall  'take  the  child  in  his  hands.'  and  -shall  dip  it  in  the  water  thrice. 
First  dip])ing  the  right  side  :  second  the  left  shle  :  the  third  time  dipping  the  face.' 
In  l;")."):^  the  word  'thrice'  was  dropjied  from  the  liook,  together  with  the  directions 
for  the  dipping  to  the  right,  left,  etc.,  and  the  instruction  was  simjdy,  'shall  dip  it 
in  water.'  But  this  gradual  change  met  with  great  resistance.  Tyndale,  in  his 
Doctrinal  Treatise,  1528.  writes  : 

'Ask  the  people  what  they  understand  by  their  baptism  or  washing?  And 
thou  shalt  s(!e,  that  they  believe,  how  that  the  very  ]ilunging  into  the  water  savetli 
them.  .  .  .  Behold  how  narrowly  the  people  look  on  tlu:  ceremony !  If  aught  be 
left  out,  or  if  the  child  be  not  altogether  dipped  in  the  water,  or  if,  because  the  child 
is  sick,  the  priest  dare  not  plunge  him  into  the  water,  but  ponr  Avater  on  his  head, 
how  tremble  they !  how  quake  they !  How  say  ye,  "Sir  John"  [a  common  name 
for  a  priest],  say  they :  "Is  this  child  christened  enough,  hath  it  full  Christendom T' 
They  believe  verily  that  the  child  is  not  christened.'  Again  he  says:  'Tribulation 
is  our  right  bajitism,  and  is  signified  by  plunging  into  the  water.'  So  the  people 
were  gradually  rolibed  of  the  only  symbol  which  gave  the  right  inqiort  of  their  bap- 
tism, which  was  made  what  ho  quaintly  calls :  '  A  turn-again  lane  unto  them,  which 
they  caimot  go  through,  nor  make  three  lines  agree  together.  .  .  .  The  sentences  of 
the  Scriptui'e  are  nothing  but  very  riddles  nnto  them,  at  the  which  they  guess  as  the 
blind  man  doth  at  the  crow  '  and  expound  by  guess,  a  hundred  doctors  by  a  hundi'ed 
ways.'  In  his  Obedience  of  a  Christian  Man  he  says,  that  '  The  plunging  into  the 
water  signifieth  that  we  die  and  are  buried  Mith  Christ,  and  the  pulling  out  again 
sign-fieth  that  we  rise  again  with  Christ  in  a  new  life.'  And  in  his  Prologue  to 
John's  I.  Ep.,  he  adds  :  '  Now,  we  be  all  baptized  ;  but,  alas !  not  one,  from  the  high- 
est to  the  lowest,  ever  taught  the  profession  or  meaning  thereof.  And,  therefore, 
we  remain  all  blind  generally,  as  well  our  great  rabbins,  for  all  their  high  learning 
which  they  seem  to  have,  as  the  lay  people.  Yea,  and  so  much  the  more  blind  are 
our  great  clerks  (the  learned),  that  where  the  lay  people,  for  a  great  number  of  them 
are  taught  nothing  at  all,  they  be  all  wrong  taught,  and  the  doctrine  of  their  baptism 
is  all  corrupt  unto  them  with  the  leaven  of  false  glosses,  ere  they  come  to  read  the 
Scripture ;  so  that  the  light  which  they  bring  with  them,  to  understand  the  Scripture 
withal,  is  utter  darkness,  and  as  contrary  nnto  the  Scrijiture  as  the  devil  unto  Christ.' 

It  was  with  all  this  and  much  more  in  view  that  Watson,  Bishop  of  London, 
1558,  wrote  :  '  Though  the  old  and  ancient  tradition  of  the  Churcli  hath  been  from 
the  beginning  to  dip  the  child  three  times,  etc.,  yet  that  is  not  of  such  necessity, 
but  that  he  is  but  once  dipped  in  the  water,  it  is  sufficient,  yea,  and  in  time  of 
great  peril  and  necessity,  if  the  water  be  but  poured  on  his  head  it  will  suffice.'' 
So  stern  was  the  resistance,  however,  to  this  innovation,  that  ]\Iiddleton,  Bishop  of 


SPRINKLING  BECOMES    THE  JIULE.  429 

St.  David's,  issued  an  '  iiijiiiiction  '  iti  loS2,  forbiddiiij;-  ti-iiie  iiniiiersioii  in  l)ai)tisiii.  ^ 
The  second  Prayer-Book  of  Edward  VI.,  1552,  enjoins  only  a  single  immersion,  and 
that  of  Elizabetli,  1560,  made  no  change  in  this  rubric.  This  is  still  the  law  in  the 
English  Clnuvh.  I'.ut.  so  far  as  apjirars,  the  \V(,nl  >  sprinkle'  lirst  took  rank  in  an 
English  ritual,  in  the  ( 'atcchisni  of  l('in4.  In  an.-wiT  to  the  question,  '"What  is  the 
outward  visible  sign  or  form  of  baptism  ;"  it  ru]ilies,  '  Water,  wherein  the  person 
baptized  is  dipped  or  sprinkled  with  it.'  Thi,- was  followed  by  tiie  Westminster  Di- 
rector}-, IG-i-i,  which  decided,  that  '  It  is  not  only  lawful,  but  also  sutticicnt  and  most 
expedient,  to  be  by  pouring  or  sprinkling  water  on  the  face  of  the  child.'  Thus,  in 
less  than  a  century,  what  had  been  the  general  rule  was  reversed,  and  what  had  been 
the  rare  exception  became  the  rule  ;  yet,  in  16G0,  dipping  had  not  become  entirely 
extinct,  as  it  was  common  in  1644.  Lord  Brooke,  in  his  '  Treatise  on  Episcopacy,' 
1641,  charges,  that  the  'Anabaptists'  refuse  baptism  to  their  children  till  they  come 
to  years  of  discretion,  'but  in  other  things  they  agree  with  the  (Jhurch  of  England." 
His  subject  is  baptism,  and  his  'other  things'  must  relate  to  this  subject,  for  in 
doctrine  and  government  they  were  wide  apart.  Blake,  of  Tamworth,  says,  in  1644  : 
'  I  have  been  an  eye-witness  of  many  infants  dipped,  and  T  know  it  to  have  been  the 
constant  practice  of  many  ministers  in  their  places  I'or  many  years  together.  Those 
that  dip  not  infants  do  not  yet  nse  to  sprinkle  them,  there  is  a  middle  way  between 
these  two.  I  have  seen  several  dipped  ;  I  never  saw  or  heard  of  any  sprinkled,  or 
(as  some  of  you  use  to  speak)  rantizecl.  Our  way  is  not  by  aspersion,  but  perfusion  ; 
not  sprinkling  drop  by  drop,  but  pouring  on  at  once  all  that  the  bowl  contains.' 
Dr.  Wall  attributes  the  change  to  the  Puritan  clerg}',  whose  deference  to  Calvin's 
authority  led  them  to  adopt  sprinkling  in  accordance  with  his  own  form,  adopted  1545. 
Walter  Cradock,  preacher  at  All  Hallows,  and  one  of  the  sweetest  spirits  of  his 
day,  preached  before  the  House  of  Commons,  at  St.  Margaret's,  Westminster,  July 
21,  1646,  in  which  sermon  he  exhorts  Parliament  not  to  establish  '  any  outward  ex- 
ternal '  for  a  test  of  church-fellowship,  as : 

'Baj)tizing  this  way  or  that  way,  I  mean  by  dipping  or  sprinkling,  or  by  con- 
junction of  opinion  on  some  controverted  point.  .  .  .  Therefore,  when  I  have  com- 
munion with  a  saint,  I  must  not  look  so  much  whether  he  have  taken  the  covenant, 
or  have  been  baptized  once  or  twice  or  ten  times.'  And  in  a  marginal  note  he  adds : 
'  I  speak  not  this  as  if  my  opinion  were  for  rebaptizing  or  against  the  baptizing  of 
infants  of  believers,  the  contrary  appears  hj  my  practice.'' ' 

The  value  of  his  testimony  is  found  in  the  fact  that  he  gives  no  hint  whatever 
that  innnersion  was  a  new  thing  in  England,  but  the  implication  runs  all  througli 
his  writings  that  it  was  very  prevalent,  and  the  public  were  as  familiar  with  it  as 
with  the  '  covenant '  or  an}'  other  '  controverted  point '  of  that  period.  Besides,  if 
innnersion  had  been  introduced  amongst  the  '  Anabaptists' in  1641,  it  would  have 
been  simply  preposterous  for  a  learned  clergyman  to  be  exhorting  Parliament,  five 
short  years  after,  not  to  make  '  baptizing  this  way  or  that  way,  by  dipping  or  sprink- 


430  CHADOCK'S  LIBERAL    VTKWS 

ling,'  the  foundation  of  cliurch-fullowsliip.  Nothing  could  be  more  far-fetched,  or 
even  impertinent,  than  such  an  appeal.  Fortunately,  he  throws  much  light  upon 
the  general  subject  two  years  later,  ItUS,  in  his  'Gosi>el-libertie,  its  Extensions  and 
Limitations,'  from  which  tiie  tollowing  pa.-sagcs  arc  taken  : 

Page  2.'J-i  :  '  Saitli  Christ,  Bai.itize  all  nations,  that  is,  g(j  and  use  water  for 
their  washing,  for  whatever  men  find  in  the  word,  I  speak  not  of  now.  ...  If 
Christ  had  tied  men  to  go  into  Jordan,  as  in  that  country  it  was  so  hot,  they 
might  go  with  a  great  deal  of  comfort ;  but  if  Christ  had  made  baptism  such  an  or- 
dinance as  that  in  all  climates  and  countries  and  regions  they  must  go  o\-er  head  and 
ears  in  a  river,  we  know  in  some  climates  it  would  have  heen  present  death.  As 
with  us  in  this  climate,  at  some  times  of  the  year  to  be  put  over  head  and  ears  in 
the  Tluimes,  it  would  be  death,  at  others  not.' 

It  is  refreshing  in  the  bitterness  of  the  seventeenth  century,  side  by  side  with 
Featley,  to  find  a  man  who  had  the  candor  to  apply  his  own  logic  on  this  subject 
and  stand  by  it  to  its  legitimate  conclusions.     Thus,  on  the  Supper  he  says,  p.  24  : 

'  The  Lord  took  bread  and  wine,  and  lilesscd,  and  broke  and  gave  them;  and 
the  drift  of  all  the  business  is  to  show  the  breaking  of  his  body,  and  the  shedding  of 
his  blood.  Now,  he  hath  bound  us  that  we  should  break  bread  and  drink  wine,  that 
may  represeut  the  thing ;  but  he  hath  not  bound  us  to  bread  so  properly  called,  or 
to  wine  properly  so  called  ;  for  there  are  some  countries  that  have  neither  bread  nor 
wine,  but  only  roots  that  they  call  bread,  and  they  have  water  for  their  drink. 
Now,  if  Christ  had  said  it  mnst  be  true  bread,  and  true  and  real  wine,  that  must 
do  the  deed,  these  people  could  never  have  the  Supper  of  the  Lord.' 

Like  Baxter,  he  was  very  nervous  aljout  the  healtli  of  the  English  nation,  and 
had  little  love  for  cold  water  to  that  end,  but  he  never  charges  the  Baptists  with  be- 
ing the  authors  of  a  new  style  of  homicide.  He  does  think,  however,  that  they  laid 
too  much  stress  on  dipping,  and  says  on  p.  26 : 

'  Of  dipping  over  head  and  ears,  because  the  word  hajyto  signifies  over  head  and 
ears  sninotinios.  and  because  the  preposition  ein  signifies  to  go  into,  from  that  they 
liiihl  ('//  ///'  s,i//i/s  iiIJ  the  world  over,  to  go  into  rivers,  so  that  if  a  man  be  not 
dij'j'-'K  but  (Jiily  sitriid^led,  because  of  the  preposition  em,  that  makes  a  nullity  of 
the  Church,  that  it  is  no  church,  and  so,  consequently,  there  shall  be  no  church  at  all.' 

Still,  with  a  charity  far  in  advance  of  his  age,  he  cannot  bear  to  have  the  Bap- 
tists abused,  especially  in  nick-naming  them,  and  several  times  he  rebukes  this 
sharply,  as  on  page  40,  thus : 

'I  see  the  devil  gets  mucli  ;idv;uit;iae  by  nick-names,  by  calling  men  Presbyte- 
rians, and  Antinomians,  and  Aimhifjitisis,  and  I  know  not  what.  Therefore,  I  be- 
seech you,  beware  how  you  use  tlmsc  names,  thongh  I  say  not  it  is  unlawful,  yet 
there  be  mistakes,  let  us  call  them  as  gently  as  we  can,  that  are  generally  among  us.' 

Here  is  no  'Gangrsena'  nor  vulgar  slang,  but  a  Christian  scholar,  and  more,  a 
Christian  gentleman,  who  understands  the  times  in  which  he  lives,  and  knows  how 
to   talk   about    decent  people   with  whom  he  differs   on    serious   questions.      On 

p.  100  he  sa3's : 


Ills  ARGUMENT   FROM  EXPEDIENCY.  431 

'  TliL-rc  is  HOW  among  good  people  a  great  deal  of  .strife  al)i>iit  I)a)itisiii  ;  as  for 
divers  things,  so  for  the  ))oiiit  of  dipping,  thouuJi  in  smm  j'lui;  s  i,,  Kinil-tiid  tin  ij  dip 
alt<<(jether.  Ilow  shall  we  end  the  controvert  wiih  ih..-,-  -.nlly  ]ii-.,|,|c.  a~  many  of 
them  are.  Look  upon  the  Scriptures,  and  tlirre  ynu  >li;ill  liml  tliat  //'/y/c  (to  bap- 
tize), it  is  an  ordinance  of  God,  and  the  use  of  water  in  way  of  washing  for  a  spirit- 
ual end,  to  resemble  some  spiritual  thing.  It  is  an  ordinance  of  God,  but  whether 
dipping  or  sprinkling,  that  we  must  bring  the  party  to  a  river,  or  draw  the  river  to 
him,  or  use  water  at  home,  whether  he  must  be  in  head  and  foot,  or  be  under  the 
water,  or  the  water  under  him,  it  is  not  proved  that  God  hath  laid  down  an  absolute 
rule  for  it.  Now,  what  shall  we  do  ?  conclude  oa  the  absolute  rule  that  (iod  hath 
laid  down  in  Scripture,  and  judge  of  the  rest  according  to  expediency.  .  .  .  Let  us 
judge  whether  sprinkling  or  dipping  be  more  expedient,  and  then  there  would  be 
no  strife.  For  there  is  scarce  a  man  in  this  place  that  if  he  were  persuaded  that 
dipping  were  not  an  absolute  rule,  but  it  were  to  be  judged  according  to  expediency, 
he  would  rather  have  in  a  modest  way  the  use  of  water,  than  to  have  men  and  women, 
and  weak  people,  it  may  be  in  the  wintertime,  over  head  and  ears  into  the  river; 
he  Would  rather  make  use  of  water  in  a  more  civil  and  safe  and  less  dangerous  way.' 

lie  neither  charges  upon  the  Laptists  that  their  practice  was  unscriptural,  new, 
nor  a  change  from  their  former  practice.  On  the  contrary,  he  asks:  'How  we  shall 
baptize,  whether  by  sprinkling  or  going  into  a  river,  because  it  is  probable  that 
some  of  them  did;'  as  to  the  English  practice  he  says:  'In  some  places  in  Kngland 
they  dip  altogether.  How  shall  we  end  the  controversy  with  those  godly  penplc,  as 
many  of  them  are.'  He  then  frankly  intimates  his  honest  opinion  that  the  contru- 
versy  was  as  old  as  Christ's  command  to  baptize,  for  he  says,  on  p.  Ifi,  that  wiien 
Christ  sent  his  disciples  to  baptize  he  gave  the  connnand.  'And  there  was  an  end. 
They  might  ask  a  hundred  cpiestions.  Shall  we  do  it  in  a  v'wcx  or  in  a  brook  '.  to 
3-oang  or  to  old  ?  in  winter  or  in  summer?  .  .  .  But  Christ  lays  down  the  sum  of 
the  doctrine,  and  the  end  of  it,  In  the  name  of  the  Father,  aiui  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  there  is  no  more  of  it.'  The  only  new  thing  that  he  hints  at 
in  this  whole  question  of  dipping,  is  his  great  concern  for  the  life  of  the  dipped. 
For  centuries  those  opposed  to  them  had  been  devising  every  conceivable  method 
of  getting  rid  of  tlum.  by  fire  and  fagot,  as  in  England  and  Holland,  and  by  drown- 
ing outright,  as  in  Switzerland  and  Austria.  But  now,  one  tender-hearted  opponent 
springs  up,  who  eaiuiut  bear  the  thought  even  of  having  their  feet  w'et.  Compassion 
was  a  new  thing  in  their  case,  they  were  sickly  and  'weak,'  and  to  think  of  taking 
such  'feeble  folk'  into  the  'Thames'  and  other  rivers  or  brooks  and  wetting  their 
'  ears,'  and  that  in  winter  too,  was  a  moving  thought  for  kind-hearted  Walter 
Cradock.  Yet  as  the  Baptists  would  not  stop  this  old,  uncivil,  unsafe  and  'dan- 
gerous way,'  he  says,  page  108 : 

'  I  speak  not  that  you  may  persecute  godly  people,  or  that  it  is  altogether 
unlawful  for  the  saints  to  meet  in  another  place.  ...  Or  thus,  suppose  in  this 
country  or  in  a  colder  that  people  did  go  and  baptize  in  rivers,  whereas  this  is  not 
an  absolute  command.  But  only  the  using  of  water,  lay  down  that,  and  by  that 
means  divers  subjects  die,  and  lose  their  lives,  suppose  this  were  real,  herein  for 
aught  I  know  the  magisti'ate  may  determine  a  course,  and  take  another  way,  because 
herein  is  prejudice  to  his  subjects.' 


VRADOCK  AND   BAXTER. 


Tliis  las 

t  is 

tlu.,  ,. 

assii 

l^'C 

rcfci-iV' 

il    tn 

'   ''> 

liaxter 

in  h 

is   '  Plain   Se 

ri})ture  Proof,' 

])p. 

i;;4  i:;:. 

in 

cviiK 

•lin 

■  th 

afilippi 

Hi;-  i: 

.  a' 

ii< 

ilation 

of   th 

e  Sixth  Com 

maiKlnient,  and 

sll.M 

llhl    IH-St, 

'I'l" 

Ml     llV 

tlu 

i-isti'at( 

His 

u 

onls  ai 

■e: 

'As  Ml- 

.  Ci 

■ailoi-l. 

;sli 

n\\, 

,  in  his 

hool 

'  (. 

iospel 

Lihe, 

rty,  the  ma-l 

strare  ought  to 

rest 

rain  it    t< 

)  sa 

vc  tlu 

•  li^ 

,-i'S 

.,t  his  SI 

iihje 

ets. 

That  t 

his  i. 

-  Hat  munler. 

and  no  better, 

W\\ 

iu-,,nlina 

rilv 

an.l  , 

-rll 

rra. 

lly  iiM-.l 

unci 

en 

iahle  t^ 

II  M\\ 

,■  uiiilerstanili 

n-  man.' 

("rrtainl 

V,  ( 

'railn. 

L-k's 

.nis   wil 

1   Ik 

■ar 

nil 

>   Slieh 

eons 

trnctioii  as  I! 

axter  put  upon 

thn 

11,  ami  til 

at  1 

U'    IIIC 

ant 

llu 

siu-h  th 

ill- 

is  e 

I,-; 

III-  not 

only 

from  the  words  themselves, 

l>ut 

fn.m   til 

V    k 

iiiil    1 

nan 

lltT 

in    wh 

ieli 

he 

ill 

iiitonn 

ly   tr 

eateil    those 

wlio  had  been 

,|M.,1    UV.I 
1    V 111.' 

•  li... 

a.l  an 
n.l    h. 

,1c: 
•   11 

in  the  r 
4lit  sue) 

i\lT 

1   pi; 

•opl 

11 

were 

a  sli 

-lit   teiulone^^ 

,•  to  suicide  in 
and   lii.se  their 

livr 

s,-   ami    f 

or   ; 

iii-ht 

lu- 

k, 

lew   to 

tlie 

eon 

tl- 

ary   •  tl 

le  111 

a-isti'ate  ma 

//  determine  a 

.■.,n 

rs,',  anil  t 

akc 

aiiut; 

her 

\va 

v.-      He 

eoi 

.hi 

111 

it  hear 

him 

to  lose  snc! 

:i  '  subjects,'  he 

IkhI 

t.M,   few 

of 

tlK-l, 

11    n 

'  l\V. 

,   but   he 

'  hai 

■dly 

k 

new  hi 

IW   tl 

1  prevent  it. 

for  he  says :  '  I 

spu: 

ik    nut,   t 

hat 

yiiu 

ma 

y    ] 

[HM-seent 

,.      0-, 

o.ll^ 

people, 

•  wli 

o  are  ilippe. 

1  as  they  were 

alt.. 

The   ]va 

in  s 

,lkT 

may 

't 

lilt 

in  Kn-1; 
to    kno 

nul. 

w   s 

"onu 

'W 

■liat  nu 

if  this  open- 

hearted,  honest 

AVa 

ItiT    Ci-a. 

lud. 

:,    wh 

HVi 

ml  in-    1 

o     1 

!a\t 

er 

',   thoir 

-ht 

r.aptists   -nil 

ty   of   murder. 

.In.s 

Iiua  Tliui 

lias 

states 

Uh 

at  1 

le  was  a 

\\\ 

•Ish 

111; 

an  of  a 

1,  repi 

utaMe  family 

in  Aliinmouth- 

Sllil 

V,   wild,   \ 

n  a.  st 

Udf 

nt 

at  (  >xf( 

ml. 

tei 

ll   his  fi 

s  in  AVale>.';i 

iiid  while  there 

heard  Mr.  Wroth,  the  rector  of  JJanfaches,  preach,  and  was  converted.  The  next 
news  we  have  of  liim  is  through  Archbishop  Laud,  in  1()34,  to  whom  the  Bishop  of 
Landaii  had  reported  that  Walter  was  preaching  as  curate  in  St.  Mary's  in  Cardiff; 
but  that  '  being  a  bold,  ignorant  young  fellow,  he  had  suspended  him,  and  taken 
away  his  license.'  Then  Neal  tells  ns  that  in  1634-35  he  was  cited  to  London  and 
condemned  as  a  schismatic,  so  that  he  was  compelled  to  leave  the  Establishment  and 
preached  all  through  Wales  with  great  power.  One  of  Laud's  most  serious  charges 
against  him  was  that  he  said  in  the  ]>ulpit,  'that  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  for  it 
he  sent  his  Son  to  live  like  a  slave,  and  die  like  a  beast.'  Brooks  tells  us,  that  this 
earnest  Puritan  formed  an  Independent  Church  at  Llanfaches  in  1639,  and  Orme,  in 
his  Life  of  Baxter,  writes  that  about  1635,  Baxter  and  Cradock  became  acquainted  in 
Shrewsbury,  when  a  strong  alTeetion  was  formed  between  them.  But  the 'Broad- 
mead  Eecords'  inform  ns  that  in  1<;4:'.  he  and  his  church  were  obhged  to  fly  from 
Wales  to  Bristol  before  the  king's  army ;  they  took  refuge  in  Bristol,  which  was 
held  by  the  '  Parliament's  army.'  Then  Cradock  was  glad  to  find  a  home  amongst 
those  who  had  been  dipped  head  over  ears  in  the  river  Frome,  and  as  they  had  no 
pastor  he  administered  the  Supper  to  them :  '  First  at  y^  Dolphin,  in  y*  greate 
Eoome,  then  afterwards  sometime  at  a  Baker's  house,  upon  James'  Back,  who  was  a 
Member  of  y"  Church.'  AYlien  the  king's  army  captured  Bristol,  these  Welsh 
Independents  and  the  Bristol  Baptists  fled  together  to  London,  and  there  '  Did 
commonly   meet  at  Greate   AUhallows  for  y'^  most  parte.     Only  those  professors 


/i'A'.s7.s'77.\V/     rilh:    CIIAXGh:.  433 

tlnit  wci'u  r>a])tizecl  bi;fore  tliuy  went  up,  tliuy  did  sitt  dowiie  with  Jlr.  Kilt'eii  and 
liis  Cliui'cli  in  London,  being  likewise  Baptized.'*  In  1646  we  have  his  great  ser- 
mon before  Parliament,  while  preacher  at  All  Hallows,  and  in  1048  his  Gospel 
Liberty,  which  Baxter  uses  to  such  poor  account;  and  not  least  of  ail  his  statement 
that  in  some  parts  of  England  dipping  was  used  altogether  ;  with  his  reipiest,  in  1046, 
tliat  Parliament  would  not  make  this  a  test  of  Church  fellowship.  lie  died  about  1000. 
Amongst  the  opponents  of  the  new  practice  of  sprinkling,  some  of  the  Baptists 
were  found  in  stout  resistance;  notal)ly,  as  early  as  1014,  Leonard  Pusher,  tlie  author 
of  '  Religions  Peace,'  wrote  thus  : 

'  It  is  well  worthy  consideration,  that  as  in  the  time  of  the  Old  Testament  the 
Lord  would  not  have  his  offerings  by  constraint,  but  of  every  man  whose  heart 
gave  it  freely :  so  now,  in  the  time  of  the  Gospel,  he  will  not  have  the  people  eon- 
strained,  but  as  many  as  receive  the  word  gladly,  they  are  to  be  addeil  to  the  Church 
l)y  baptism.  And  therefore  Christ  commanded  his  disciples  to  teach  all  nations, 
and  baptize  them  ;  that  is,  to  preach  the  word  of  salvation  to  every  creature  of 
all  sorts  of  iiatiuii-.  that  arc  worthy  and  willing  to  receive  it.  And  such  as  siiall 
willingly  ami  ^la.lly  ri'iri\i>  it,  he  hath  commanded  to  be  baptized  in  the  water; 
that  is,  dip^'"! /■<!■  >l<-i'l  ni  tlic  water'^ 

S.  Fisher  also,  in  his  'iiaby  liaptism  mere  Babyism,'  resists  the  innovation 
bravely.  On  July  2'.*,  1041),  he  held  a  controversy  at  Ashford,  with  several  clergy 
men,  and  in  1053  published  his  book,  in  which  he  devotes  159  pages  to  show  that 
sprinkling  cannot  be  called  ba2)tism  without  perversion.     He  says : 

'  Having  raised  the  rotten  basis  of  your  Babyism,  I  come  now  to  reckon  with 
your  Rantism,  and  to  examine  whether  our  manner  of  baptizing,  which  is  by  dip- 
pino;,  is  the  baptism  wlilrli  was  iustitutrd  bv  ("hi-i>t.'  He  doses  [laue  404  as  follows: 
'Thus  have  I  d..iir  with  l,..th  |.,iri.  ..f  ihn' Hil.je.'t  of  nmiizin-,  which  partly  at  the 
motion  of  your  A>hforil  (li>piit:iiit>  1  wa>  I'li^aiicil  in.  ami  partly  by  that  mere  demi- 
reforniation  that  is  made  on  this  point  on  a  party  of  men  in  Lincolnshire  and  else- 
where (of  whom  I  suppose  there  are  several  congregations),  who  having  long  since 
discovered  the  true  \vay  of  baptism  as  to  the  subjects,  namely:  That  professing 
believers  only  and  nt)t  any  infants  ;ire  to  be  Ijaptized,  but  remaining  ignorant  of  the 
true  way  and  form  of  administering  the  orditiaiice,  are  fallen  into  the  frivolous  way 
of  Kprhil-ruKj  htiiii'irs ;  which  to  do  is  as  much  no  baptism  at  all  as  to  dip  infants 
is  no  baptism  of  Christ's  (Jiilainin--.  Which  people,  for  whose  sakes  as  well  as 
others  I  write  this,  will  In-  iHir-iiiidcd,  I  hope,  in  time,  to  be  as  to  the  outward  form, 
not  almost  oidy,  but  altogether  (  liiistians,  and  rest  no  longer  in  that  mere  midway, 
mongrel  Reformation.' 

Baxter  said  in  1050:  'I  may  say,  as  i\rr.  Blake,  that  I  never  saw  a  child 
sprinkled,  but  all  that  I  have  seen  baptized  had  water  poured  on  them,  and  so  were 
washed.'  From  that  time  onward,  sprinkling  pushed  pouring  out  of  the  way  so 
fast  that  Selden,  who  died  in  1654,  remarks  sarcastically  in  his  '  Table  Talk : ' 

*  The  baptizing  of  children  with  us  does  only  prepare  a  child,  against  he  comes  to 
l)e  a  man,  what  Christianity  means.  In  the  Church  of  Rome  it  has  this  effect,  it  frees 
children  from  hell.  ...  In  England,  of  late  years,  I  ever  thouglit  tlic  par-ai  bap- 
tized his  own  lingers,  rather  than  the  child.'  This  is  substantially  what  I'eatley  had 
said  in  1044:  '  the  minister  dippeth  his  hand  into  the  water,  and  phicketli  it  out 
when  he  baptizeth  the  infant.' '° 


484  Sl'UL\KLL\il    NEVKltTlIKLEHS  PRKVMLS. 

So  fast  (lid  the  f,\cf|iti(i)i  l.ucdine  the  ruir,  tliat  in  tlie  o])ciiinir  r)f  tliu 
ei-litrontli  cuniury  Dr.  Wall  tells  us  that  liu  lia.l  hcanl  of  two  i.crsons  tlieu 
livinj;'  who  liail  hccii  iliiiiKMi  in  the  font;  also  uf  one  clergyman  then  living  who 
had  so  hapti/.ed  infants,  and  that  at  tlie  reciiiests  of  tlie  parents  he  had  himself 
administered  baptism  in  tlu>  same  way.  lie  further  states  that  dnia'ng  tlie  reigns 
of  James  and  Charles  J.  all  ehi-isteiied  ehildren  were  carried  to  the  font,  whiell 
act  said  :  '  The  minister  is  ready  to  dip  the  child  if  the  parents  will  venture  the 
health  of  it.'  Dean  Comber,  in  his  woi-k  on  the  Common  Prayer,  1688,  said  of 
the  baptismal  rite  :  '  Because  the  way  of  immersion  was  the  most  ancient,  our 
Church  doth  first  prescribe  that,  and  only  permits  the  other  where  it  is  certified 
the  child  is  weak,  althougli  custom  has  now  prevailed  to  the  laying  of  the  first 
wholly  aside.'  To  this  day,  however,  as  Dean  Staidey  says:  'In  tlie  Church  of 
England  immersion  is  still  observed  in  theory.  .  .  .  The  rubric  in  the  public  bap- 
tism for  infants  enjoins  that  unless  for  special  causes  they  are  to  be  dipped,  not 
sprinkled,  but  in  ])raetice  it  gave  w'ay  from  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth 
century.'  Occasionally  it  is  used  now,  but  according  to  the  annals  of  that  Cliurch 
the  last  recorded  instances  of  immersion  before  the  Restoration  were  in  dipping 
three  infant  sons  of  Sir  Robert  Shirley,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  This  agrees 
with  Gale's  answer  to  Wall,  that  dipping  continued  till  Queen  Elizabeth's  time, 
'  and  then  fell  into  total  disuse,  within  a  little  more  than  a  hundred  years,  and 
sprinkling,  the  most  opposite,  was  introduced  in  its  stead.' 

We  fall  into  a  mistake,  however,  if  we  suppose  that  the  Baptists  were  the  only 
people  who  resisted  this  change.  Becon  tells  us  that  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth 
there  was  contention  on  the  subject  in  the  Established  C'hurcli.  Wall  treats  of  this 
at  great  length,  and  of  the  efforts  made  by  many  to  restore  dipping,  not  only,  as 
Rogers  expresses  it  to  D'Anvers,  '  in  order  to  the  peace  of  the  Church,'  but  also  to 
conciliate  the  Baptists,  '  by  your  reunion  with  it,  and  the  saving  of  your  souls  by 
rescuing  you  from  under  the  guilt  of  schism,  I  could  wish  the  practice  of  it  re- 
trieved into  use  again.'  Indeed,  Daniel  Rogers  Ment  so  far  as  to  say  :  '  I  believe 
the  ministers  of  the  nation  would  be  heartily  glad  if  the  people  would  desire  or 
be  but  willing  to  have  their  infants  dipped,  after  the  ancient  manner,  both  in  this 
and  in  other  churches  ;  and  bring  them  to  baptism  in  such  a  condition  as  that  they 
might  be  totally  dipped.'  Walker,  Towerson  and  other  divines  took  the  same 
ground.  Sir  Norton  Knatchbull,  one  of  the  most  learned  men  of  his  day,  was  of 
the  opinion,  '  That  it  would  be  more  for  the  honor  of  the  Church,  and  for  the  peace 
and  security  of  religion,  if  the  old  custom  could  conveniently  be  restored.'  And  Sir 
John  Floyer,  whom  Wall  pronounces  '  a  learned  physician,'  wrote  a  '  History  of 
Cold  Bathing,  Ancient  and  Modern,'  in  which  he  showed  its  healthiness  and  bless- 
ings, without  regard  to  climate,  adding,  that  he  could  not '  advise  his  countrymen  to 
any  better  method  for  preservation  of  health,  than  the  cold  regimen,  to  dip  all  their 
children  in  baptism,'  and  •  to  wash   them  often  afterwards,  till   three    (piarters  of  a 


JlAXTHIi'S  PASSIONATK    WOItDS.  438 

year  old.'  \\y  'wasli"  here  lie  evidently  means  di)..  He  tlinn<,^lit,  also,  that  'the 
approbation  of  physicians  wcuiid  liriui;-  in  the  old  nsi'  of  iiiiniersion  in  baptism.'" 
The  strange  medley  into  wliich  Uaxter  fell  on  the  sniijcet  may  throw  light  upon  Sir 
John  Floyer's  position.  The  Kidderminster  di\  inc  had  become  deeply  concerned 
(m  this  matter  of  immersion  as  affecting  the  nation;il  health,  and  had  said,  in  1650, 
that  it  was  'A  plain  breach  of  the  Sixth  Commandment,  "Thou  shalt  not  kilL"' 
So  far  then  from  l.einnan  ordinance  of  God,  he  denounced  it  'as  a  most  heinous  siu,' 
and  thought  that  '  the  magistrate  ought  to  restrain  it,  to  save  the  lives  of  his  subjects.' 
This  seemed  to  afford  amusement  for  the  ablest  jjhysieians  of  that  period,  but 
in  the  nineteenth  centur}',  when  the  bath  is  accounted  a  constant  necessity  to  health, 
what  an  iijilieatinn  ir  nnist  be  to  the  bathers  at  Newport,  Long  Branch,  and  Cape 
May  to  hear  the  pious  author  of  'The  Saint's  Everlasting  Rest'  declaim  thus,  in  de- 
picting the  terrible  calamities  whieh  follow  immersion,     lie  says: 

'  Apoplexies,  letharu-ics.  |);ilsii"s,  and  all  other  comatose  diseases  would  be  pro- 
moted by  it.  So  would  rr|jli:il;il-iis,  hemicranies,  phthises,  debility  of  the  stomach, 
crudities,  and  almost  all  tr\ii>.  cly.^Liiteries,  diarrhoeas,  colics,  iliac  passions,  convul- 
sions, spasms,  tremors,  and  so  on.  All  hepatic,  splenetic,  and  pulmonic  persons,  and 
hypochondriacs,  would  soon  have  enough  of  it.  In  a  word,  it  is  good  for  nothing 
but  to  dispatch  men  out  of  the  world  that  are  burdensome,  and  to  ranken  church- 
yards. I  conclude,  if  murder  be  a  sin,  then  dipping  ordinarily  over  head  in  England 
is  a  sin  ;  and  if  those  who  would  make  it  men's  religion  to  murder  themselves,  and 
urge  it  upon  their  consciences  as  their  duty,  are  not  to  be  suffered  in  a  connnon- 
wealtli,  any  more  than  highway  munliTcrs;  tlifii  judge  how  thesi'  .\iinliu|itists,  that 
teach  the  necessity  of  such  dipping,  arr  t..  Kr  -utVored.  ...  If  the  niini-fci-  must  go 
into  the  water  with  the  party,  it  will  cci'tainly  tend  to  his  death,  thdii^li  they  may  es- 
cape that  go  in  but  once.  ...  I  am  still  more  contirmed  that  a  visible  judgment  of 
God  doth  still  follow  anabaptizing  wherever  it  comes.'  ^ 

Baptists  of  our  day  ought  not  to  be  more  severe  on  Baxter  than  to  quote  his 
own  well-M-eighed  words,  for  when  he  got  over  these  occasional  Anti-Baptist  fits, 
he  contended  earnestly  that  he  ought  to  take  the  Lord's  Supper  with  his  Baptist 
brethren,  and  then  '  liichard  was  himself  again.'  We  have  room  for  gratitude  that  he 
lived  not  in  this  age,  or  not  a  man  of  us  conld  have  obtained  a  Life  Insurance 
Policy.  Perhaps  all  the  suffering  that  he  deserved  was  meted  out  to  him  by  Dr. 
John  Owen,  in  these  words : 

'  I  verily  believe  that  if  a  man  who  had  nothing  else  to  do  should  gather  into  a 
heap  all  the  expressions  which,  in  his  late  books,  confession  and  apologies,  have  a 
lovely  aspect  towards  himself,  as  to  ability,  diligence,  sincerity,  on  the  one  hand, 
with  all  those  which  are  full  of  reproach  and  contempt  toward  others,  on  the  other, 
the  view  of  them  could  not  but  a  little  startle  a  man  of  so  great  modesty,  and  of 
such  eminency  in  the  mortification  of  pride,  as  Mr.  Baxter  is.' 

With  a  change  in  the  ordinance  itself,  there  naturally  came  in  a  change  of 
the  name  by  whieh  it  was  known,  namely,  a  '  washing.'  From  the  most  ancient 
times,  washing  had  been  spoken  of  as  the  result  or  consecjuenee  of  dipping,  as 
in  the  case  of  Naaman,   who  washed  in  the    Jordan  seven  times,  having  dipped 


436  A    CHANGE   OF  NAME 

liiinsclf  that  iiuiiihi'r  of  times.  To  \va^ll  dor.-  not  iicce.ssarily  lu.w  iiiuaii  to  dip,  yet, 
as  Ihu  less  is  contaiiicil  in  llie  -ivaler.  s..  lie  lliat  is  clipped  i,-,  washed.  After  his 
seventh  dijiiMii-,  Naanian  was  ■  clean.'  S,,  Mever.  <m  Mai'k  vii.  4:  ■  Kx.-ept  tliev 
v',i.-<h  is  not  to  he  nndeislood  of  wa.hin-  the  hands,  hut  ol  imnier.-ion.  whieli  the 
word  in  ela.ssie  (.reel^  and  in  the  New  Te.-tanieiit  everywhere  n,ean>:  here,  aceurd- 
ini;-  to  the  euntext,  t.,  fake  a  hath.'  I'hnnptie,  on  th.'  .snne  j.a.-sa,-e,  .sivs:  •  Tlie 
(ireek  verhtthat  t.,  ,r.,..h)  ,lilTers    from  that  in  the  luvviuus    verse,  and    implies  the 

the    wliole   ho.ly,  a^   the   f.irmer  does   ,,f    a    j.art."      He/.a.  .,n  the  >ame  text.  ,s,ys  that 

to  imnier.ve."  l.ii;hthM,t  de.-erihes  niielean  per^oll^  amon-st  the  .lews  a.  •  ,r,isln,l  in 
some  eoidhience  of  waters,  in  which  so  much  water  oii-ht  to  he  as  mav  serve  to 
wash  the  whole  ho.ly  at  one  dippin-.'  For  centuries  tlie  word  wash  was  not 
used  a>  a  sviu.n.vm  for  haptiMu.  hut,  was  connnouly  n.-ed  to  exi>re.->  the  eleansino; 
elfeet  ni  haptism,  as  an  immersion.  Cypnan  savs  of  <dinics.  tliat  they  were  •  not 
,r,txh,,l   hut    iierlnsed    \<y   the   saviny   water;'    evinciu-    that    in    his    jnd-ment    j.er- 

rouriu-aud  sprinkling  havin-  taken  the  place  of  inmierM.ui  in  Kii-land.  hap- 
tism came  to  mean  another  thin-  from  its  former  self;  the  words  wash  and  washing 
naturally  ehan-ed  to  adapt  themselves  to  the  new  ordinance  and  to  the  theohjgy  by 
which  it  was  iiiterpreteil.  Hence,  liaxter  s]H'aks  of  liahes  wlio  had  water  poured 
upon  them,  and  so  were  washed.  In  keepin-'  with  the  clianj;e  of  the  ordinance, 
]'.  de  Wittc  asks  ;  ■  Ou-lit  we  m.t  ayain  to  hrin-  in  dippin-  as  the  Mu.-covites  and 
others  didr  and  answers:  'It  is  m.t  iiece.-sary.  hecause  washi,)-  is  done  with 
sprinkling  as  well  as  hy  dijiping.'  Tntil  the  Puritan  divines  returned  from 
Geneva,  they  held  tlie  idea,  that  tropical  washing  was  the  con.sequence  of  being 
overwhehiied,  just  as  wetting  is  the  consequence  of  immersion.  Wickh'ti'  had  so 
used  the  word  in  translating  Mark  x,  39:  'Ye  shall  be  washed  with  tlic  baptism  in 
which  I  ain  baptized.'  And  it  is  specially  interesting  to  note  how  reluctantly  tlie 
Englisli  people  received  the  new  sense  id'  the  word  wash,  in  a.-sociation  Mith  spriid^- 
ling  in  baptism.  Xot  being  able  to  see  how  that  act  could  express  the  thought  of 
cleansing  without  the  ftdl  dipping,  some  resorted  to  the  absurd  idea  that  rubbing 
the  water  in  would  sujipl}'  the  place  of  immersion,  in  efKcaeious  washing,  and  so 
we  have  several  accounts  of  the  adoption  of  this  practice.  P.  Barbour's  'Discourse,' 
1642,  records  a  striking  example  of  this  absurdity.  He  pronounces  this  sage  opinion 
on  the  efficacy  of  'rubbing,  p.  14:  'All  do  or  may  know  that  a  thing  dipped  in 
water  is  not,  therefore,  washed  oy  made  clean,  neither  is  washing  always  intended 
in  the  dipping  of  a  thing  in  water.  Indeed,  M'ashing  to  make  clean  is  by  the  way 
of  dipping  in  many  times,  that  by  putting  the  thing  into  water  and  7'uhhing  of  it  or 
the  like  it  might  be  cleansed,  wdiich  I  conceive  it  was  the  way  of  their  washing  in 
those  times  and  countries  where  Baptists  first  Ijcgan.' 


CHAPTER   II. 

IMMERSION     IN     ENGLAND    i''o"^"»../) -PERSECUTION. 

LET  us  now  look  at  tlie  practice  of  the  people  coiiuuoiilv  known  aniong.^t  the 
English  as  J3aptists,  par  excellence.  In  the  absence  of  definite  information 
the  inference  would  be  warranted,  that  their  administration  of  the  rite  corresponded 
to  that  which  they  saw  in  the  State  Church ;  for  their  chief  controversy  with  their 
brethren  at  that  time  did  not  relate  to  the  '  mode,'  but  to  the  subject  of  baptism. 
Their  important  word  was  not '  how,'  but  to  '  whom '  should  baptism  be  administered? 
Their  foes  called  them  '  ^Iwabaptists,'  those  who  baptize  again.  Their  oilense,  as  a 
general  thing,  was  not  that  they  administered  this  ordinance  in  a  different  way  from 
other  Christians,  but  that  they  baptized  on  a  confession  of  faith  those  who  had  been 
'baptized'  in  infancy.  There  was  no  .sharp  controversy  in  the  earliest  literature  of 
the  'Anabaptists'  on  the  method  of  liaptism,  alrlioui;-!!  we  have  some  clear  definitions 
of  baptism  and  some  cases  of  inuiiersimi.  l!ur,  as  a  rule,  in  the  maintenance  of 
baptism  on  personal  trust  in  Christ,  they  said  little  of  immersion  until  they  saw  it 
vanishing  away  before  human  authority,  even  in  England,  where  it  had  maintained 
itself  so  long.  Step  by  step,  the  Eeformation  in  England  was  feeling  its  way  first 
to  the  naked  and  radical  question  :  Who  shall  compose  the  Church  of  Christ?  The 
Roman  yoke  was  broken,  but  in  their  efforts  to  rid  the  nation  of  superstition  the 
Protestants  M-ere  divided.  The  Puritans  were  still  in  the  State  Church,  and  many 
of  them  wished  to  stay  there ;  but  the  Baptists  took  the  ground  that  the  pale  of  the 
Gospel  Church  could  never  be  measured  by  the  boundaries  of  the  nation.  The 
Church  must  be  made  up  only  of  Christians,  and  tiie  settlement  of  that  question 
must  radically  change  the  British  Constitution.  The  consequence  was  that  they 
threw  themselves  first  into  the  recovery  of  a  purely  spiritual  Church,  and  then  into 
the  restoration  of  apostolic  immersion.  That  the  struggle  was  hard  and  hot  is 
seen  in  the  fact  that  about  two  hundred  works,  pro  and  con,  were  issued  in  the 
seventeenth  century  on  the  questions  of  infant  baptism  and  dipjnng.  Many  of 
these  are  preserved  amongst  the  '  King's  pamphlets '  in  the  British  Museum,  and 
others  are  lost.  Public  oral  disputation  on  these  subjects  was  rife  also,  in  the 
hands  of  noted  champions.  One  platform  dispute  was  held  in  Southwark,  1642, 
between  Dr.  Featley  and  Mr.  Kilfin  ;  another  in  London,  1643,  in  which  Knollys, 
Kiffin  and  Jessey  took  a  part.  T.  Lamb  and  others  held  a  third  debate  at  Turling, 
in  Essex,  16-13  ;  and  a  fourth  was  had  in  16-17,  at  Newport  Pagnall,  by  J.  Gibbs 
and  U.  Carpenter.     S.   Fisher  and  several   clergymen   held  a  fifth   at   Asht'ord,   in 


438  THE    WESTMINSTER  ASSEMBLY  ON  DIPPING. 

164:9  ;  and  in  the  same  year  another  took  jjlace  at  Bewdley,  between  Richard  Baxter 
and  John  Tombes.  Similar  contests  occurred  between  Dr.  Cliamberhiin  and  Mr. 
Eakewell,  in  London,  1650;  H.  Vaughan,  J.  Craig  and  J.  Tomljes,  at  Abergavenny, 
in  1653 ;  and  still  another  at  Portsmouth,  in  169S,  between  Dr.  llusbell  and  Samuel 
Chandler,  '  with  his  majesty's  license.' 

At  the  very  time  of  these  public  disputation,--  the  Westminster  Assembly  met, 
by  order  of  Parliament,  and  was  in  session  fr(jui  l<i-i:i  tu  1649,  and  its  discussions 
were  sorely  disturbed  on  this  (juesti<in  of  'dipping.'  Yet,  according  to  Neal,  there 
was  not  one  Baptist  in  that  body.  Dr.  Lightfoot,'  one  of  its  leading  members,  kept 
a,  journal  of  its  proceedings,  and  bis  entry  for  August  7,  16-4-1,  tells  us  of  '  a  great 
heat'  in  the  debate  of  that  day,  when  tiiey  were  framing  the  'Directory'  for  baj)- 
tism,  as  to  whether  dipping  should  be  reserved  or  excluded,  or  whetlier  'it  was 
lawful  and  sufficient  to  besprinkle.'  Coleman,  called  'Ilabbi  ('olenian "  because  of 
his  great  Hebrew  learning,  contended  with  Lightfoot  that  (<nii-iljli,  tlie  Hebrew 
word  for  dipping,  demanded  immersion  'over  head  ;'  and  Marshall,  a  famous  pulpit 
orator,  stood  firmly  by  him  in  the  debate,  both  contending  that  dipping  was  essen- 
tial 'in  the  first  institution.'  Lightfoot  says  that  when  they  ranie  to  the  vote,  'So 
many  were  unwilling  to  have  dipping  excluded  that  the  \'ote  eauie  to  an  ecpiality 
within  one,  for  the  one  side  was  tweiity-foui-,  the  otlicr  twi'iity-1i\e  ;  the  twenty-four 
for  the  reserving  of  dipping,  and  the  t\\enty-H\e  against  it.'  '  The  bii-iiiL'ss  was  ivcom- 
mitted,'  and  the  next  day,  after  another  warm  dispute,  it  Avas  \oted  tliat  '  ]inuring  or 
sprinkling  water  on  the  face  '  was  sufficient  and  most  expedient.  How  did  this 
Presbyterian  body,  without  a  IJaptist  in  it,  come  to  such  'a  great  heat'  on  dipping 
if  it  were  a  novelty  and  an  innovation  amongst  them  in  England  '. 

It  is  a  significant  tact  also  that  S.  Fisher,  in  his  '  Anti-Rantism,'  complains  that 
at  Asliford  and  elsewhere  the  clergy  would  discuss  only  the  '  subjects,'  carefidly 
avoiding  all  discussion  of  the  method  of  baptism,  a  thing  which  they  would  have 
been  slow  to  do  if  they  had  known  that  the  'so-called'  new  baptism  or  inunersion 
was,  as  such,  an  innovation  in  England.  This  they  were  careful  never  to  charge. 
Dr.  Funk,  Catholic  professor  at  Tiibingen,  dates  the  i-iso  of  sjirinkling  and  its  first 
prevalence  thus :  '  Throughout  the  fifteenth  century,  in  decrees  of  synods,  immer- 
sion is  referred  to  as  the  general  and  orderly  form  oi  baptism.'  Of  sprinkling  he 
says :  '  The  first  sure  evidence  of  its  practice  is  met  with  at  the  Synod  of  Florence, 
when  the  Archbishop  of  Ephesus  made  it  a  subject  of  complaint  against  the  \Yestern 
Churcli '  (14:39).  When  it  was  introduced  immersion  long  resisted  it  as  a  new  form, 
and  this  scholar  says  that  wlieii  water  was  poured  upon  the  head  the  rest  of  tlie 
body  was  still  immersed.  On  the  general  subject,  he  quotes  from  the  Synod  of 
Passau,  14:T0 ;  of  Wurzburg,  14^2 ;  of  Besancon,  1571 ;  of  Aix,  1585  ;  and  Caen,  1614. 

These  discussions  liad  produced  such  a  growing  distrust  in  the  public  mind  on 
the  subject  of  infant  baptism,  as  early  as  1661,  that  for  the  first  time  a  form  of 
service   was  introduced   into   tlie  Prayer-Book  for   the  public  baptism  of  those  of 


nrMEHSIOX  yO  new   TIITXO.  489 

ri])ci-  years.  Tlic  ])i-ctace  honestly  states  the  reason  :  '  By  the  growtli  of  Anabaptism 
tlirough  tlie  licentiousness  of  the  Lite  times,  crept  in  amongst  us,  is  now  become 
necessary,  and  may  be  always  useful,  for  the  baptizing  of  natives  in  otir  plantations 
and  others,  converted  to  the  faith.'  The  Baptists  were  assailed  for  attempting  to 
restore  the  ancient  state  of  things  as  if  they  liad  committed  an  unheard-of  crime, 
and  but  for  the  Iiistory  and  literature  of  many  centuries  the  clamor  might  lead  to 
the  supposition  that  immersion  had  never  been  heard  of  until  they  sought  to  restore 
the  normal  English  baptism.  They  were  called  a  'New- washed  coinijany,'  were 
charged  with  In-inging  in  a  'new  dipping,' a  '  novelty '  and  an  'invention,'  with 
being  'led  away  of  the  devil,'  with  '  murdering  tlie  souls  of  babes,'  and  a  few  other 
things  of  tlie  same  gracious  sort.  Bigotry  and  hate  could  not  have  raised  a  greater 
howl  if  immersion  had  then  been  practiced  on  English  soil  for  the  tirst  time.  And 
yet  even  Dr.  Featley  is  compelled  to  say  in  his  '  Clavis  Mystrica,'  1G30  :  '  Our  font  is 
always  open,  or  ready  to  be  opened,  and  the  minister  attends  to  receive  the  children 
of  the  faithful,  and  to  dip  them  in  the  sacred  laver.'  Even  in  our  day  an  attempt 
has  been  made  to  leave  the  onus  of  invention  upon  the  English  Baptists,  in  the 
matter  of  immersion,  because  simple-hearted  Barbour. happened  to  say,  in  1642,  that 
the  Lord  had  raised  him  up  to  ^divulge  the  true  doctrine  of  dipping.'  Yet,  his 
entire  treatise  discusses  the  question,  •  What  is  the  true  ordinance  of  the  dipping  of 
Clirist,  and  wherein  does  it  differ  from  ciiildren's  dipping  ? '  lu  the  very  sentence 
which  speaks  of  divulging  the  doctrine  he  says  that  it  '  was  received  by  the  apostles 
and  primitive  churches,  and  for  a  long  time  unavoidably  kept  and  practiced  by  tiie 
ministry  of  the  Gospel  in  the  planting  of  the  first  churelies.'  The  word  'divulge' 
was  not  confined  at  that  time  to  the  sense  of  disclosing  or  discovering  a  thing,  as 
now,  but  it  meant  primarily  to  '  publish.'  Henry  Denne  was  immersed  in  1643, 
and  preached  the  Gospel  from  that  time  onward ;  and  yet,  in  sending  him  forth  on 
a  special  mission,  the  Baptist  Church  at  Fenstanton,  October  28,  1663,  says  that, 
'  On  that  day'  he  '  was  chosen  and  ordained,  by  imposition  of  hands,  a  messenger  to 
divulge  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ ; '  ^  surely  not  to  make  it  public,  as  a  new  thing. 
Barbour  speaks  of  the  'dipping  of  infants'  more  tliau  a  score  of  times,  as  a  thing 
witli  whicli  all  were  familiar,  but  he  says  :  '  That  dipping  whereof  we  speak  is 
burying  or  plunging  a  heliever  in  water,  he  desiring  of  this  ordinance.' 

There  is  less  clear  and  decisive  evidence  of  the  practice  of  immersion  amongst 
the  English  Baptists  from  1600  to  1641  than  might  be  desired,  but  the  passage 
cited  from  Leonard  Busher,  and  other  proofs,  render  it  certain  tliat  they  did  not 
first  practice  it  in  1641.  It  is  quite  clear  that  some  of  them  practiced  affusion  up  to 
that  time,  while  some  immersed,  but  after  that  date  affusion  seems  to  have  ceased 
amongst  them  and  only  immersion  obtained.  The  case  of  John  Smyth,  who 
baptized  liimself  in  1608,  may  be  conceded  to  have  been  an  affusion,  and  yet  this 
is  by  no  means  certain,  neither  has  his  immersion  been  proved.  After  all  that  Dr. 
llooj)  Sclieffer  and   others  have  said  on  the  subject,  passages  fmin  Smyth's  three 


440  LEONAUD  BUSUER'S    CASE. 

(Viiift'ssioiis  of  Fiiith  ;ir(!  h;tniii,<;cly  in  conflict  witli  tlic  thought  that  he  practiced 
as|HTsion  upon  hinisclf  iui-  ha|)tisiii.  Article  XIV  in  his  Latin  Confession  describes 
baptism  as  •  the  t'\lci-nal  symbol  of  ivmissioii  (jf  sin-,  (if  death  and  resurrection.' 
Article  XXX  in  his  JMi-lish  Confcssi.m  says:  >Tlio  whoK.  dealing  in  the  outward 
visible  bajitism  of  water  setteth  b.'bire  the  eyes,  witne.seth  and  signitieth,  the 
Lord  .lesns  dotli  inwardly  bajitize  the  repentant,  faithful  man  in  the  laver  of  regen- 
eration and  renewing  by  the  Holy  (Ihost.  washing  the  soul  from  all  polluti..n  and 
sin,  by  the  virtue  and  merit  of  his  l)lood>hed.'  The  confession  of  Iiiinself  and  friends, 
publbhe.l  after  hi.-,  death.  Article  XXXVIILsays:  'That  all  men,  in  truth  died,  are 
also  with  Christ  burie.l  by  bajitism  into  death  (Eom.  vi,  4;  CoL  ii.  12),  holding  their 
Sabbalh  in  flu- gi'ave  with  Chiast."  And  Article  XL,  'That  those  who  have  been 
planteil  with  Chi-ist  together  in  the  likeness  of  his  death  and  burial  shall  be  also  in 
the  likeness  ( d'  his  resurrection."  Tlu'se  utterances  sa\dr  more  of  immei'sion  than 
atfusion,  and  yet  they  were  probably  written  after  his  Se-15aptism.  so  that  its  form 
is  left  in  doubt,  with  the  pr.ibability  that  it  was  a  <li|iiiing. 

A  feel)le  but  sti'ained  attenijit  has  been  nnide  to  show  that  none  of  the  English 
Baptists  practiced  immeision  prior  to  ir,41.  from  the  <l..cunient  mentioned  byCrosby 
in  1738,  of  which  he  remarks,  that  it  wa>  •  S,,;,!  to  be  written  by  Mr.  William  Kittin." 
Although  this  n:annscript  is' signed  by  iifty-three  persons,  it  is  evident  that  its  au- 
thorship was  only  guessed  at  from  the  1  legiuning,  it  may  or  may  not  have  been 
written  by  Kiffin.  The  church  referred  to  was  that  of  which  Messrs.  Jacob  and 
Lathrop  had  been  pastors,  but  the  fact  that  a  part  of  this  congregation  did  not  know 
that  the  immersion  of  believers  had  been  practiced  in  England  cannot  be  accepted 
as  decisive  proof  that  all  the  Baptists  were  strangers  to  that  jiractice,  still  less  that 
it  had  never  been  known  in  England  before  Ifill.  It  can  scarcely  be  supposed  that 
Leonard  Buslier  should  have  written  in  Itlll  that  Christ  '  c(]mnianded  '  those  who 
'willingly  and  gladly'  received  '  the  word  of  salvation  to  lie  bapti/.eil  in  the  water, 
that  is,  dipped  for  dead  in  the  water.'  and  that  he  neglected  to  obey  that  connnand 
himself.  He  calls  himself  •  a  citizen  of  London,'  and  his  style  as  an  English  writer, 
though  somewhat  unpolished,  was  equal  to  the  average  of  his  times  ;  he  appears  to 
have  been  acquainted  with  the  Greek  Text  of  the  New  Testament ;  he  addressed  the 
king  (James)  and  '  the  High  Court  of  Parliament '  as  a  man  who  had  the  right  to 
address  them  as  a  '  citizen,'  and  with  a  full  knowledge  of  English  afEairs.  He  speaks 
of  himself  and  his  brethren  as:  '  We  that  have  most  truth  are  most  persecuted,  and 
therefore  most  poor,'  and  his  work  bears  internal  evidence  that  at  some  time  he  had 
been  exiled  from  his  native  land  for  his  religion.  The  '  Address  to  the  Presbyterian 
Reader,'  which  forms  the  Introduction  of  his  Treatise,  is  signed  H.  B.,  supposed  to 
be  Henry  Burton,  and  it  says  of  Busher  that  he  was  '  an  honest  and  godly  man.' 
What  the  Treatise  itself  says  of  Robinson  and  the  Brownists,  Avith  these  circumstances, 
all  point  to  the  supposition  that  he  was  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church,  formed  in 
London  by  Helwys  in  1612-11-.     But,  in  any  case,  the  fair  inference  fi-om  his  own 


THE   K  IF  FIN  MS.  441 

words  iti,  that  he  was   an  inniKTsed  believer  nearly   thirty  years  before  the  MS.  to 
which  Crosby  refers  was  written.     The  following  is  the  text  of  that  paper: 

1640.  •">(]  nio.  The  church  became  two  by  mutual  consent,  first  half  being 
wtli.  Mr.  1".  l!;nvlMme  and  yc  utiicr  half  wtli.  Mr.  II.  Jessey.  Mr.  Eiclul.  Blunt  wth. 
him  beinij,-i'<.ii\  iiirrd  >•[  i;a|iti-iii  vt.  al-.>  it  ought  to  bo  by  diping  ye  Uody  into  ye. 
Water,  rc.-rhiMing  IJurial  an. I  riscing  agaiii.'Col.  ii  :  12;  Ttom.  vi  ;  4:  had  Sober 
('nnfi'i'cnrc  aliiiut  it  in  ye.  Church,  and  then  wtli.  .-..mr  ,,1'  the  tur.-iiained,  who  also 
were  ~u  CMiix  iiieed.  And  after  Prayer  and  (■..iilnvnr,.  al...iii  ilhii-x,  enjoying  it, 
none  lia\iiig  .-.i  practiced  in  England  to  profe.^M'd  lidicNcrs,  and  hearing  that  some 
in  the  Netlier  Lands  had  so  practiced,  they  agreed  and  sent  over  Mr.  llichd.  Blunt 
(who  understood  Dutch)  wth.  Letters  of  Commendation,  who  was  kindly  accepted 
there,  and  Ileturned  wth.  Letters  from  them  ;  Jo.  Batte  a  Teacher  there ;  and  from 
that  Church  to  such  as  sent  him.  1041.  They  proceed  on  therein,  viz. :  Those 
persons  yt.  ware  perswaded  Baptism  should  ije  by  diping  ye.  Body,  had  mett  in  two 
Compan'ics  and  did  intend  so  to  meet  after  this :'  all  these  Agreed  to  proceed  alike 
together :  And  then  Manifesting  (not  by  any  formal  Words)  a  Covenant  (wch.  Word 
was  Scrupled  by  some  of  them)" but  by  mutual  desires  and  agreement  each  testified : 
These  two  Coiiipanyes  did  set  apart  one  to  Baptize  the  rest,  so  it  was  solemnly  per- 
formed by  them.  Mr.  Blunt  Baptized  Mr.  Blacklock,  yt.  was  a  Teacher  amongst 
them,  and  Mr.  Blunt  being  Baptized,  he  and  Mr.  Blacklock  Baptized  ye.  rest  of 
their  friends  yt.  ware  so  ininded,  and  many  being  added  to  thcni  they  increased 
nuich. 

Dr.  Featley,  author  of  •  The  Dippers  Dipt,'  born  1JS2,  died  1645,  bears  direct 
testimony  to  the  practice  of  believer's  immersion  amongst  tlie  Baptists  at  a  much 
earlier  period  than  1641.  In  that  year  he  held  a  dispute  witii  four  Baptists  at  South- 
wark ;  and,  as  he  says,  in  his  dedication  to  the  reader,  Jan.  10,  1644,  '  I  could  hardly 
dip  my  pen  in  any  thing  but  gall,'  we  may  not  suspect  him  as  stating  facts  within 
his  knowledge  to  their  special  advantage.  Yet  on  this  subject  he  says  of  them  : 
'  They  flock  in  great  multitudes  to  \\\q\v  Jordans,  and  both  sexes  enter  into  the  river, 
and  are  dijit  after  their  manner.  And  as  they  defile  our  rivers  with  their  impure 
washings,  and  our  pulpits  with  their  false  prophecies  and  fanatical  enthusiasms,  so 
the  presses  sweat  and  groan  under  the  load  of  their  blasphemies.  .  .  .  This  venom- 
ous serpent  {vere  Soltfuga)  is  the  Anabaptist,  who,  in  these  latter  times,  first  showed 
his  shining  head,  and  speckled  skin,  and  thrust  out  his  sting  near  the  place  of  my  resi- 
dence,/"(??-  more  than  twenty  years'  He  conveys  the  idea  that  they  had  defiled  the 
'rivers  with  their  impure  washings,' in  being  'dipt  after  their  ^nanner,'' quite  as 
long  as  they  had  defiled  'our  pulpits'  and  'presses,'  and  that  near  his  own  residence 
'  for  more  than  twenty  years.'  To  his  knowledge,  then,  they  had  '  dipt '  '  both 
sexes,'  in  the  English  'rivers'  from  before  A.  D.  l<'i-24 ;  his  whole  work  treats  of 
them  as  'Dippers,'  who  in  baptism  always  '  dipt,'  and  had  he  known  that  they  had 
ever  done  any  thing  else,  he  would  have  been  very  happy  to  have  charged  them 
with  now  throwing  aside  the  right  method  and  with  taking  up  the  wrong. 

When  P.  Barbour  speaks  of  the  way  of  '  new  baptizing,'  he  also  speaks  of  bap- 
tism having  been  'in  captivity  in  Babylon  ;'  which  indicates,  not  that  the  Baptists 
had  now  originated  dijjpiiig  in  England,  but  that   they  had  restored  the  historical 


///r/    t.i 

■   huil.l   1 

of  tl.e 

Baptists 

/«V-//,v, 

7/   /r///,-/, 

are  lo,~ 

;t,  fithcl- 

442  BAXTER'S   CONCESSIONS. 

l)a|)tisiii  wliic'li  England  liad  ever  known  till  that  time.  This  lie  calls  'God  return- 
is  tahernacle.'  Smyth  himself,  in  reply  to  Clifton,  calls  the  baptism 
•  m  ii\  hut  in  what  sense  ;  lie  says  :  '  They  set  up  a  lu  ic  or  (ijinftolif 
AntJrhrJsf  },,!</  or,  rthro.rii.  .  .  .  AVIieii  all  Christ's  visible  ordinances 
men  mu,-t  r.r,,r,r  them  a-ain,  or  nnist  let  them  alone."  The  word 
'new"  was  customarily  applied  to  reforms  in  those  days.  Gov.  Bradford  calls 
Suiyth's  church  at  Amsterdam  a  '  new  conununhm,"  a  term  which  Bishop  Hall  ap- 
plied to  the  Brownist  churches,  but  neither  of  them  meant  that  a  church  \\as  a  new 
device  in  the  earth.  The  Bishop  complains  that  the  Separatists  classed  the  Church 
of  England  with  the  old  Churcli  of  Eonie,  saying  :  '  The  want  of  noting  one  poor 
distinction  breeds  all  this  confusion  of  docti'ine  and  separation  of  men.  For  thei-e 
is  one  case  of  a  New  Church  to  be  called  from  heathenism  to  Christianity  ;  anot/ur, 
of  a  former  church  to  be  reformed  from  errors  to  more  sincere  Christianity.  .  .  . 
This  is  our  case.  We  did  not  make  a  New  Church,  but  mended  an  old.  Your 
Clifton  is  di'iven  to  this  old,  by  necessity  of  argument ;  otherwise  he  sees  there  is  no 
'  avoiding  of  Anabaptism.  .  .  .  Neither  is  new  baptism  lawful  (though  some  of  you 
beliki-  of  old  were  in  hand  with  a  rebaptizatioii  ;  which,  not  then  speeding,  succeed- 
etli  iiu\v  to  y(.iui-  shauie),  nor  a,  ncin,  \dluntary.  and  particulai- confession  of  faith  be- 
sides that  in  baptism,  though  very  ciunniendable,  will  evei-  be  proved  simply  neces- 
sary to  the  being  of  a  church.' « 

Exi'U  I!a\ter  has  been  called  to  the  stand  for  the  pui'pose  of  saying  that  the 
Baptists  '  do  introduce  a  M<?w  so;'^  of  Cliristianity  "  .  .  .  and  'a  new  sort  of  bap- 
tism, which  the  Church  of  Christ  ne\er  knew  to  this  day.  ...  As  if  they  were 
raised  in  the  end  of  the  world  to  reform  the  baptism  and  Christianity  of  all  ages, 
and  were  not  only  wiser  than  the  universal  Church  from  Christ  till  now,  but  also  at 
last  must  make  the  Church  another  thing."  When  iiaxter  explains  Daxter,  what- 
ever else  he  may  mean,  he  does  not  mean  that  dijiping  was  a  new  device  either  in 
England  or  in  Christianity.  In  defining  baptism  he  wi'ites :  'The  action  of  the 
minister  on  God's  part  is  to  wash  the  body  of  the  baptized  with  the  water,  which, 
in  hot  countries,  was  by  dipping  them  over  head,  and  taking  them  up."  ^  Again  :  ■  It 
is  commonly  confessed  by  us  to  the  Anabaptists,  as  our  commentators  declare,  that 
in  the  Apostles'  time  the  baptized  were  dipped  over  head  in  the  water.  .  .  .  We 
have  thought  it  lawful  to  disuse  the  manner  of  dipjiing,  and  to  use  less  water.' ^ 
Nor  did  he  think  that  '  rebaptism,"  as  he  calls  it,  was  a  '  new  sort  of  Christianity 
and  baptism,' for  he  declared  that  '  If  any  person  discovered  a  minister  who  bap- 
tized him  to  be  no  minister'  he  might  be  baptized  again  ;  '  nor  would  I  account  it 
mor'ully  twice  baptizing,  but  a  physical  repeating  of  that  act  which  morally  is  hut 
one.  '^  Neither  did  he  think  that  Baptist  di]iping  had  made  '  the  Church  another 
thing  '  in  such  sense  as  to  cut  them  off  from  Christian  fellowship.  He  says  :  '  For 
the  Anabaptists  themselves,  though  I  have  written  and  said  so  much  against  them, 
as  I  found  that  most  of  them  were  persons  of  zeal  in  religion,  so  many  of  ttiem  weru 


IN   WHAT  SENSE  A    ^  NE]y'    flAPTrs.V.  443 

sober,  godly  ])oople,  who  differed  from  others  but  in  tlie  point  of  infant  baptism, 
or,  at  most,  in  the  points  of  predestination,  free-will  and  perseverance.' '  He  asks : 
' May  Anabaptists,  tliat  have  no  other  error,  be  permitted  in  churcli  communion? 
Ans.  Yes,  and  tolerated  in  tlieir  practice  also:  For  1.  They  agree  with  us  in  all 
points  absolutely  necessary  to  communion.  2.  The  ancient  Christians  had  lib- 
erty either  to  baptize,  or  let  them  stay  till  age,  as  they  think  best :  and,  there- 
fore, Tertullian  and  Nazianzen  speak  against  haste :  and  Augustine  and  many 
Christian  parents  were  baptized  at  age.'*  After  yielding  the  whole  ground  to 
the  Baptists  in  this  way,  it  is  hard  to  understand  what  he  means  by  '  a  new 
sort  of  baptism,  which  the  Church  of  Christ  never  knew  to  this  day,'  unless  it  be 
the  new  line  or  succession  of  baptism  which  Suiytii  liad  introduced  by  baptizing 
himself. 

This  is  clear  enough  from  P.  Barbour's  discourse.  After  attempting  to  prove 
that  tlic  baptism  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  valid,  he  speaks  of  Smyth's  bap- 
tism, protesting  that  if  pure  l)aptism 

'Is  nowhere  else  to  be  found  remaining  in  the  world,  there  is  nn  ground  for 
tliis  practice  of  raisimj  baptism :  by  persons  baptizing  themselves.'  Instead,  there 
should  be  'a  seeking  out  of  the  Churcli  where  she  were  to  be  found,  and  there  re- 
ceiving the  holy  obedience  of  Christ's  baptism  as  in  a  right  line,  and  so  be  added  to 
the  Cliurch,  and  from  thence  conveying  the  truth  into  these  parts  again  where  it 
liad  oitsi'd.^  He  then  tries  to  show  at  "great  length  that  if  baptism  be  'lost  and 
fallen  out  of  tlie  world,  and  an  idol  and  likeness  were  in  the  room  of  it,'  no  persons 
have  the  riglit  to  attempt  a  '  new  beginning,'  or  '  go  about  the  raising,  erectinoj,  or 
sefiinij  up  of  it  aijiiin,  without  a  special  commission  from  God.'  He  then  complains 
that  tliose  who  reject  Roman  baptism  insist  on  the  practice  of  dipping ;  '  and  that 
persons  are  to  be  dipped,  all  and  every  part  to  be  under  the  water,  for  if  all  the 
whole  person  is  not  under  the  water,  then  they  hold  that  they  are  not  baptized  with 
the  baptism  of  Christ.  .  .  .  '  Truly  they  want  a  Dipper  that  hath  authority  from 
heaven  as  had  John.  ...  I  hope  when  they  have  further  considered  this  matter 
they  may  abate  of  the  fierceness  of  their  opinions,  so  as  to  think  that  baptism  under 
or  in  the  defection  maybe  God's  ordinance,  so  as  there  shall  be  no  need  of  tiiis  new 
dipping,'  which  he  admits  to  have  been  but  a  revival  of  the  old  practice. 

Denne  put  tlie  (piestion  of  dipping  in  England  in  its  true  light  in  his  public 
disputation  at  St.  Cleiueut  Dane's  church  with  Mr.  (iunning  in  105<).  At  p.  40 
he  says : 

'Dipping  of  infants  was  not  only  comnKUKJed  by  the  Church  of  England,  but 
also  generally  practiced  in  the  Church  of  England  till  the  year  IKUU  ;  yea,  in  some 
jilaces  it  was  practiced  until  the  year  16il,  until  the  fashion  altered.  .  .  .  I  can  show 
aMr.  Baxter  an  old  man  in  London  who  has  labored  in  the  Lord's  Pool  many  years ; 
converted  by  his  ministry  more  men  and  women  than  Mr.  Baxter  hath  in  his  parish  ; 
yea,  when  lie  hath  labored  a  great  part  of  the  day  in  preaching  and  reasoning,  his 
reflection  hath  been  (not  a  Sack-jtossit  or  a  caudle\  but  to  go  into  the  water  and 
baptize  converts.  ...  I  wonder  that  Mr.  Baxter  should  forget  that  he  hath  read  in 
authors,  which  he  deems  authentic,  who  write  that  Ethclbert  King  of  Kent,  with 
lU.dOO  men  and  women,  were  baptizeil  in  Canterbury,  upon  the  25th  of  December, 
in  the  vear  597.' 


444  ALLEGED   INDECENT  PRACTLCEH. 

And  tlif  .same  tunc  is  nuiintniucd  by  Mi.  W.'  in  liis  JJeelanitioii  ai;-aiiist  Ana- 
baptists in  answer  to  Cornwall ;  ho  says,  I^ondon,  1C44,  p.  1  : 

'You  argue  thus,  "  That  wliicli  God  hath  jt»incd  topx'thei-,  no  man  ought  to 
separate,  (But  faith  and  baptism,  or  niore  properly  dipping.)  (iod  hath  joined 
together;  therefore,  faith  and  baptism  (or  dipping  as  the  original  ivnders  it)  no  man 
ouglit  to  separate." ' 

The  fact  is.  that  it  was  not  the  dipi)ing  of  the  Baptists  whicli  shocked  their 
opponents  so  uiuch  as  Sniyth's  act  \\ith  some  of  its  consequences.  The  Anti- 
Baptists  possesseil  a  certain  I'liurcli  and  ministerial  succession,  and  under  this  idea 
they  regarded  his  course  as  ju-ofanity.  They  considered  Bajitists  as  inci'c  inter- 
lopers, having  no  right  t(.i  adniinistci-  the  ordinances  in  any  way,  as  tliey  had 
renounced  that  succession.  The  Baptists  were  I'egarded  us  '  u[istai-ts,"  and  their 
'new  dipping,'  looked  at  in  any  light,  was  but  an  innovation.  liackus  caught 
this  distinction  with  great  clearness,  and  says:  'Being  hardly  accused  \\ith  the 
want  of ';v///V  <^^////;//;.s//v^/r-/'.v.  njoved  seven  Uaptist  cliinches,  who  met  in  London 
in  1(U3  to  declare  it  as  their  faith  that  by  ( 'hri>t"s  c..nnnunion  every  discij)le  who 
had  a  gift  to  preach  the  Gos}iel  had  a  right  to  administer  baptism,  even  before 
he  was  ordained  in  any  C'hureh;"  much  less  that  he  should  be  reipiired  hrst  to  prove 
his  regular  descent  by  succession  from  the  Apostles.  (Backus,  ii,  p.  4.)  Whoever 
the  Baptists  immersed  had,  in  the  opini(in  of  tlieirfoes,  been  baptized  as  babes,  and 
so  their  after-dijjping  was  new  and  unauthorized,  especially  Avhen  had  in  unconse- 
crated  places,  as  rivers  and  streams ;  such  as  Old  Ford  Eiver,  near  Bromley,  in 
Middlesex,  which  Wilson,  in  his  '  Dissenting  Churches,'  says  '  was  much  frequented ' 
for  this  purpose.  Nay,  their  foes  even  professed  themselves  shocked  with  the 
bodily  exertion  of  such  immersions.  John  Goodwin,  in  semi-comic  style,  says  of 
'the  Baptist  who  dipjjeth'  that  he  'had  need  be  a  man  of  stout  limbs,  and  of  a 
very  able  and  active  body  ;  otherwise  the  jierson  to  be  Ijajitized,  especially  if  in  any 
degree  corpulent  or  unwieldly,  runs  a  great  hazard  of  meeting  with  Clirist's  later 
baptism  instead  of  his  former.' 

Baxter  aifectcd  to  be  shocked,  for  it  was  reported  to  him  that  they  l^ajitized 
in  the  rivers,  naked.  Featley  and  others  report  the  same,  btit  none  of  them  pre- 
tended to  have  been  eye-witnesses  of  these  reported  indecencies.  Cn  the  contrary, 
Baxter  adds :  "  I  must  confess  I  did  not  see  the  persons  baptized  naked,  nor  do  I 
take  it  to  be  lawful  to  defame  any  upon  doubtful  reports,'  words  which  imply 
honest  doubt.  But  Ptichardsou  resented  this  imputation,  saying  :  '  We  abhor  it, 
and  deny  that  any  of  us  ever  did  so;'  then  he  challenged  Featley  'to  prove  it 
against  us  if  he  can.'  This  the  Doctor  was  careful  never  to  attempt.  Ilaggar  de- 
clares that  he  had  baptized  and  been  at  the  baptizing  of  '  many  hundreds  if  not 
thousands,  and  never  saw  any  baptized  naked  in  his  life,  neither  is  it  allowed  nor 
approved  of  amongst  any  that  I  know  of.'  Baxter  lived  near  Tombes,  his  great 
Baptist  disjuitant,  and  yet  followed  '  common  fame '   in  this   matter,  instead  of  in- 


KMU.y   /lAl'TlSTS   TN  ENGLAND.  443 

qiiii-iiii;-  of  him,  tliiis  ;illi>\viiij;-  aiioiiyiiious  slanderers  tu  till  liis  oars.  Ho  said  that 
ho  was  willing  to  (■(miniuiu'  with  tho  Baptists,  but  ho  soonis  nover  to  liavo  taken 
one  step  to  learn  the  truth  of  this  cliarge  against  his  dear  brethren.  Even  liad  he 
found  the  charge  true,  he  should  not  have  been  too  much  shocked  that  they  copied 
tlie  fanaticisms  of  the  Fathers,  whom  he  so  much  revered :  Ciirysostoni,  Augustine 
and  Cyril,  who  stickled  zealously  for  mide  baptism.  Besides,  in  England  the  children 
were  baptized  without  clothing  at  that  time.  Dr.  Wail  says  that  '  the  wealthy  people 
began  to  object  to  the  stripping  of  their  children  naked,  and  the  aifrighted  screams 
with  wliich  they  received  immersion.'  Bacon  conlirms  this,  saying  that  '  honesty 
and  shamefacedness  forbiddeth  to  uncover  the  body,  and  also  the  (weak)  state  of 
infants,  for  the  most  part,  cannot  away  with  dipping.'  Wall  coolly  adds  that  the 
Baptists  need  not  to  have  made  so  great  an  outcry  against  Baxter's  charge  of  inde- 
cency, for  that  the  primitive  Christians  baptized  in  entire  undress.  And  for  the  same 
reason  Baxter  need  not  to  have  cried  out  against  the  Baptists,  even  if  he  could  have 
proved  that  they  followed  this  bad  example  of  the  primitive  Christians  ;  which, 
however,  they  seem  to  have  avoided  with  all  carefulness.  Their  confession  of 
1643  evinced  their  modesty,  by  requiring  'convenient  garments,  both  upon  the 
administrator  and  subject,  with  all  propriety,  when  they  immersed.' 

This  chapter  can  scarcely  be  closed  better  than  by  showing  that  the  so-called 
'  Anabaptists '  of  the  realm  had  long  practiced  according  to  these  views.  There 
are  traditions  of  Baptist  Churches  in  England  from  the  fourteenth  century, 
but  they  are  not  well  sustained  by  historical  records.  Collier  speaks  of  many 
infants  who  were  left  unbaptized  in  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century.  Eobinson 
says  that  there  was  a  Baptist  church  at  Chesterton  in  1459;  and  others  mention 
'heretics'  all  over  England,  who  refused  baptism  for  infants  in  various  reigns 
down  to  Henry  VIII.  The  law  of  the  land  demanded  the  baptism  of  all,  but  as 
we  have  no  reliable  records  of  Baptist  churches  it  is  fair  to  infer  that  these  ob- 
jectors were  either  English  Lollards  or  foreigners  driven  from  the  Continent.  We 
do  not  find  the  name  '  Anabaptist '  applied  to  English  '  heretics '  until  the  reign  of 
Henry,  1500,  nearly  a  century  after  all  trace  of  the  Lollards  is  lost,  their  chief 
relic  then  being  the  Lollard's  Tower,  that  of  St.  Gregory's  Church,  contiguous  to 
St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  which  had  been  used  as  their  prison.  Fox  records  that  in 
1535,  according  to  the  registers  of  London,  nineteen  'Anabaptists'  were  put  to 
death  in  various  parts  of  the  realm,  and  that  fourteen  Hollanders  were  burnt  in 
paii-s  in  England.  A  '  History  of  the  "  Anabaptists  "  of  High  and  Low  Germany ' 
was  written  in  1642,  and  is  now  amongst  the  '  King's  Pamphlets.'  Its  bitter 
author  writes  (p.  55):  'All  these  are  scions  of  that  flock  of  Anabaptism  that  was 
transplanted  out  of  Holland  in  the  year  1535,  when  two  ships  ladeu  with  Ana- 
baptists fled  into  England ;  .  .  .  here  it  seemeth  they  have  remained  ever  since ' 
(p.  48).  Barclay  also  reports  that  in  1536  '  Anabaptist '  societies  in  England  sent  a 
delegation    to  a  great   gathering   of    their    brethren   in  AVestphalia. '     It  appears, 


',40  KXt,'/JS//    M  Mil)' It  I XI. VS. 

tlieruforu,  that  the  origin  of  thu  English    iinpf i.-ts,  :is  a   ili^tiiict  sect,  is  to  he  found 
amongst  the  Baptist  refugees  who  were  ili-i\cn  fVom  tliu  Xotlici-hunls. 

The  Lolkirds  had  prepared  the  wa.y  for  the  nipid  spi^ad  of  tlie  ])rinciiiles  of 
tliese  Dutcli  Cliristians,  and  since  1535  Baptist  witnesses  for  tiie  ti'utli  liave  stood 
tirinly  on  British  soil,  cither  as  individuals  or  as  organized  cliurchcs.  15y  153*;  tlieir 
doctrines  had  so  spread  amongst  Enghsh  folic  that  a  Church  Convocati.ni  de- 
nounced theui  liy  name,  reipiiring  the  people  to  repudiate  their  jii-inci])les  and 
practices,  'as  detestable  heresies  and  utterly  to  be  condemned.'  Dr.  AVali,  in 
recording  this  proceeding,  says :  '  Some  people  in  England  began  to  speak  very 
irreverently  and  mockingly  about  some  of  the  ceremonies  of  baptism  then  in  use;' 
and  he  gives  a  catalogue  of  'profane  sayings  that  began  to  be  handed  abunt  among 
some  people,'  as  follows :  '  That  it  is  as  lawful  to  christen  a  child  in  a  tub  of  water 
at  home,  or  in  a  ditch  by  the  way,  as  in  a  stone  font  in  a  church.'  Custom  then 
immersed  the  child  in  the  consecrated  '  font,'  not  in  unhallowed  streams.  Another 
'profane  saying'  was:  'That  the  hallowed  oil  is  no  better  than  the  Bishop  of 
Kome's  grease  or  Ijutter.'  Again  :  '  That  the  holy-water  is  more  savory  to  make 
sauce  with  than  the  other  (water),  because  it  is  mixed  with  salt;  which  is  also  a 
very  good  medicine  for  ahorse  witli  a  galled  back:  yea,  if  there  be  jnit  an  onion 
thereto,  it  is  a  good  sauce  for  a  giblet  of  mutton.'  This  kind-hearted  divine 
resented  such  unreverential  reflections  of  the  English  Anti-pedobaptists,  and  so 
did  the  king  and  Convocation.  Still  the  good  doctor  thought  that  this  threw  no 
dishonor  on  infant  baptism,  but  Henry  and  the  Convocation  saw  disdain  for  the 
thing  itself,  in  contempt  for  the  ceremonies  which  attended  it,  and  proceeded  to 
read  the  nation  a  lecture,  in  six  particulars.  They  declared  baptism  necessary  to 
eternal  life,  that  it  belongs  to  infants,  and  makes  them  sons  of  God ;  that,  being 
born  in  original  sin,  they  cannot  be  saved  but  by  the  grace  of  baptism,  etc.  Then 
they  discover  the  real  animus  of  their  action  with  their  alarm  for  the  miscliief  on 
the  subject  which  the  Baptists  had  already  wrought  in  the  public  mind.  They  say 
to  all  Englishmen  '  that  they  ought  to  refute  and  take  all  the  Anabaptists'  and  Pe- 
lagians' opinions  in  this  behalf  for  detestable  heresies.'  Then  Wall  cites  Fuller  out 
of  Stow  to  prove  that  in  1538  six  Dutch  Anabaptists  were  punished  in  London, 
'  four  bearing  fagots  at  Paul's  Cross,  and  two  being  burnt  in  Smithfield.'  Again 
quoting  from  Fuller,  he  writes :  '  This  year  the  name  of  this  sect  first  appears  in 
our  English  chronicles,'  and  from  Fox,  that  ten  Dutch  '  Anabajjtists '  were  put  to 
death  in  England  in  1535,  a  year  before  these  utterances  of  Convocation.  The 
sixth  article  condemns  this  heresy  in  '  other  men,^  who  were  not  of  these  prescribed 
bodies,  alluding  to  the  English  Baptist  infection  ;  for  the  lower  house  complained 
to  the  upper,  in  its  '  catalogue  of  some  errors  that  began  to  be  handed  about  among 
some  people,'  and  which  the  united  body  sharply  rebuked.  The  king  published  a 
proclamation,  1538,  condemning  all  Baptist  books ;  an  Act  of  Grace  was  passed 
the  same  year  from  the  benefits  of  which   the   Baptists  were   excepted,  and   the 


roxTROVEnsiAL  LrrKnATntK.  447 

Bisli.ip'^  (if  tlie  Soiitlioru  Provinw  issiifil  ;i  (•(iiumissi(,ii  to  seek  out  utnl  piniisli 
them.  Brand  reports  tliat  in  1539  thirty-one  "Anabaptists'  Hed  Ironi  Kui^land  and 
were  slau^litered  at  Delft,  Holland;  the  men  were  beheaded  and  the  women 
drowned. 

Froude  mentions  a  numl)er  who  were?  put  to  death  fur  •  being  faithful  to  their 
conscience,'  and  Stow  tells  us  of  four  being  burnt  in  Smithfield.  These  facts  indi- 
cate, their  growing  strength  at  that  time.  In  a  royal  proclamation,  issued  in  1540, 
some  of  their  so-called  errors  are  thus  enumerated,  nainel}':  'That  infants  ought 
not  to  be  baptized,  and  that  it  is  not  lawful  for  a  Christian  man  to  bear  office  or 
rule  in  the  commonwealth.'  But  persecution  only  promoted  their  increase.  Strype 
tells  ns  that  about  1548  '  Anabaptist'  congregations  had  been  gathered  at  Bocking 
and  Feversham,  amongst  whom  are  many  English  names.  Sixty  of  their  members 
were  arrested ;  and  Ilart,  Middleton,  Coal  and  Brodbridge,  four  of  their  ministers, 
were  made  prisoners.  Middleton  w-as  martyred  in  the  reign  of  Edward,  and  when 
Archbishop  Cranmer  threatened  him  with  death  he  replied :  '  Reverend  sir,  pass 
what  sentence  you  think  tit  upon  us.  But  that  you  may  not  say  that  you  were  not 
forewarned,  I  testify  that  your  turn  may  be  next ; '  and  twenty  years  afterwards  his 
expectation  M-as  realized.  Hooper  wrote  to  his  friend,  Bullinger,  1549,  that  he  was 
lecturing  twice  a  day  to  great  crowds,  but  that  the  '  Anabaptists '  flocked  to  the 
place  and  gave  hiin  much  trouble,  another  indication  that  these  hearers  of  his  were 
English  born.  And  last  of  all,  Latimer,  in  preaching  before  Edward  VI.,  March 
29,  1549,  told  the  king  that  he  had  heard  of  many  of  them  in  the  realm,  of  iive 
hundred  in  one  town,  and  that  in  many  places  they  had  been  burnt,  dying  cheer- 
fully for  their  faith,  coolly  adding :  '  AVell,  let  them  go.' 

The  literature  of  the  times  is  in  keeping  with  these  statements.  In  1548 
John  Vernon  translated  and  published  Bullinger's  'Holesoine  Antidote  Against 
the  Pestilent  Sect  of  the  Anabaptists.'  William  Turner,  a  physician,  1551,  issued 
a  treatise  called  a  '  Triacle '  {remedy)  '  against  the  poyson  lately  stirred  up  agayn  by 
the  furious  Secte  of  the  Anabaptists.'  Philpots,  in  his  sixth  examination  before 
Lord  Riche,  1555,  told  him  that  every  heretic  would  have  a  church  to  himself, 
'  as  Joan  of  Kent  and  the  Anabaptists.'  The  phrase  '  lately  stirred  up  agnyn,^ 
in  the  title  of  Turner's  book,  must  have  reference  in  the  past,  to  the  Act  of  Con- 
vocation and  to  the  Commission  of  1538,  when  Cramner  and  eight  others  were 
appointed  to  persecute  them  with  all  severity.  Henry  had  required  every  English 
justice  to  enforce  the  laws  against  them,  and  thus  to  scour  the  whole  realm.  This 
stringency  was  not  needed  to  hunt  out  a  few  exiled  foreigners  in  London,  Essex 
and  Norfolk.  Everywhere  there  was  a  growing  neglect  of  infant  baptism.  One 
of  Bishop  Ridley's  warrants  of  search,  in  1550,  demanded,  '  whether  any  speaketh 
against  baptism  of  infants.'  Even  Hooper  was  suspected  on  that  question.  Before 
he  was  nominated  for  the  bishopric  he  held  :  '  We  may  not  doubt  of  the  salvation  of 
the  infants  of  Clu'istians  that    die   before    they  be   christened  ; '  showing  that  such 


opinions  wci-c 

nu    l,;ir 

to     piililic' 

CUlllhl. 

baptism,  ami  i 

h  i  :.:>;;  ,.r 

dcivd  that 

all  thr 

tlie  priest;'  ai 

1(1  in  his 

'  Dc.-lanitiu 

n    nf  t 

sucli  supcrstiti 

on  as   thi 

s:   -The  1,1 

v:u\    i. 

ImimIj  of  C:iirisi 

t,  as  till. 

watci-  ill  lia 

ptislii 

.l.s7i-;?Tt'. 

■un:  Ihit,  IM.llc.v  had  a.  in.mia  for  infant 
.•hildnMi  in  hi>  di.MTM.  -he  rliri>tcnf.l  hy 
w  l.unlV  Slipper'  we  liiul  him  talking 
diTil.  .sicranientally,  is  elian-cd  into  the 
s  sacruiiieiitally  clianged  into  the  fountain 
of  rei;enei'ation,  and  yet  tlie  material  Mili^taiu-e  thereof  remaiiietli  all  one.  as  was 
before.'  A  eongreo'ation  of  I'.aptists  was  found  in  London  in  \:<7''.  twenty-seven 
of  whom  were  iiiiiiriHUied,  and  two  biiriit  in  Smithtield  ;  and  the  sei-t  ran  be 
traced  by  their  blood  all  thron-h  the  eentnry,  aided  by  the  li-ht  <<i'  Knriiet.  Fnller 
and  Fox". 

Tradition  eonnects  the  name  of  Anne  Askew  with  the  liaptists.  She  was  a 
thorough  rrote.-tant,  a  tiriii  friend  of  Joan  Boueher.  and  a  helper  to  her  in  eircu- 
lating  the  llihle  and  other  religious  books  privately  in  the  palaee.  She  wa.^  the 
youngest  daughter  of  Sir  William  Askew,  was  thoroughly  educated,  being  as 
delicate  and  gentle  a  spirit  as  e\-er  ascended  from  Smithtield  to  paradise.  She  was 
intimate  with  Queen  Cathai-ine  I'arr.  and  so  fell  a  \ictim  to  Bishop  Gardinei-'s  craft, 
he  expecting  to  attaint  her  majesty  of  hei'esy  through  Anne,  who  was  but  foxir 
and  twenty  years  of  age.  Much  of  her  time,  day  and  night,  was  ^petit  in  jirayer; 
she  reveled  in  the  freshness  of  the  Gospel,  and  her  fi'aiik,  meek,  uiiMispecting  sim- 
jilicity  won  the  queen's  heart.  She  was  arrested  and  thrown  into  the  Tower  on 
the  charge  that  she  rejected  the  mass.  There  she  was  jiiit  to  the  rack,  but  her 
clear  and  calm  mind  would  neither  criminate  herself  nor  Catharine.  Hence,  when 
Bishop  Gardiner  and  Chancellor  Wriothesley  saw  that  their  policy  was  to  be 
thwarted,  the  chancellor  demanded  that  Sir  Anthony  Knevett  should  torment  her 
further.  This  the  lieutenant  of  the  Tower  refused,  wlien  Wriothesley  threw  off 
his  gown,  and  drew  the  rack  so  severely  that  he  almost  tore  her  body  to  pieces. 
She  endured  this  with  such  firm  trust  in  God  and  such  lofty  courage  that  she 
seems  like  an  angel  of  light  amongst  her  tormentors.  She  had  xarioiis  hearings,  in 
which  her  hai-niless  wit  overpowered  her  foes.  The  lord  mayor  demanded  of  her : 
'  Say  est  thou  that  the  ])riests  cannot  make  the  body  of  Christ  T  She  answered  : 
'I  say  so,  my  lord;  for  I  have  read  that  (bid  made  man.  but  that  man  can  make 
God  I  have  never  yet  read.'  Qu.  'What  if  a  moii>e  eat  of  the  bread  after  the 
consecration?  What  shall  become  of  the  mouse,  thou  bioli>h  w<iinan;'  Ans. 
'What  shall  become  of  her  say  you,  my  lord  ; '  lie  replied:  '1  say  that  that  mouse 
is  damned!'  She  artlessly  rejoined,  to  his  lordship's  chagrin:  'Alack,  poor 
mouse ! '  When  condemned  to  be  burnt,  her  torture  forbade  her  to  walk  to  the 
stake,  and  she  was  carried  in  a  chair.  There  a  written  pardon  was  offered  to  her 
from  the  king  if  she  would  recant.  She  calmly  turned  her  eyes  awa\',  and  fell  in 
the  flames  a  sacrifice  to  Jesus,  1546,  before  she  was  five  and  twenty.  Shaxton, 
the  apostate,  preached  at  her  burning,  and  a  disgusting  scene  followed.  The  chan- 
cellor, the   Duke    of   Norfolk,  the    Earl    of    Bedford,  the  lord    mayor,    and   other 


I 


.)    n 


^i  I 


^# 


X 


jo.\y  nouciiEit.  449 

dii^nitaries  tVasted  tlieir  eyes  oil  lier  and  the  throe  who  peri.slied  with  lier,  seated 
oil  a  heiieli  under  tlie  shadow  of  St.  Bartholomew's  church.  A  rumor  spread  tliat 
heuevoleiit  hands  had  put  gun-powder  about  the  martyrs  to  shorten  their  niiserv. 
These  cravens  were  filled  with  terror  for  their  own  safety,  lest  the  powder  .';iioiii<l 
east  the  fagots  where  they  sat.  Tliey  could  gloat  upon  the  heroine,  whose  love  for 
Christ  was  reducing  her  to  ashes,  but  sat  trembling  lest  the  brands  should  touch 
tliein.  Jesus,  rising  from  his  throne,  welcomed  her  to  a  security  which  these 
selfish  cowards  could  never  disturb  again. 

Four  years  afterwards,  under  Edward  ^'I.,  we  have  tin;  fearful  martyrdom  of 
Joan  Boucher,  of  Kent,  probably  of  Eythorne,  near  Caiiterhiiry,  where  there  was  a 
Baptist  assembly.  She  was  a  lady  of  note,  possessing  large  wealth,  and  was  well 
known  at  the  palace  in  the  days  of  Henry  and  Edward.  With  her  friend  Anne 
Askew  she  was  devoted  to  the  study  and  circulation  of  Tyndale's  translation,  which 
had  been  printed  at  Cologne,  1534.  Strype  says  that  she  carried  copies  of  this 
prohibited  book  under  her  clothing  on  her  visits  to  the  court ;  and  very  likely  to 
the  prisons  also,  which  she  often  visited,  using  her  wealth  to  relieve  those  who 
snifered  for  Jesus'  sake.  She  was  charged  with  various  heresies,  and  was  arrested, 
May,  1549.  Amongst  other  things,  she  denied  that  the  Virgin  Mary  was  sinless  by 
nature,  insisting  that  like  other  women  she  needed  to  rejoice  'in  God  her  Saviour,' 
as  she  herself  said.  Joan  neither  denied  the  proper  humanity  of  Jesus  nor  that  he 
was  Mary's  son.  But  she  held,  with  many  others  of  her  day,  that  he  became  man 
of  her  'faith,'  not  of  her  flesh,  lest  he  should  inherit  her  sinful  taint;  yet,  she 
believed  in  Christ's  miraculous  incarnation,  and  in  him  as  'that  holy  thing'  born 
of  Mary.  Her  idea  was  a  mere  speculation,  or,  as  Vaughn  expresses  it,  'a  subtle 
fancy,'  not  in  itself  half  so  weak  as  the  notion  of  Mary's  own  immaculate  con- 
ception, manufactured  to  meet  the  conclusion  which  Joan  wished  to  avoid,  namely, 
the  jieccability  of  Christ's  humanity.  On  this  frivolous  quiddity  was  this  noble 
woman  kept  a  year  and  a  half  under  the  hair-splitting  batteries  of  Cranmer,  Ridley, 
Whitehead,  Hutchinson,  Cecil,  Lord  Chancellor  Riche,  and  others  of  the  Protestant 
Liquisition  ;  more  is  the  pity  that  they  had  no  better  business.  She  was  examined 
and  cross-examined,  entreated  and  threatened,  all  to  no  purpose.  Neal,  Burnet  and 
Philpot  have  affected  to  treat  her  as  'weak,'  'vain'  and  'fanatic,'  charges  which 
their  manliness  had  better  have  applied  to  her  learned  tormentors ;  for  her  recorded 
examinations  show  more  of  these  infirmities  in  them  than  in  her.  They  did  not 
evince  one  thoroughly  amiable  trait  in  the  whole  transaction,  while  she  displayed  an 
acute  and  powerful  mind,  moved  by  a  warm  and  impulsive  heart. 

True,  she  rejected  their  notion  of  Mary's  sinlessness  and  demanded  Scripture 
for  their  teaching,  while  they  had  none  to  give ;  then,  she  gave  none  for  her  own 
speculations,  and  that  was  about  all  of  consequence  between  them,  on  this  issue. 
The  whole  farce  was  a  small  and  mean  business  for  men  of  their  cast  and  cloth,  and 
if  she  were  an  empty-headed  woman,  as  they  pretended,  they  honored  themselves 


4S0  JOAN  nOUCIlKR  BURNT. 

hut  littlr  in  s|)on<lino-  cii^^litceii  inoiitlis  <if  tlicii-  tiiiir  and  lahoi'  nn  lier  ii,ij;infnt,  for 
rilic  wi'll  lifld  her  .>\vii  witli  ihv.  wlmlc  Icanird  and  malignant  cnAvd  .d'  tlieni.  Lord 
Puclie  says,  tliat  lie  kept  litT  at  his  (avii  liousc  lor  'a  lurtni-iit;  and  liail  Crannier 
and  Ridley  visit  and  ivason  with  Iut  daily.  Kidlry  hcnt  all  his  elo(iUL>nee  iipun  her 
mind,  hut  could  not  shako  hci-  cunNictions.  Her  judges  called  her  every  thing  but 
the  lady  which  her  pai'entage,  jio^-ition  and  character  demanded,  and  they  felt 
terribly  grieved  when  her  insulted  ])atieiice  told  them  the  plain  truth,  in  more 
polite  language  than  their  own.  'Marry,'  said  she,  'it  is  a  goodly  matter  to  con- 
sider your  ignorance.  It  is  not  long  ago  since  you  burned  Anne  Askew  for  a  piece 
of  bread,  and  yet  you  came  yourselves  soon  after  to  believe  and  profess  the  same 
doctrine  for  which  you  burned  her.  And  now,  foi-sooth,  yon  will  burn  me  for  a 
piece  of  flesh,  and  in  the  end  you  will  cdme  to  liclieve  tiiis  al^i.'  Did  Tliuinas 
Cranmer  and  Nicholas  Kidley  reniend)er  her  true  words  in  the  ilanius,  and  did  they 
help  to  light  them  through  the  tire?  Fox  tried  hard  to  save  her,  and  to  induce 
John  Rogers  to  help  him.  Rogers  refused,  thought  that  she  ought  to  be  burnt,  and 
spoke  lightly  of  death  by  burning,  but  then  he  did  not  dream  of  being  chained  to  the 
stake  himself.  Fox,  pitying  lier,  seized  the  Iiainl  of  his  friend  Rogers  and  replied: 
'Well,  it  may  so  happen  that  you  yourself  will  have  your  hands  full  of  this  mild 
burning.'  Whether  he  had  or  not,  his  poor  wife  proved  the  force  of  Fox's  pro- 
phetic apprehension  when  she  stood  Avith  her  eight  children  and  saw^  her  husband 
consumed  to  ashes,  five  years  later. 

Joan  Boucher  suffered  amongst  the  fagots,  May  2,  1550,  to  the  eternal  disgrace 
of  all  concerned.  Common  decency  might  have  spared  her  the  mockery  of  having 
Bishop  Scorey  preach  to  her  while  at  the  stake  and  vilify  her  there,  under  pretense 
of  ^iious  exhortation.  Yet,  possibly,  her  last  act  did  him  a  service  wliicli  he  much 
needed,  and  which  had  never  been  done  to  him  before.  Her  sermon  to  him  is 
immortal,  while  his  to  her  has  long  since  been  forgotten.  Listening  to  him  just  as 
her  soul  ascended  to  heaven  in  the  flame,  she  said  in  reply  :  '  You  lie  like  a  rogue. 
Go  read  the  Scriptures ! '  Much  needless  ink  has  been  shed  on  an  attempt  to  show 
that  Edward  stained  her  death-warrant  with  tears  when  he  signed  it,  because  Cran- 
mer clamored  for  her  life.  But  Hallam  long  since  said  that  this  royal  tear-scene 
should  be  dropped  from  history,  though  detailed  by  Burnet.  And  the  young 
Tudor  well  sustains  Hallam  from  his  private  journal,  which  is  any  thing  but 
tearful.  With  his  own  hand  he  wrote :  '  Joan  Boucher,  otherwise  called  Joan  of 
Kent,  was  burnt  for  holding  that  Christ  was  not  incarnate  of  the  Virgin  Mary, 
being  condemned  the  year  previous,  but  kept  in  hope  of  conversion  ;  and  the  30th 
of  April  the  Bishop  of  London  and  the  Bishop  of  Ely  were  to  persuade  her,  but 
she  withstood  them  and  reviled  the  preacher  that  preached  at  her  death.'  So  much 
for  his  Journal,  but  there  is  no  proof  that  Edward  signed  her  death-warrant  at  all. 
This  was  seldom  done  by  the  monarch,  and  in  her  case  it  was  issued  by  the  Council 
to  the  Lord  Chancellor.     On  the  authority  of  Bruce,  editor  of  the  works  of  Hutch- 


UEXDIiICK    TERWOOIiT.  4S  1 

inson,  Parker  Society  edition,  tlie  following  is  taken  from  a  minute  of  tlio  Council 
itself,  dated  April  27,  1550.  'A  warrant  to  the  L.  Chancellor  to  make  out  a  writt 
to  tlie  shirell  of  London  for  the  execugon  of  Johan  of  Kent,  condenipncd  to  be 
burned  for  certein  detestable  opinions  of  heresie.' '" 

IIendkick  Tekwoort,  a  Fleming  by  birth,  and  of  a  line  mind,  another  Baptist 
martyr  of  note,  was  burned  in  Smithfield,  June  22,  1575.  He  was  but  five  and 
twenty,  had  rejected  infant  baptism,  and  held  that  a  Christian  should  not  make  oath 
or  bear  arms.  While  in  prison  he  wrote  a  Confession  of  Faith,  in  which  he  said : 
'  We  must  abstain  from  willful  sins  if  we  would  be  saved,  namely,  from  adultery, 
foruicatiiin,  witchcraft,  sedition,  bloodshed,  cursing  and  stealing,  .  .  .  hatred  and 
envy.  Tiiey  who  do  such  things  shall  not  possess  the  kingdom  of  (iod.'  lie  also 
set  forth  that  the  'Anabaptists'  'believe  and  confess  that  magistrates  are  set  and 
ordained  of  God,  to  punish  the  evil  and  protect  the  good,'  that  they  pray  for  them 
and  are  subject  to  them  in  every  good  work,  and  that  they  revere  the  'gracious 
queen '  as  a  sovereign.  He  sent  a  copy  to  Elizabeth,  but  her  heart  was  set  against 
him  and  his  people,  as  hard  as  the  nether  millstone,  and  this  young  son  of  God 
must  die  because  he  would  not  make  his  conscience  her  footstool.  Bishops  Laud 
and  Whitgift  hated  him  and  the  Baptists,  the  latter  dealing  in  this  heartless  slander: 
'  They  give  honor  and  reverence  to  none  in  authority,  they  seek  the  overthrow  of 
commonwealths  and  states  of  government,  they  are  full  of  pride  and  contempt,  their 
whole  interest  is  schismatic  and  to  be  free  from  all  laws,  to  live  as  they  list ;  they 
feign  an  austerity  of  life  and  manners,  and  are  great  hypocrites.'  When  he  comes 
to  the  dangerous  method  of  specification,  he  virtually  admits  his  slander.  He 
berates  them  for  complaining :  '  That  their  mouths  are  stopped,  not  by  God's  word, 
but  by  the  authority  of  the  magistrate.  They  assert  that  the  civil  magistrate  has  no 
authority  in  ecclesiastical  matters,  and  ought  not  to  meddle  in  cases  of  religion  and 
faith,  and  that  no  man  ought  to  be  compelled  to  faith  and  religion  ;  aiul  lastly,  they 
complain  much  of  persecution,  and  brag  that  they  defend  their  ('ause  not  witii 
words  only,  but  by  the  shedding  of  their  blood.' " 

Terwoort  was  not  an  English  subject,  but,  persecuted  in  his  own  land  for  his 
love  to  Christ,  he  tied  and  asked  protection  of  a  Protestant  queen,  the  head  of  the 
English  Church,  and  she  roasted  him  alive  for  his  misplaced  confidence.  Nor  was  his 
a  singular  case.  Bishop  Jewel  complains  of  a  '  large  and  unauspicious  crop  of  Ana- 
baptists '  in  Elizabeth's  reign,  and  she  not  only  ordered  them  out  of  her  kingdom, 
but  in  good  earnest  kindled  the  fires  to  burn  them.  Sir  James  Mackintosh  says 
that  no  Catholic  was  martyred  in  Edward's  reign,  and  happy  had  it  been  could  he 
have  written  that  the  virgin  Queen  also  avoided  a  Baptist  holocaust.  Marsden 
thinks  that  the  Baptists  were  the  most  numerous  dissenters  from  the  Established 
Church  in  her  reign,  and  Camden  afhrms  that  she  insisted  on  their  leaving  the 
kingdom  on  pain  of  imprisonment  and  confiscation  of  property.  Yet  even  this  did 
not  satisfy  her  implacable  hate,  as  a  real  Tudor.     She  pursued  them  more  and  more, 


452  DROWNISTS. 

until  thcv  wci-c  driven  in  all  .lircctions,  Miniu  lifin^^  put  to  dcatii ;  Imt  the  larj^^e  part 
of  tln'i.i  lied  t.)  Jiolhuid,  where  at  this  time  thev  enjoyed  mure  toleration.  Dr. 
Se.me,  liowcver,  an  English  clergyman  of  note  in  his  day.  informs  us  that  they  had 
several  secret  'conventicles'  in  London,  and  that  s(!veral  of  their  ministers  had  been 
educated  at  the  universities.  In  15^9,  he  wrote  a  treatise,  attacking  tlieni  and  their 
faith.  His  charges  against  the  Baptists  were :  That  they  insisted  on  maintaining  all 
mini.-teis  of  the  Gospel  hy  the  voluntary  contributions  of  the  i>eople ;  that  the  civil 
power  ha^  no  riizht  to  make  and  impose  ecclesiastical  laws;  that  the  people  have  the 
right  to  eh("ise  their  own  pastors;  that  the  High  Commission  Court  was  an  anti- 
Christian  u,-ur|iatiMn  ;  that  those  who  are  (puililied  to  preach  ought  not  to  he  hin- 
dered hy  the  civil  power;  that  though  the  Lord's  Prayer  is  a  rule  and  foundation  of 
petition,  it  is  not  to  he  used  as  a  form,  foi-  no  form  of  prayer  should  he  bound  on 
the  Church;  that  the  baptism  of  the  Church  of  Rome  is  invalid  ;  that  a  Gosi)cl  con- 
stitution and  discipline  are  es.sentiai  to  a  true  Church;  and  that  the  worship  of  God 
in  the  (.'hureh  of  Eiigland  is,  in  many  things,  defective.  For  these  views  they  were 
accounted  'heretics,'  and  suffered  so  severely  that  from  1590  to  163U  we  find  but 
slight  trace  of  Baptists  in  England. 

About  15T9  Archbishop  Sandys  declared  both  of  the  Brownists  and  Baptists : 
'  It  is  the  property  of  froward  sectaries,  whose  inventions  cannot  abide  the  light,  to 
make  obscure  conventicles,'  and  he  would  compel  them  to  attend  the  Established 
Church.  He  was  the  more  disturbed  because  so  many  'heretical'  exiles  from  Hol- 
land had  sought  refuge  in  England,  for  it  is  said  that  in  1571  there  were  nearly 
4,000  Dutch  and  other  foreigners  in  Norwich  alone,  many  of  them  Dutch  Baptists, 
from  whom  Weingarten  thinks  that  Brown  borrowed  his  best  ideas  of  a  Gospel 
Church.  Robert  Brown,  chaplain  to  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  and  Robert  Harrison,  the 
master  of  a  grammar  school,  were  Puritans,  and  went  to  Norwich  in  1580.  There 
they  mingled  with  these  exiles,  and  formed  an  independent  Church,  but  the  bishops 
had  no  rest  till  Brown  was  banished.  He,  with  Harrison  and  about  fifty  others,  in 
1581,  fled  to  Middleburg,  in  Zealand,  and  formed  a  Church,  which  became  extinct 
because  of  divisions,  and  Brown  returned  to  the  Church  of  England.  Elizabeth 
was  especially  set  against  the  Separatists,  and  in  1597,  Francis  Johnson,  pastor  of 
their  Church  in  London,  with  some  of  his  flock,  escaped  to  Amstei'dam.  On  the 
accession  of  James  I.,  1G03,  the  four  sects  of  England  were,  the  Roman  Catholic, 
the  Church  of  England,  divided  into  the  Puritans,  who  conformed  in  some  things, 
and  others  who  conformed  in  all,  the  Brownists,  afterwards  know-n  as  Separatists  and 
Independents,  and  a  few  Baptists,  who  were  disowned  of  all.  The  Gospel  seed 
sown  by  Brown  in  his  own  counti'y  took  root,  and  notwithstanding  his  return  to 
the  English  Church,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  said,  in  1592,  that  there  were  20,000 
Brownists  in  England.  John  Robinson,  a  firmer  and  more  steady  mind,  went  to 
Norwich,  then  to  Scrooby,  1600-160-1,  cast  the  Brownists  in  a  healthier  mold,  and 
they  became  known  as  Independents. 


CHAPTER    III. 

BRITISH    BAPTISTS-JOHN    SM YTH-COMMON\A^EALTH. 

REV.  JOHN  SMYTH,  educated  at  Cambridge,  became  vicar  of  (iaiiisbon.ngli, 
Lineolnsliire,  and  a  determined  foe  of  the  Separatists.  After  examining 
their  sentiments  for  '  nine  mouths,'  however,  lie  renounced  episcopacy  as  unscript- 
ural  and  was  cast  into  the  Marshalsea  Prison,  Soutliwark,  but  Ix'iiii:-  liberated,  lie 
became  pastor  of  the  Separatist  Church  at  Gainsborough  in  It5<i2.  AVilliaui  IJrew- 
ster  was  a  Separatist  at  Gainsborough,  but  removed  to  Scrooby  near  Bawtry,  where 
Clifttiu  became  pastor,  with  Robinson  as  assistant.  Both  tliese  Httie  fiocks,  how- 
ever, were  driven  from  tlieir  homes,  Smyth  fleeing  to  Amsterdam,  probably  in  1606, 
where  he  joined  Jolinson.  Clifton  and  Robinson  followed  in  1608,  settling  first  at 
Amsterdam,  then  at  Leyden.  In  1620  a  jiortion  of  the  Church  at  Leyden  migrated 
to  Plymouth,  New  England,  with  P)rewster  as  elder,  and  formed  the  first  Congre- 
gational Church  in  America.  On  arriving  in  Amsterdam,  Smyth  at  lirst  united 
with  the  'ancient'  English  Separatist  Church  there,  in  charge  of  Jolmsun,  with 
Ainsworth  as  teacher.  At  that  time  the  Separatists  of  Amsterdam  were  in  warm 
controversy  on  the  true  nature  of  a  visible  Church.  Smyth  published  a  work  on  the 
fallen  Church,  entitled  '  The  Character  of  the  Beast,'  and  a  tractate  of  seventy-one 
pages,  against  infant  baptism  and  in  favor  of  believer's  baptism.  For  this  he  was 
disfellowshiped  by  the  first  Church,  his  former  friends  charging  him  with  open  war 
against  God's  covenant,  and  the  murder  of  the  souls  of  babes  and  sucklings,  ])v 
depriving  them  of  the  visible  seal  of  salvation. 

This  led  Smyth,  Ilelwys,  Morton  and  thirty-six  others  to  form  a  new  Church 
which  should  practice  believer's  baptism  and  reject  infant  baptism.  Finding 
themselves  unbaptized,  they  were  in  a  strait.  They  were  on  good  terms  with 
the  Dutch  Baptists,  but  would  not  receive  their  baptism,  lest  this  should  recognize 
them  as  a  true  Church ;  for  they  believed  that  the  true  Churches  of  Clirist  had 
perished.  Besides,  Smyth  did  not  believe  witli  tln-m  in  the  unlawfulness  of  a 
Christian  to  serve  as  a  magistrate,  nor  on  the  freeilom  of  tlu;  will  and  the  dis- 
tinctive points  of  Calvinism,  he  being  an  Arminian,  which  points  he  considered 
vital.  He  believed  that  the  Apostolical  Church  model  was  lost,  and  determined  on 
its  recovery.  He  renounced  the  figment  of  a  historical,  apostolic  succession,  in.?ist- 
ing  that  where  two  or  three;  organize  according  to  the  teachings  of  the  New 
Testament,  they  form  as  true  a  Church  of  Christ  as  that  of  Jerusalem,  though  they 
stand  alone  in  the  earth.     With  the  design  of  restoring  this  pattern,  he  baptized 


4S4  THE   FIRST  ENGLISH   GENERAL   BAPTIST   CHURCH. 

himself  on  liisfaitli  in  Christ  in  KIOS,  tlien  lja])tizc'd  Thdinas  Ilelwys  with  about  forty 
others,  and  so  formed  a  new  Chnrch  in  Amsterdam.  In  most  things  this  body  was 
Baptist,  as  that  term  is  nnw  nscd,  witli  some  difference.  This  is  established  by 
their  four  extant  forms,  of  what  is  in  substance,  one  confession  of  faith.  Two  of 
these  were  written  by  Smyth  and  are  signed  by  othei's,  and  the  other  two  came 
from  the  same  coinpany,  probably  under  \\w  lead  nf  llelwys.  Their  theology  is 
Arminian,  they  claim  that  the  Church  is  composed  of  baptized  believers  only, 
that  '  only  the  baptized  are  to  taste  of  the  Lord's  Supper,'  and  that  the  magistrates 
shall  not,  by  virtue  of  their  office,  meddle  with  matters  of  conscience  in  religion. 

Smyth  and  his  congregation  met  in  a  large  bakery  for  a  time,  but  he  soon  saw 
his  mistake  in  his  hasty  Se-baptism,  and  offered  to  join  the  Dutch  congregation  of 
Baptists  known  as  '  Waterlanders,'  under  the  pastoral  charge  of  Lubberts  Gerrits. 
Part  of  his  congregation,  under  the  leadership  of  Helwys,  would  not  unite  with 
Smyth  in  this  movement,  but  excluded  him  from  their  fellowship  and  warned  the 
Dutch  Church  not  to  receive  him.  Soon  after  this  Smyth  died,  August,  1012,  and 
the  Dutch  body  recognized  his  company.  Meanwhile  the  question  had  arisen  with 
Helwys  and  his  followers  whether  they  were  doing  right  by  remaining  in  Holland, 
to  avoid  persecution  in  England,  and  at  the  peril  of  their  lives  they  had  returned  to 
London,  in  1611,  and  formed  the  first  general  Baptist  Church  there,  1612-14. 
Little  is  known  of  its  history  beyond  the  general  statement  that  the  Dutch  Bap- 
tists of  London  rallied  around  Helwys  and  John  Morton,  his  successor,  that  it  was 
located  in  Newgate,  and  that  in  1620  it  numbered  one  hundred  and  fifty  persons. 
Helwys  published  a  work  defending  their  course  in  braving  persecution,  and 
probably  translated  a  Dutch  treatise  on  baptism  in  1618.  No  account  is  given  of 
his  death,  but  Taylor  dates  it  at  '  about '  1623.  Masson  says,  in  his  '  Life  of 
Milton,'  '  This  obscure  Baptist  congregation  seems  to  have  become  the  depository 
for  all  England  of  the  absolute  principle  of  liberty  of  conscience  expressed  in  the 
Amsterdam  Confession  as  distinct  from  the  more  stinted  principle  advocated  by  the 
general  body  of  the  Independents.  Not  only  did  Helwisse's  folks  differ  from 
the  Independents  generally  on  the  subject  of  infant  baptism  axiA  dl japing ;  they 
differed  also  on  the  power  of  the  magistrate  in  matters  of  belief  and  conscience. 
It  was,  in  short,  from  this  little  dingy  meeting-house,  somewhere  in  Old  London, 
that  there  flashed  out  first  in  England  the  absolute  doctrine  of  religious  liberty.' 

So  far  as  is  known,  the  Amsterdam  Confession  of  the  Baptists  is  the  first 
which  laid  down  the  full  principle  of  religious  freedom,  after  the  Swiss  Confession 
of  1527.  It  is  absolutely  the  first  now  known  to  take  positive  ground  in  favor  of 
the  salvation  of  all  infants  who  die  in  infancy,  from  the  time  that  Augustine 
taught  the  detestable  doctrine  that  unbaptized  infants  who  die  are  not  ad- 
mitted into  heaven.  Wicklift'  held  that  they  are  saved  without  baptism,  but  his 
doctrine  was  not  formulated  by  a  Christian  body.  Also,  in  defining  the  limits  of 
Church  and  State,  they  came  down  to  those  foundation   principles  which  the  Inde- 


LIBKRTY   OF   COXSCIENCE  PROCLAIMED.  455 

pendents  had  not  reached.  Ainsworth's  Confession  said :  '  The  government  should 
protect  true  believers,  strengthen  the  proper  administration  of  the  true  worship, 
punish  transgressors,  and  uproot  false  worship.'  Ilelwys  understood  things  better. 
He  sent  a  copy  of  his  work  on  religious  liberty  with  a  letter  to  James  I.,  in  which 
he  boldly  says :  '  The  king  is  a  mortal  man  and  not  God,  tlierefoi'e  liath  no  power 
over  the  immortal  souls  of  his  subjects,  to  make  laws  and  ordinances  for  them,  and 
to  set  spiritual  lords  over  them.  If  the  king  has  authority  to  make  spiritual  lords 
and  laws,  then  he  is  an  iniiiKirtal  (iml,  and  not  a  mortal  man.'  No  English  king 
had  heard  such  words  before.  Tlu'  liulcpcndents  were  far  in  advance  of  the  Puri- 
tans and  the  Presbyterians  on  this  subject ;  but  even  Johnson  said :  '  Princes  may 
and  ought  to  abolish  all  false  worsliip,  and  to  establish  the  true  worship  and 
ministry  appninttMl  hy  (4(id  in  his  word,  coninianding  and  compelling  tlieir  sub- 
jects to  conic  into  and  i)ractice  nunc  utliur  than  this.'  The  Amsterdam  Baptist 
Confession  bi-aveiy  said:  'The  magistrate  is  not,  by  virtue  of  his  office,  to  meddle 
with  religion  or  matters  of  conscience,  to  force  and  compel  men  to  this  or  that 
form  of  religion  or  doctrine,  but  to  leave  the  Christian  religion  free  to  every  man's 
conscience,  and  to  handle  only  civil  transgressors,  for  Ciirist  is  the  only  King  and 
Lawgiver  of  the  Church  and  conscience.' 

When  the  Brownists  left  the  English  State  Church,  they  objected  to  its  hier- 
archy, liturgy,  constitution  and  government,  as  antichristian.  Smyth,  therefore, 
broke  with  them  on  the  issue  that  if  that  Church  was  apostate,  as  a  daughter  of 
Rome,  then  its  clergy  were  not  qualified  to  administer  Christ's  ordinances.  The 
Brownists,  however,  considered  them  valid,  and  called  the  English  (yhurch  their 
'mother,'  while  they  denounced  her  as  'harlot'  and  'Babylon;'  but  Smyth, 
having  been  christened  in  her  pale,  concluded  that  he  was  yet  unbaptized.  Bishop 
Hall  cauglit  this  point  keenly,  and  was  severe  on  the  Brownists  when  he  opposed 
Smyth.     He  wrote : 

'  You  that  cannot  abide  a  false  Church,  why  do  you  content  yourselves  with 
a  false  sacrament?  especially  since  our  Church,  not  being  yet  gathered  to  Christ, 
is  no  Church,  and  therefore  her  baptism  a  imllity !  .  .  .  He  (Smyth)  tells  you 
true ;  your  station  is  unsafe  ;  either  you  nmst  forward  to  him,  or  back  to  us.  .  .  . 
You  must  go  forward  to  Anabaptism,  or  come  back  to  us.  AH  your  rai)bins  can- 
not answer  that  charge  of  your  rebaptized  brother.  ...  If  our  baptism  be  good, 
then  is  our  constitution  good.  .  .  .  What  need  you  to  surfeit  of  another  man's 
trencher?  .  .  .  Show  you  me  where  the  Apostles  baptized  in  aba^onf 

Smyth  liaving  rejected  infant  baptism  also  on  its  merits  as  a  human  insti- 
tution, Ainsworth  said,  in  1G09,  that  he  had  gone  '  over  to  the  abomination  of  the 
Anabaptists.'  Bishop  Hall  wrote  the  above  words  in  1610,  calling  him  then  '  your 
rebaptized  brother,'  which  indicates  that  he  left  tlie  Brownists  about  1608.  Ilis 
enemies  have  represented  him  as  hair-brained,  fickle  and  fond  of  novelty.  But 
Schafl-Herzog  does  him  the  justice  to  saj^  that:  'Seized  by  the  time-spirit,  he  was 
restless,  fervid,  earnest  and  thoroughgoing.  .  .  .   A  man  of  incorruptible  simplicity. 


456  SMYTH'S   SE-BAPTISW. 

beautiful    Iminility,  glowing  charity,  a   fair  si'lmlar  and    a   good   preacher.'      His 
writings  show   that   he   thirsted  for    the   truth;  and    several   times  he  shifted  his 

positions  before  he  felt  sure  that  he  st I  nn  soliil  ground,  a  fact  creditable  to  his 

convictions  and  moral   courage.     As   to  his  St'-l>aj)tism    the  following  things  seem 
clear,  namely  : 

1.  That  lie  dhl  hipthc  hlmaclf  when  he  e,isf  uxlde  hh  infant  hapthm.  He 
believed  that  no  man  had  a  pure  baptism  or  could  administer  the  same,  not  only 
because  of  tlie  coimiition  of  baptism,  as  then  practiced,  but  because  of  moral  de- 
fection in  all  the  Churches.  This  was  no  new  doctrine.  The  Donatists  held  that 
the  validity  of  baptism  was  affected  by  the  bad  life  of  the  administrator;  and 
Cyprian  asks  :  '  Who  can  consecrate  water  who  is  himself  unholy,  and  has  not  the 
Holy  Spirit'^'  I'.ut  Smyth  was  feeling  his  way  far  back  beyond  this  to  the 
Gospel  ground,  tliat  the  validity  of  baptism  has  no  regard  to  the  administrator, 
as  it  is  governed  by  the  faith  of  the  candidate.  He  denied  the  need  of  all  visible 
succession  in  the  ministry  and  oixlinanees,  and  yet  his  sincere  but  impulsive  mind 
was  held  in  secret  thralldom  to  this  snbtility.  He  denied  that  the  faide  of  an- 
tiquity is  an  attribute  of  a  true  Church,  and  yet  he  would  found  a  new  line  of 
baptizers,  to  give  purity  to  the  ordinance  in  the  futni'e.  He  evidently  reasoned  and 
decided  thus:  'Let  the  fallen  Churches  stand  alone.  They  have  turned  Christ's 
ordinance  out  of  doors  and  established  their  own,  so  I  cut  loose  from  them  and 
throw  myself  directly  into  the  hands  of  God.  I  take  the  last  method  left  of  hon- 
oring him,  and  he  knows  my  singleness  of  heart.  My  infant  baptism  was 
meaningless,  a  pious  fraud  practiced  upon  me,  and  its  alleged  blessings  are  mere 
nursery  pictures.  They  have  thrown  shame  on  the  (Tospel,  blunted  my  conviction 
of  truth,  and  juit  my  personal  faith  in  Christ  to  a  deep  blush.  Hence  I  will  cut 
the  last  thread  that  binds  me  to  "the  defection  of  Antichrist."'  Logic  took  him 
to  that  point,  but  love  to  Christ  carried  him  further,  and  he  resolved  to  offer  him- 
self to  Christ  in  baptism,  come  wdiat  might,  and  lie  hiiptized  himself,  in  obedience 
to  an  imperative  sense  of  duty.  There  is  a  legend  of  Thekla,  the  unbaptized 
martyr,  that  when  led  out  to  the  wild  beasts,  she  threw  herself  into  a  trench  full 
of  water,  and  shouted,  with  joy:  'In  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  I  am  baptized  on 
my  last  day!'  Without  her  lot,  Smyth  possessed  the  same  spirit.  He  denied  the 
arrogance  that  salvation  is  lodged  in  ordinances,  that  God  has  given  them  into  the 
keeping  of  any  body  of  men  to  dispense,  rejecting  whom  they  please.  Baptism 
was  to  him  a  right  and  privilege  from  God,  and  because  it  had  been  forced  upon 
him  as  a  child,  the  extreme  view  of  the  Church  now  forced  him,  as  he 
believed,  to  throw  aside  all  human  intervention  in  the  matter.  Yet  in  his  Con- 
fession he  explicitly  expresses  his  faith  in  an  aci^redited  ministry,  a  regenerate  body, 
but  he  could  not  trace  it  through  one  century,  not  to  say  sixteen.  He  concluded, 
therefore,  that  it  made  no  matter  whether  he,  being  unbaptized,  baptized  himself, 
or  another  unbaptized  man  baptized  him.     This  was  his  Puritan  mode  of  cutting 


ms   OliOUND    OF  ACTION.  437 

himself  adrift  from  the  last  tie  of  popery  in  Protestantism.  The  result  was  the 
same,  so  far  as  baptismal  succession  was  concerned,  whether  he  baptized  himself 
or  was  baptized  by  an  unbaj)tiz('d  person.  Ilis  entire  being  was  impelled  by  that 
sentiment,  and  the  (piicksilver  iiu  more  ciianges  the  weather,  than  eccenti-icity  led 
him  to  Se-baptism. 

However  mistaken  he  was  in  his  reasoning,  he  knew,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that 
nearly  half  the  so-called  countries  of  the  world  are  un;il)ic  to  tell  liy  rt'conl  wlicther 
the  Gospel  was  first  preached  to  them  by  ministers  or  laymen,  miich  less  can  their 
personal  baptisms  be  traced.  lie  could  not  tell  whether  the  man  who  lironght  it  to 
the  British  Isles  was  himself  baptized,  or  if  so,  who  baptized  him,  where,  when  or 
how.  Smyth  held  his  own  consecration  to  Christ  in  baptism  acceptable  to  Christ, 
and  he  was  better  satisfied  with  it  himself,  than  he  had  ever  been  with  his  infant 
baptism,  of  which  others  had  told  him.  These  being  his  motives  to  Se-baptism,  we 
may  now  notice  that : 

2.  Its  proof  is  found  in  his  own  7/nro>ifrif(//r/,i7  .siafi'ments  and  those  of  his 
contemporaries.  lie  defended  his  act  by  claiming  that  when  succession  is  broken 
off,  men  are  not  bound  to  join  fallen  Churches :  '  But  may,  being  as  yet  unbaptized, 
baptize  themselves,  as  we  dip,  and  proceed  to  build  churches  themselves.'  When 
Clifton  asked  him  by  what  right  he  baptized  himself,  he  replied:  '  zVs  yon,  when 
there  was  not  a  true  Church  in  the  world,  took  upon  you  to  set  up  a  true  Cluireh. 
.  .  .  Seeing,  when  all  Christ's  visible  ordinances  are  lost,  then  two  men  joining 
together  may  make  a  Church,  as  you  say,  why  may  they  not  baptize,  seeing  K\w.\ 
camiot  enjoin  unto  Christ  but  by  baptism?  .  .  .  Each  of  them  unbaptized,  hath 
power  to  assume  baptism  each  for  himself  with  others  in  communion.'  Barebone 
charges  against  the  Baptists,  1G42,  that  they  baptized  themselves  by  the  '  Way  of 
new  baptizing  lately  begun  ; '  they  iiave  no  warrant  from  heaven,  he  argues,  '  As  had 
John  the  Baptist,  to  set  up  baptism  themselves,'  nor  to  baptize  themselves  and 
others.  In  Clifton's  'Plea  for  Infants,'  1610,  he  calls  upon  Smyth  to  bring  'AVar- 
rant  from  the  Scripture,  that  you  being  unbaptized  may  baptize  yourself.  .  .  . 
Resolve  me,  that  you  can  baptize  yourself  into  the  Church,  being  out  of  it,  yea,  and 
where  there  was  no  Church.'  In  the  same  year,  'J.  H.'  jniblished  a  book  against 
Smyth,  in  which  he  says:  'Tell  mc  one  thing,  Maister  Smyth,  by  what  rule  bap- 
tized you  yourself?  ...  It  was  wonder  you  would  not  receive  your  baptism  from 
the  Dutch  Anabaptists,  but  you  will  be  holier  than  all.'  Ainsworth,  Kobinson, 
Bernard  and  othei-s,  charge  Smyth  with  being  a  Se-Baptist  (self-Baptist),  and  he 
took  the  greatest  pains  to  defend  his  own  act  as  absolutely  necessary. 

3.  Whether  he  dipped  himself  is  not  so  clear,  hut  all  the  circumstances,  with  a 
few  statements  of  that  day,  imply  that  he  did.  Those  who  wrote  against  the  Baj)- 
tists  after  IG-tO  make  no  distinction  on  the  matter  of  immersion  between  the 
Baptists  of  that  period  and  those  who  had  contiimed  down  from  IfilO.  nor  report 
any  change  amongst  them,  from  affusion  or  perfusion  to  ilipjiiiig.     On  the  contrary, 


4S8  BIS  BAPTISM  PUOBADLT  IMMERSION. 

they  speak  of  them  as  one  stuck  fi-oni  Smvtli  ili)\\n\v;iril.  Sometimes  they  speak 
of  him  as  the  father  of  English  '  Anal)aptisni,'  and  uniformly,  in  contempt,  they  call 
them  '  Dippers.'  Barebone  says  in  his  Discourse  :  'They  want  a  T)i]i|H'r,  that  had 
authority  from  heaven  as  had  John,  whom  they  please  to  call  a  I>ipj)Lr.'  liishoj) 
Hall's  remark,  Kilo,  when  speaking  uf  Smyth  as  'your  rebaptized  brother,'  is  very 
signiticaiit.  In  scm-iiful  sarcasm  he  demands  (if  the  Brown ists,  who  used  affusion : 
'  Show  me  where  the  Apostles  baptized  in  a  huson  !  '  '  What  need  you  to  surfeit  of 
another  man's  trencher?'  The  wry  point  of  his  thrust  imj)]ies  that  Smyth  had 
dipped  himself,  contrary  to  their  pi'actice,  and  that  he  had  Apostolic  authority  for 
dipping  as  baptism.  It  further  implies  that  the  meat  on  Smytli's  '  trencher' had 
nauseated  them,  because,  like  the  Apostles,  he  had  discarded  the  'bason.'  Featley, 
in  what  Orme  calls  his  'ridiculous  book,'  'The  Dippers  Dipt  over  Head  and  Ears,' 
complains  of  the  '  new  leaven,'  because  they  dipped,  and  says  :  '  It  cannot  be  proved 
that  any  of  the  ancient  Anabaptists  maintained  any  such  laisitiun,  there  being  three 
ways  of  baptizing,  either  by  dipping,  or  washing,  or  spi-inkling." '  But  in  this 
decLaration  he  contradicts  himself  several  times,  as  we  shall  see.  He  clearly  states 
their  then  current  practice  when  he  says,  that  the  sick  camiot,  'After  the  manner  of 
the  Anabaptists,  be  carried  to  rivers  or  wells,  and  there  be  dipt  and  plunged  in 
them.'  lie  adds,  that  tliey  held  '  Weekly  Conventicles,  reba])tized  hundreds  of 
men  and  women  together  in  the  twilight  in  rivulets,  and  some  arms  of  the  Thames 
and  elsewhere,  dipping  them  over  liead  and  ears.'  He  bitterly  complains  that  they 
'Flock  in  great  multitudes  to  their  Jordaiis,  an<l  both  sexes  enter  the  river,  and  are 
dipped  after  their  manner;''  and  tliat  they  had  followed  these  terrible  practices 
'  neere  the  place  of  my  residence  for  more  than  twenty  years.'  He  wrote  this  Jan. 
10,  164-4,  which  would  carry  him  back  to  1024,  at  least.  But  lie  never  accuses  the 
English  Baptists  of  substituting  dipping  for  some  other  practice  which  they  had 
previously  followed.  He  gives  not  one  hint  that  in  England  they  liad  ever  been 
any  thing  else  but  '  Dipjiers,'  an  unaccountable  silence,  if  they  had  practiced  some- 
thing else  there  within  the  previous  fifty  years. 

Directly  to  the  contrary,  his  whole  book  assumes  that  the  Baptists  of  his  day  were 
the  veritable  descendants  of  the  Miinster  men.  He  calls  Storke  '  The  father  of  the 
Anabaptists  of  oitr  age'  and  a  '  blockhead '  from  win  mi  '  the  chiefs  flew  into  England,' 
when  he  was  hewn  down  in  Germany;  and  makes  Knipperdolling  their  'Patriarch.' 
He  alleges  that  they  'stript  themselves  stark  naked  when  they  flock  to  their  Jordans 
to  be  dipt,'  and  is  delighted  to  tell  us,  on  the  authority  of  Gastius,  that  at  Vienna 
'  Many  Anabaptists  were  so  tied  together  in  chains,  that  they  drew  the  other  after 
them  into  the  river,  wherein  they  were  suffocated.'  This,  he  thought,  the  proper 
punishment  for  their  sin,  and  bewails  that  their  successors  were  treated  more 
leniently  in  England.  His  words  are :  '  They  who  drew  others  into  the  whirlpool 
of  error,  by  constraint  drew  one  another  into  the  river  to  lie  drowned:  and  they  who 
profaned  baptism  by  a  second  dippintj,  rue  it  by  a  third  immersion.     But  the  jnin- 


WfLSOX,    NEAL   AND  ^fASSON.  459 

ishment  of  these  Catalxiptists  we  leave  to  them  wlio  liavc  the  legislative  power  in 
their  hands ;  who,  tliongh  by  present  connivance  they  may  seem  to  give  them  line, 
yet  no  doubt  it  is  that  they  may  more  entangle  themselves,  and  more  easily  be 
caught.'  He  clearly  intends  us  to  understand  that  these  Continental  Baptists  had 
been  immersed  first  as  children,  second  on  their  faith,  which  'profaned'  the  first, 
and  entitled  them  to  drowning  in  a  'third  imniersinii.'  lie  says  that  tlii.s  'Ana- 
baptist' fire  was  subdued  under  the  reigns  of  James  and  Elizabeth,  but  it  liad 
revived  again  from  'the  ashes.'  Amongst  the  'six  things'  wliicii  In;  c])arges  as 
peculiar  to  the  sect,  the  first  is  :  '  That  none  are  rightly  baptized  '  but  tiiosc  who  are 
dipped,  or  as  he  loves  to  express  it,  those  who  '  Go  into  the  water,  and  there  be 
dipt  over  head  and  ears;'  and  he  fails  to  hint  that  the  English  Baptists  had  ever 
done  otlierwise,  when  baptizing.  Wilson's  'History  of  Dissenting  Churches' 
(i.  p.  29,  30)  says  of  Smytli  : 

'  He  saw  grounds  to  cdii^idiT  iinincrsidn  :is  flic  true  and  only  meaniiiu-  nf  tlic  word 
baptism,  and  that  it  should  ln'  inliniiii-lciTil  t"  tlio~c  alone  who  were  (mimMt  of  |ii-.ifess- 
ing  their  faitli  in  Christ.  The  :ili>ui-<lii y  o|  Sim\  iliV  i-oiuluct  appeared  in  noiliin^niore 
conspicuously  than  in  this:  That  not  clhM.-iii^-  i..  :i|i])ly  to  the  (-termaii  Haptists,  and 
wanting  a  proper  administrator,  lie  l)a|iti/.iil  liim-clf.  wliich  procured  him  to  be  called 
a  Se-baptist.  Crosby,  indeed,  has  taken  ^i-eat  pains  to  vindicate  him  from  this  charge, 
tliongh  it  seems  with  little  success.  His  ]jrinciples  and  conduct  soon  drew  u])on  him 
an  lio>t  of  opponents,  the  chief  of  whom  were  Johnson,  Ainsworth,  Robinson,  Jcssop 
and  Clifton.  The  controversy  begun  in  1606,  about  the  time  Smyth  settled  in 
Amsterdam.  Soon  afterward  he  removed  with  his  followers  to  Leyden,  where  he 
continued  to  publish  various  books  in  defense  of  his  opinions.' 

Neal  says  that  he  '  Settled  with  his  disciples  at  Ley,  where  being  at  a  loss  for  a 
proper  administrator  of  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  he  plunged  himself,  and  then  ])er- 
formed  the  ceremony  upon  others.'^  In  Smyth's  case,  it  is  nothing  to  the  purpose 
whether  the  Mennonites,  Waterlanders,  or  those  'Anabaptists'  called  '  Aspersi ' 
used  affusion  or  not,  as  he  repudiated  them  all.  There  is  not  a  particle  of  evidence 
that  he  affused  himself,  and  it  is  a  cheap  caricature  to  imagine  that  he  disrobed  him- 
self, walked  into  a  stream,  then  lifted  handfuls  of  water,  pouring  then  liberally  upon 
his  own  head,  shoulders  and  chest.  We  have  the  same  reason  for  believing  that  he 
immersed  Helwys,  as  that  he  dipped  himself.  Masson  writes :  '  Helwisse's  folk 
differed  from  the  Independents  generally  on  the  subject  of  infant  baptism  and 
dipi)iiig.'  And  as  he  thinks  that  Busher  was  a  member  of  that  'congregation'  in 
lt;i4,  the  man  who  described  a  baptized  person  as  one  'dipped  for  dead  in  the 
water,'  the  fair  inference  is  carried  that  the  first  General  Baptist  Church  of  London 
was  composed  of  immersed  'folk.' 

Notwithstanding  that  Edward  Wightman,  a  Baptist  of  Burton-on-Trent,  had 
been  burnt  at  Lichfield,  April  11th,  1611,  and  that  persecution  of  his  brethren  con- 
tinued without  marty-rdom,  they  had  so  increased  in  1G26  that  they  had  eleven 
General  Baptist  Churches  in  England  :  which,  as  Featley  sourly  say.s,  had  increased 
to  forty-seven  of   various  sorts  in   1644.      Some  claim  that  a  Particular  Baptist 


460  A    PAllTICVLAR   BAPTIST   CHURCH  ORGANIZED. 

Church  was  fdniicd  at  Shrcwslnirv  in  ir,i>7,  and  another  at  Bickenhall,  near  Taunton, 
in  1630:  Imt  it  is  inoru  likely  that  the  first  of  tliis  order  was  establislied  by  Jolin 
Spilsbiuy  at  Wapping  in  1033.  These  terms  originated  in  tlie  fact  that  the  Arniin- 
ian  Baptists  held  to  a  general  and  the  Calvinistie  Baptists  to  a  particular  atone- 
ment ;  hence  they  adopted  these  titles. 

Spilsbnry's  Church  came  into  existence  on  tliis  wise.  In  Kild  tlie  first  congre- 
gation of  Independents  had  been  gatliered  in  London,  under  tlie  ])astoral  care  of 
Henry  Jacob,  who  was  succeeded  by  John  Latln-op.  A  number  of  this  society 
came  to  reject  infant  baptism  and  were  permitted  to  form  a  distinct  Clnirch, 
September  12,  1633,  with  Spilsbury  for  their  pastor ;  and,  according  to  Lord 
Selborn,  in  the  St.  Mary's  Chapel  case,  Norwich,  for  a  number  of  years  after  its 
formation  it  was  a  Strict  Communion  body,  si)  far  as  tlie  Supjier  was  concerned. 
Crosby  says  that  'most  or  all  of  these  received  a  new  baptism.'  In  1638  William 
Kiffin,  Thomas  Wilson  and  others,  left  Lathrop's  Independent  Church,  then  under 
chai-ge  of  Mr.  Jessey,  and  united  with  Spilsbury's  Church.  Wilson,  iu  his  '  History 
of  Dissenting  Churches,'  says  that  some  time  after  this,  disputes  arose  in  Spilsbury's 
Church  on  the  subject  of  '  mixed  communion,'  and  Kiffin  with  others  withdrew 
to  form  a  new  Church,  Devonsliire  Square.  At  page  410  he  explains  what  he 
means  by  'mixed  connnunion;'  it  was  not  tlie  reception  of  unbaptized  persons 
either  to  membership  or  tlie  Supper,  but  '  mixed  communion  '  witli  unimmersed  min- 
isters. His  words  are  :  '  In  a  (  (mii-sc  of  time  a  controversy  arose  in  that  Church  on 
tlie  propriety  of  admitting  persons  to  preach  who  had  not  been  baptized  by 
immersion.  Tliis  produced  an  amicable  separation,  headed  by  Mr.  Kiffin,  who- 
seems  to  have  been  averse  to  the  plan  of  mixed  communion,  but  the  two  societies 
Icept  lip  a  friendly  correspondence.'  Not  only  that,  but  they  cooperated  in  resisting 
the  contumely  of  their  enemies  and  in  building  up  each  other  in  the  faith.  By 
1643  the  Calvinistie  Baptist  Churches  in  and  about  London  had  increased  to  seven, 
Avhile  the  non-Calvinistic  Cliurches  numbered  thirty-nine,  forty-six  in  all.  The 
English  Calvinistie  Churches,  together  with  a  French  Church  of  the  same  faith,  eight 
in  all,  issued  a  Confession  of  Faith  in  1643,  of  fifty  articles ;  not  to  erect  a  standard 
of  faitli,  but  to  close  the  mouths  of  slanderers.     Its  preface  says  of  their  enemies: 

'  They,  finding  us  out  of  that  common  road-way  themselves  walk,  have  smote 
ns  and  taken  away  our  veil,  that  so  we  may  by  them  lie  odious  in  the  eyes  of  all 
tliat  behold  us,  and  in  the  hearts  of  all  that  think  upon  ns,  which  they  have  done 
both  in  pulpit  and  print,  charging  us  with  holding  free-will,  falling  away  from 
grace,  denying  original  sin,  disclaiming  a  magistracy,  denying  to  as>ist  tlieni  either 
in  persons  or  purse  in  any  of  their  lawful  commands,  doing  act-  iinxcinly  in  the 
dispensing  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  not  to  be  named  amon^ist  (  lui-tiaiis.  All 
which  charges  M^e  disclaim  as  notorionslv  nntrne.  tlioiiL'-li  bv  reason  ot  ilie.-e  calumnies 
east  upon  us,  man}' that  fear  God  ai'e  (li^eoiii-a-cil  and  loi-e-talled  in  liarboring  a  good 
thought,  either  of  us  or  what  we  ju-oi'ess,  and  many  that  know  not  (t,m1  ui n )  encour- 
aged, if  they  can  find  the  place  of  our  meeting,  to  get  togetlier  in  clusters  to  stone  us, 
as  looking  iipon  us  as  a  people  holding  such  things  as  that  we  are  not  worthy  to  live.' 


THE   CONFUSION   OF  1GJ^3.  461 

This  Confession  was  sigiiwi  by  sixteen  ministers,  two  from  each  Ciiurch  ;  and 
amongst  them  both  John  Spiisbury  and  William  Kiffiii,  a  significant  fact  in  its 
bearings  on  the  gronnd  of  their  after  separation.  A  second  edition  was  published 
in  U)-4i,  and  a  third  in  l(i40,  the  last  with  an  appendix  by  Benjamin  Coxe.  Edward 
Barber,  tlic  minister  of  the  Ciiurch  meeting  in  Bishopsgate  Street,  had  published 
a  treatise  in  16-il,  to  j)rove  that  'our  Lord  Christ  ordained  dipping.'  Now,  in  this 
'Confession,'  Art.  XXXIII  says,  that  a  Church  is  '  a  company  of  visible  saints  .  .  . 
being  baptized  into  the  faith  of  the  Gospel ; '  and  Ai't.  XXXIX,  that  baptism  is  '  to 
be  dispensed  upon  persons  professing  faith,  or  tliat  are  made  disciples,  who,  upon 
profession  of  faith,  ought  to  be  baptized,  and  after  to  partake  of  the  Lord's 
Supper.'  Article  XL  deKnes  the  manner  of  baptizing  'to  be  dipping  or  j)lung- 
ing  the  whole  body  under  water.'  These  articles,  signed  by  Spiisbury  as  the  lifth 
name  and  Kiffin  as  the  eleventh,  show  that  these  two  worthies  were  entirely  agreed 
as  to  the  question  of  immersion  on  a  confession  of  faith  in  Christ  as  a  prerequisite 
to  the  Supper,  aTid  that  Wilson  was  right  in  stating  that  tlie  disturbing  element 
between  them  related  to  'mixed  communion,'  but  not  amongst  members  of  the 
same  Church.  They  must  all  be  'dii)ped  under  water'  on  entering  the  'company 
of  saints  '  made  '  visible '  by  this  expression  of  their  faith  as  '  disciples,'  and  '  after ' 
that  '  partake  of  the  Lord's  Supper.'  Spiisbury  and  KifRn  being  agreed  here,  as 
their  signatures  show,  the  controversy  between  them  was  '  on  the  propi-iety  of  ad- 
mitting persons  io preach  who  had  not  been  baptized  by  iuuner.sion.'  AVil.-ou  says 
that  Kiffin  'seemed  averse'  to  mixed  communion  after  that  stamp,  and  left 
amicably,  so  that  their  fellowship  was  not  disturbed  at  all  on  the  subject  treated  of 
in  the  '  Confession,'  namely,  communion  at  the  Lord's  Supper. 

A  most  interesting  branch  of  this  history  connects  the  name  of  Henry  Jessey 
with  this  period.  Henry  Jacob  continued  to  serve  the  Independent  Church 
which  he  founded  in  1616,  until  1624,  when  he  removed  to  America,  and  was 
succeeded  as  pastor  by  John  Lathrop,  who  also  went  to  America  in  1634,  and  settled 
first  at  Scituate  and  then  at  Barnstable,  Mass.  Then  Jessey  became  its  supply  in 
1635,  and  its  pastor  in  1637.  At  one  time  or  another  this  Church  was  seriously  dis- 
turbed on  the  subject  of  baptism.  Wilson  tells  us  that  under  Mr.  Lathrop's  min- 
istry '  some  of  the  society  entertained  doubts  as  to  the  validity  of  baptism 
performed  by  their  own  minister ;  and  one  person  who  indulged  these  scruples 
carried  his  child  to  be  rebaptized  in  the  parish  church.'  This  giving  offense  to 
several  persons,  the  subject  was  discussed  at  a  general  meeting  of  the  society ; 
when  the  question  was  put  it  was  carried  in  the  negative,  and  resolved  by  the 
majority  not  to  make  any  declaration  at  present,  '  whether  or  no  parish  Churches 
were  true  Churches.''  This  action  led  to  the  withdrawal  of  those  '  who  wei'C  dissat- 
isfied about  the  lawfulness  of  infant  baptism,'  and  to  the  formation  of  the 
Calvinistic  Baptist  Church  of  1633,  under  Spilsbury's  ministry.  Under  the 
ministry  of  Jessey  others  left  and  united  with  the  Baptists ;  six  persons  in  1638,  a 


462  Sl'ILHIiUIlY'S   CIIURGII  IMMERHIONIHT. 

larger  miinhtT  in  KUl,  aiul  a  i;Teatcr  miinlicr  still  in  \M?,.  These  movements 
created  fiv.juciit  duhatus  in  the  IiKk'iirndi-iit  Cliurcli.  'This;  says  Wilson,  'put 
Mr.  Jessey  upon  studying  the  controversy.  Tin'  loult  was  that  he  himself  also 
changed  his  sentiments.  .  .  .  His  first  convii'timi  was  ahout  the  mocfc  of  baptism; 
and  though  he  continued  for  two  or  three  years  to  baptize  children,  he  did  it  by 
immersion.  About  the  year  KUi  the  controversy  with  respect  to  the  subjects  of 
baptism  was  revived  in  his  Chui'ch,  when  several  gave  up  vnfant  liajitism,  and 
among  the  rest  Mr.  Jessey.  .  .  .  1045  he  submitted  to  iiuuiursidu,  which  was 
performed  by  Mr.  Hanserd  KnoUys.'' 

It  seems  that  Jessey's  Church  had  I)ecome  large  by  Ki+o,  :uid  by  '  mutual  cnn- 
sent' had  divided, 'just  half  being  with  Praise-God  BarclMnie.  and  tlic  .,tlier  half 
with  Mr.  Jessey.'  They  were  in  controversy  on  the  subjects  and  nietlidd  of 
baptism,  Blunt  and  Jessey  being  the  leaders  of  those  who  had  embraced  Baptist 
views,  numbering  fifty-three,  and  Barebone  the  leader  of  those  who  remained 
Pedobaptists.  The  fact  that  the  eight  Churches  formulated  baptism  as  a  '  dipping 
or  plunging  of  the  whole  body  under  water,'  is  sufficient  to  show  that  they  them- 
selves had  been  organized  and  had  grown  up  in  that  order ;  as  m'cU  as  the 
declaration  in  the  preface,  that  they  had  been  accused  of  '  unseemly  acts  in  dispensing 
the  ordinance  of  baptism,'  namely,  by  immersing  nude  persons.  If  they  had  not 
innnersed  from  their  origin,  they  were  slandered  in  the  statement  that  they  im- 
mersed at  all,  to  say  nothing  of  alleged  indecencies,  '  not  to  1h-  named  liy  <  'hristians,' 
in  connection  with  their  immersions.  To  say  that  S])ilsbui-y"s  (Jliurcli  immersed 
in  1043,  but  had  not  practiced  dipping  from  1033,  is  to  charge  that  Church  with 
changing  the  form  of  its  ordinance,  and  with  repelling  a  slander  to  which  it  had 
never  been  subjected ;  for  the  accusation  that  it  immersed  naked  persons  carried 
with  it  the  charge  of  dipping,  whether  the  alleged  nudity  were  true  or  false. 
Here,  then,  we  have  fifty-three  persons,  with  Jessey  at  their  head,  seeking  immer- 
sion ;  but  they  -will  not  go  for  it  to  Spilsbury's  Church,  though,  clearly,  he  had 
practiced  it  since  1033.  And  why  ?  According  to  the  anonymous  account 
attributed  to  Kiffin,  because  none  had  then.  May,  1010,  '  so  practiced  in  England 
to  professed  believers ! '  and  so  they  must  send  to  Holland  to  import  dipping ! 
What  do  they  mean  by  this? 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  members  of  Jessey's  Independent  Church  were 
great  sticklers  for  ministerial  regularity,  and  lodged  the  validity  of  baptism  very 
largely  in  the  administrator.  Nay,  some  of  his  own  congregation  had  refused  to 
acknowledge  the  authority  of  John  Lathrop  to  baptize,  and  one  member  who  be- 
lieved in  infant  baptism,  whose  child  Lathrop  had  bajitized,  woidd  not  accept 
it  as  properly  done  and  took  his  babe  to  the  parish  Church  to  have  it  baptized  over 
again  on  the  ground  of  this  irregularity;  and  so  sensitive  were  '  the  majority '  on 
the  subject  that  they  refused  to  say  whether  or  not  the  parish  Churches  were  true 
Churches.     Lathrop  had  been  trained  for  the  Church  of  England  at  Cambridge, 


CONTROVERSIES  ABOUT  A     'VALID    BAPTISM:  463 

had  received  Epitjcopal  ordination,  and  served  in  that  ministry  in  Kent;  but  no 
matter,  liaviug  gone  over  to  dissent,  some  of  liis  own  peojile  doubted  whetiier  his 
baptisms  were  valid  !  And  tlicre  are  many  reasons  for  believing  that  this  is  a 
similar  ciise,  and  that  these  iifty-three  members  of  the  same  congregation  declined 
to  accept  immersion  from  what  they  considered  an  unauthorized  administrator. 
They  intended  to  be  immersed,  but  the  English  Baptists  at  that  time  were  univers- 
ally accused  of  self-baptism,  some  of  them  having  received  their  baptism  from  John 
Sniytli ;  and  while  the  Baptists  denied  this  with  spirit,  none  of  them  thought  of  insist- 
ing on  a  baptismal  succession,  but  argued  that  any  unbaptized  Christian  could  baptize 
if  needful.  This  point  was  in  hot  dispute  at  the  time.  The  autiiur  of  '  Persecution 
for  Religion  Judged  and  Condemned,'  1615,  labors  hard  to  show  tliat  it  is  not 
necessary  that  he  who  baptizes  should  be  a  baptized  person.  Barclay  and  others 
suppose  that  John  Morton,  who  was  with  Smyth  and  Helwys  in  Amsterdam,  was 
the  author  of  this  book.  Whether  Smyth  immersed  them  or  not,  it  is  quite  clear 
that  they  received  no  baptism  after  that  which  he  administered  to  them.  Some 
time  before  Smyth's  death  he  frankly  retracted  his  error  in  baptizing  himself  and 
them ;  therefore  Helwys  charged  him  as  guilty  of  '  the  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost.' 
lu  his  '  last  book '  he  shows  that  Helwys  still  held  that  baptism  to  be  valid,  and 
accuses  him  of  unchristianizing  all  who  did  not  walk  to  his  '  line  and  level,'  even 
'  upon  pain  of  damnation.'  He  says :  '  If  Master  Helwys's  position  be  true,  that 
every  two  or  three  that  see  the  truth  of  baptism  may  begin  to  baptize,  and  need 
not  join  to  former  true  Churches,  where  they  may  have  their  baptism  orderly  from 
ordained  ministers,  then  the  order  of  the  primitive  Church  was  order  for  them  and 
those  times  only,  and  this  disorder  will  establish  baptism  of  private  persons.'  But 
although  Smyth  had  repudiated  this  doctrine  which  he  himself  had  introduced, 
yet  the  English  Baptists  clearly  held  it  at  that  time,  and  as  clearly  the  fifty-three 
refused  baptism  at  their  hands  because  they  held  them  to  be  irregularly  baptized. 
Evidently  Neal  regarded  the  matter  in  this  light.  He  pronounces  Blunt's  conduct 
in  going  over  to  Holland  to  be  immersed  '  strange  and  unaccountable  ; '  but  suggests 
this  solution  of  the  matter:  'Unless  the  Dutch  Anabaptists  could  derive  this 
pedigree  in  an  uninterrupted  line  from  the  Apostles,  the  first  reviver  of  this 
usage  must  have  been  unbaptized,  and,  consequently,  not  capable  of  communicating 
the  ordinance  to  others.'^  He  understood  immersion  to  have  been  revived  in 
England  at  that  time,  but  as  the  'reviver'  was  not  in  the  immersionist  succession, 
Jessey's  people  thought  his  followers  incapable  of  immersing  them.  Perkins  and 
others  held  that  if  a  Turk  should  be  converted,  and  led  others  to  Christ,  he  might 
baptize  them,  being  unbaptized  himself.  John  Robinson  had  charged  that  the 
Baptists  of  England  were  unbaptized  on  the  ground  that  they  had  not  received 
baptism  from  any  authorized  source,  having  rejected  the  Church  of  England  as  an 
apostasy.  Even  the  Confession  of  the  Eight  Churches  seemed  to  aim  at  covering 
the  case  by  that  article  which  says,  the  '  person  designed  by  Christ  to  dispense  bap- 


464  SEKKINO   A    BAPTLSMAL   SUCCESSION. 

ti.sm  the  Scripture  liulds  furth  to  be  a  iliscipk; ;  it  ijcing  nowhere  tied  to  a  particular 
office  or  person  extraordinarily  sent.'  Ilnw  n;itui-al  it  was,  then,  for  these  brethren 
from  an  Independent  (Jhureh  to  conclude  that  the  immersion  of  the  English  Bap- 
tists being  irregular,  they  not  being  properly  inaniersed,  therefore,  that  they  must 
send  to  Holland  for  a  pure  baptism  through  a  qualified  administrator. 

This  charge  was  reiterated  with  great  asperity.  In  1691  Collins  denies  that 
tiiey  received  their  baptism  from  Jolm  Smyth,  pronouncing  tlie  allegation  '  abso- 
lutely untrue.'  Yet,  c\un  later  than  that,  John  AVall  pei'sisted  in  declaring  tliat 
their  baptism  was  'Abhorred  of  all  Christians;  for  they  received  their  l)ai)tisni  frtun 
one  Mr.  Smyth,  who  baptized  himself;  one  who  was  cast  out  of  a  Cliurch."  Edward 
Hutchinson,  however,  1676,  referring  to  this  very  case  says,  that  after  this  godly 
band  of  men  had  resolved  to  lay  aside  infant  baptism,  '  Fears,  tremblings  and  temp- 
tations did  attend  them,  lest  they  should  be  mistaken.  .  .  .  The  great  objection  was 
the  want  of  an  admin  !.sti'<itirr ;  which,  as  I  have  heard,  was  removed  by  sending 
certain  messengers  to  llullaiid,  whence  they  were  supplied.'^  The  greater  ])art  of 
the  English  Baptists  looked  upon  this  act  as  savoring  of  popery,  it  looked  like 
seeking  a  baptismal  succession.  And  the  fact,  tliat  it  ignored  tlieir  baptism,  may 
account  for  the  use  of  the  above  article  in  the  Confession.  It  was  lield  that  the 
Coliegiants  of  Holland  had  received  their  immersion  fi-om  the  Polish  Baptists,  and 
when  Batte,  one  of  their  teachers,  Iiad  innnersed  Blunt  there,  he  returned  to 
England  in  1611,  and  immersed  Blacklock,  one  of  the  fifty-three,  and  they  tlie  rest 
of  that  company.  But  they  never  immersed  the  eight  Churches ;  they  having  been 
dipped  before  the  fifty-three  became  Baptists  at  all ;  they  and  their  descendants 
have  continued  that  practice  ever  since. 

The  rapid  growth  of  the  English  Baptists  at  this  time,  in  influence  and  numbers, 
aroused  sucli  fiery  but  strong  minds  as  Thomas  Edwards  and  Dr.  Featley  amazingly. 
In  the  Dedicatory  Epistle  to  his  '  Gangraena,'  published  1616,  he  tells  Parliament  that 
'  The  sects  have  been  growing  upon  ns,  even  from  the  first  year  of  your  sitting,  and 
have  every  year  increased  more  and  more,  things  have  been  bad  a  great  while,  but 
this  last  year  they  have  grown  intolerable.'  He  speaks  of  an  order  of  Februaiy  16tli, 
1643,  in  which  Parliament  had  '  hindered '  unordained  ministers  '  fi"om  preaching 
and  dipping,'  but  says  that  they  were  '  bought  off  and  released  by  some  above.'  On 
p.  16  he  combats  the  opinion  that  the  'army  commanders  and  common  soldiers' 
were  Independents.  No ;  '  there  would  not  be  found  one  in  six  of  that  way,'  for 
the  array  was  '  made  up  and  commanded  of  Anabaptism.'  He  says,  on  p.  58,  that 
the  '  Anabaptists '  have  '  stirred  up  the  people  to  embody  themselves,  and  to  join 
in  church  fellowship,  setting  up  independent  government,  rebaptizing  and  dipping 
many  hundreds.'  He  denounces  them  on  pp.  65,  66  because  '  They  send  forth  into 
several  counties  in  this  kingdom,  from  their  Churches  in  London,  as  church  acts, 
several  emissaries  members  of  their  Churches,  to  preach  and  spread  their  errors,  to 
dip,  to  gather  and  settle  Churches ; '  yea,  '  some  of  them  went  into  the  North  as  far 


.V.  I ./  0 II  a  h:.\i:i;.  i  /,  //.  i  iiuis  oy.  463 

as  York,'  where  some  were  rebaptized  '  in  the  river  Ouse,'  and  the  water  was  so  hot 
as  if  it  liad  been  in  tlie  middle  of  summer."  On  p.  95,  part  ii,  he  declares  that 
Independents  in  armies,  county,  city,  (were)  fallinj^  daily  to  Anabaptists.'  On 
p.  149  he  says  that  they  abounded  at  Hull,  Beverley,  York  and  Halifax.  On  p.  l-iO, 
he  tells  Parliament  that  Oats  went  into  the  country  from  town  to  town  'dipping 
many  in  rivers,'  the  rich  at  ten  shillings  a  head,  and  the  poor  at  two  shillings  and  six 
pence.  Part  iii,  p.  139,  shows  him  cut  to  the  heart,  because  the  Baptists  '  kill  ten- 
der young  persons  and  ancient,  with  dipping  them  all  over  in  rivers,  in  the  depth 
of  winter.'  His  heart  is  comforted,  however,  on  j).  llt-J-,  to  be  able  to  say  that 
'  We  shall  find  no  Church  sounder  for  doctrine  than  the  Church  of  Scotland,  nor 
greater  enemies,  not  only  against  papacy  and  prelacy,  but  against  Anabaptists.' 
But  as  he  could  not  help  himself,  he  nobly  proposes,  on  p.  108,  to  prove  a  certain 
story  which  he  has  told,  if  his  opponent  will  join  the  Presbyterians  in  a  petition 
to  Parliament  for  the  forbidding  of  all  dipping  and  rebaptization,  and  exemplary 
punishment  of  all  such  dippers  as  Brother  Kifiin.'  Yet  he  tells  us  frankly,  on 
p.  178,  that  he  never  saw  Denne,  Clarkson,  Paul  Hobson,  Lamb,  AYeb,  Marshal 
and  many  others  :  'I  know  them  nut  so  much  as  by  face,  having  never  so  much  to 
my  knowledge  as  seen  them." 

The  Confession  of  the  Eight  Churches  was  issued  in  the  midst  of  the  revolution, 
which,  for  the  time,  overthrew  the  Stuart  monarchy.  The  issue  between  king  and 
Parliament  was  still  doubtful,  as  Marston  Moor  and  Naseby  were  not  yet  fought. 
With  great  unanimity  the  Baptists  enrolled  themselves  on  the  side  of  the  people, 
and  fought  bravely  for  liberty,  civil  and  religious.  It  has  been  inferred  that  Bunyan 
fought  with  the  Cavaliers ;  mainly,  from  his  silence  on  the  subject.  But  at  this 
time  he  was  not  a  Baptist,  and  so  there  is  no  clear  case  that  any  Baptist  drew  his 
sword  for  the  king.  Their  choice  is  easily  explained.  They  had  suffered  tyranny 
too  long  and  hated  it  too  juuch  to  fight  for  a  prince  who  was  a  tyrant  on  principle, 
who  had  Laud,  the  bigot  and  persecutor,  for  his  spiritual  adviser.  Their  patriotism 
soon  won  them  high  honor.  Cromwell's  son-in-law,  Charles  Fleetwood,  Colonel  and 
Lord-Deputy  of  Ireland,  was  a  Ba]3tist ;  as  well  as  Major-General  Harrison,  who  held 
the  confidence  of  the  Protector  for  so  many  years,  and  who  owed  his  advancement 
to  real  merit.  Lord  Clarendon  speaks  of  him  as  having  '  an  understanding  capable 
of  being  trusted  in  any  business,'  a  man  who  was  '  looked  upon  as  inferior  to  few  after 
Cromwell  and  Ireton  in  the  councils  of  the  officers  and  in  the  government  of  the 
agitators:  and  there  were  few  men  with  whom  Cromwell  more  communicated,  or 
upon  whom  he  more  depended  for  the  conduct  of  any  thing  committed  to  him.' 
When  the  Protector  dissolved  the  Long  Parliament,  an  act  which  brought  odium 
upon  him,  above  all  others  he  intrusted  Harrison  with  that  delicate  duty,  because 
of  his  prudence  and  integrity.  Harrison  was  also  appointed  one  of  the  judges  to  try 
Charles  I.  for  treason  to  his  people,  and  he  signed  the  death-warrant.  At  the  time 
of  the  trial  he  held  Baptist  views,  but  he  and  his  wife  were  nut  baptized  until  1657. 


riip:  iiuTcnrNsoNt 


A  conteinporarv 

winter,  but  we  k 

IlaiTisKii  be( 

threw  liini  into 
Fifth  Mouarcliv. 


tiicic'  iiifonns  us  tliat  his  haii 
Kit  with  wliat  eongrei;ati()ii  he 
..■sti-a,iii;-ed  from  CronnvL-11  in  1 
Cromwell  fearing  his  militai' 
1  ;  ami  having  embraced  e 
1   Christ  was  about  to  set  u 


the  (U 


po 


regarded 
nriuence 
thiisiastic  \iews  (•(iiicfi'ning  the 
.in  e;irth.  he  hist  caste  with  the 
more  sober  Baptists,  although  they  sympathized  with  him  lai-gely  in  his  estimate  of 
the  Protector.  Under  Charles  II.,  Harrison  was  uxL-ciited  at  Charing  Cross  for  the 
part  Lc  had  taken  in  the  death  of  Charles  I.,  but  to  the  last  he  justified  that  act. 
His  execution  was  a  piece  of  the  most  vulgar  butchery.  It  occurred  November  13th, 
1660,  and  Pep\ s  w i ites,  that  he  went  'To  see  Major-General  Harrison  hanged,  drawn 
and  cjuaittied     which  \\  is  done,  Ik  looking  as  cliuerful  as  any  man  could  be  in  that 

condition.  He  was  presently  cut 
down,  and  liis  licad  and  heart 
shown  to  the  iieojjle  ; '  and  Lud- 
low adds,  that  his  liead  was  car- 
ried on  the  front  of  the  sled  upon 
which  Chief-Justice  Coke  was 
drawn  tu  execution.  Harrison 
told  his  judges  that  he  had  no 
reason  to  be  ashamed  of  the 
cause  in  which  he  was  engaged, 
nor  do  his  Baptist  successors 
under  Victoria  blush  for  him. 

Another  ]irominent  officer 
who  cherished  Baptist  senti- 
ments     was      Col.OXEL       J  o  H  N 

Hi'Tt:iiiNsoN,  M'ho  must  be  reck- 
oned amongst  the  choicest  sjiiiuts 
of  his  times.  Lucy,  his  wife, 
was  in  every  way  worthy  of 
him.  She  wrote  a  Memoir  of 
him,  which  is  one  of  the  most 
charming  biographies  in  English 
literature,  for  in  point  of  learn- 
ing she  had  scarcely  an  equal  amongst  the  women  of  England,  and  not  a  superior. 
Her  husband  was  born  in  1616,  was  the  son  of  a  baronet  and  received  his  education 
at  Cambridge.  He  loved  God,  prayer,  meditation  and  the  study  of  tlie  Scriptures, 
and  having  ample  property,  settled  in  quiet  retirement  after  his  marriage.  But 
when  the  civil  war  broke  out  he  threw  himself  into  the  cause  of  the  people  with 
great  patriotism,  and  after  the  death  of  Charles  became  famous  as  the  governor  of 


MRS    LUC\    HUTCHINSON. 


WILLIAM    KfFF/X 


Xiittiiigliuiu  and  its  uu.stle.  There  lie  exerted  iiimieii.se  influence  fur  Englisli  liberty, 
and  became  a  great  favorite  with  his  countrymen.  Ho  and  his  wife  were  first  Pres- 
byterians, and  she  tells  the  interesting  story  of  their  conversion  to  Baptist  principles. 
Her  own  mind  became  deeply  interested  in  the  question  of  infant  baptism,  from  the 
fact  that  .she  looked  for  the  birth  of  a  babe ;  and  having  examined  the  Scriptures 
with  her  husband,  doubts  amse  in  their  minds  on  that  subject. 

After  the  birth  uf  their  child  they  consulted  a  number  of  Presbytei-ian  divines 
at  their  home,  but  concluded  that  the  wurtl  of  (iml  <i-a\e  no  warrant  for  its  baptism. 
This  laid  them  open  to  much  caluinny  and  blame,  but  they  stood  lirnily  in  their 
integrity.  Lucy  was  the  daughter  of  Sir  Allen  Apsley,  governor  of  the  Tower, 
wliile  her  husband's  mother  was  a  Byron,  of  which  family  the  great  poet  came  ;  and 
their  influence  for  patriotism,  consecration  to  Christ  and  family  virtue,  was  their 
great  shield  against  molestation. 

Ae  Colonel  Hutchinson  had  been  one  of  tli(  iml  ~  ^^  I  .  n.l..nin,.,l  ( 'Inrl.-- o. 
death,  he  was  imprisoned  first  in  the 
Tower  and  then  in  Sandovvn  Castle, 
where  he  died  in  Christian  triumph 
in  1644.  He  was  elorpieut,  fearle^s 
and  powerful  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, and  so  lirni  a  defender  of  relig- 
ious liberty,  that  Fox,  the  founder  of 
the  Friends,  found  him  his  chief  pro- 
tector when  a  prisoner  at  Nottingham. 

We  have  already  seen  that  John 
Spilsbury  was  a  man  of  high  repute 
in  the  Baptist  mini.stry  in  those  days, 
yet  not  much  more  than  this  lias 
come  down  to  us  concerning  him. 
His  name,  however,  is  mentioned  for 
the  last  time  as  standing  side  by 
side  with  that  of  Kiffin  in  the  Decha- 
ration  against  Venner's  Eebellion, 
1 662.  His  colleagues  now  best  known 
to  us  are  Kitlin  and  Kiiollys. 

WiLMAM  K 11- KIN  was  born  in  161 
when  but  nine  years  old.  William  but  just  escaped  death,  having  nine  plague- 
boils  on  his  body.  At  thirteen  he  became  an  apprentice  to  John  Lilburii, 
the  noted  brewer,  but  at  fifteen  he  left  his  master,  and  wandering  about  the 
streets  of  London  in  a  melancholy  manner,  he  passed  with  the  crowd  into  St. 
Antholius's  Church,  where  ^[r.  Foxley  preached  on  the  Fifth  Commandment.  He 
thought  the  preacher  knew  his  case,  so  exactly  did  he  describe  his  duty  to  his  master. 


it  both  his  jiareiits  in  tlie    Plague 


468  KJF  FIX'S    II  UK  AT    ISFU'ENrE. 

aiul  \w  qiiieUy  n-tunied  li..in,'.  After  tlial.  I,.-  U-.m\  X<,rt.m,  tlir  Piirif:in.  pivarh 
from  'There  is  ih,  i.eacr  to  the  wi.'kci;  mid  wa>  dcrply  stirrcl,  hut  ..n  licariiiir 
l)avcii|„M-t,  in  C.lcinan  Strert,  fn.n,  -'Hk'  hlu,,,!  ,,f  .l..-sus  ( 'liri^t  liis  Sun  ,dcaiiM'tl, 
us  frciii  all  sin;  iiu  sa  vs  :  'J  huiiid  iiiv  frars  t..  vauisli.  and  mv  heart  tilhMl  with  h,vo 
to  dcsus;  Al'tfrthe  niaiinurof  Ihinvan  hu  ah, ■mate.!  for  nioutlis  In'twcrn  1,o]m.  and 
fear,  tvnii.tati.ni  ;ind  triiiinpli,  until  lie  joinr.l  tli..  Chiirrh  of  whi.-li  Lathro,,  was 
pastor.  After  enduring  uiucli  peivseeutiou  tor  holding  i-eligiuus  meetings  in  S(jnth- 
wark,  antl  heing  ini]irisoiit'd,  in  10-i;^,  lie  went  to  Holland  for  a  time,  and  made  a 
considerable  .sum  of  money  in  business  before  he  returned.  lie  went  to  Holland 
again  in  1645,  and  returned  worth  several  thousand  ponnds,  on  which  he  entered  the 
shipping  business,  meanwhile  preaching  the  Gospel  witlioiit  cliarge. 

The  government  maile  him  an  assessor  of  ta.\es  for  Middlesex,  and  he  reached 
great  infiuenee  in  the  eommnnity.  although  he  had  become  a  Baptist  in  1638. 
AVhen  tlie  eontroversv  arose  in  S]iilsbinT"s  C'liureli  on  the  propriety  of  admitting 
unimmei-sed  persons  to  preach,  lie  cstalilished  tlie  Devonshire  Square  Church,  HUd, 
and  became  its  jiastor.  Soon  after  he  was  arrested  and  committed  to  prison.  On  a 
Sunday  afternoon  between  sixty  and  seventy  Baptists  were  met  for  worship,  when 
six  of  tliem  were  arrested,  brought  before  Parliament,  admonished  and  discharged, 
and  on  the  next  Sunday  four  peers  attended  their  worship,  one  of  them  j^robably 
being  Lord  Brooke,  who  favored  dissenters.  It  is  quite  likely  that  this  led  Featley 
to  challenge  them  to  a  disputation  before  Sir  John  Lenthal,  the  justice  who  brought 
them  before  the  lords,  and  who  called  Featley's  book,  'Kiffin's  Coffin.'  Featley 
and  Edwards,  the  author  of  '  Gangrsena,'  assailed  him  bitterly.  Kiffin's  wealth 
exposed  him  to  wanton  persecution,  in  which  his  foes  expected  fines  or  bribes.  In 
1655  he  was  brought  before  the  lord  mayor  at  (liiildhall,  cliarged  with  preaching 
'that  the  baptism  of  infants  is  unlawful,"  and  ]\Ionk  afterward  annoyed  him  greatly, 
by  sending  him  to  the  guard  at  St.  Paul's.  His  life  was  long,  for  he  served  the 
Devonshire  Square  Church  over  half  a  century  ;  which  spread  through  the  reign  of 
five  monarchs,  James  I.,  the  two  Charles,  James  II.  and  William  III.,  besides  the 
Protectorate  of  the  two  Cromwells.  And  it  M-as  full  of  trouljlc,  for  he  was  charged 
again  and  again  with  almost  every  conceivable  plot  against  the  government.  Yet 
notliing  was  ever  proved  against  him ;  and  in  1701,  he  died  at  the  age  of  86,  also 
full  of  honors.  In  sagacity,  manners,  godliness,  labors  and  wisdom,  he  ranked  as  the 
leader  of  his  denomination.  Thurlow,  Strype,  Burnet  and  many  others  have 
honored  his  name  with  a  high  place  in  history,  and  Macaulay  says  of  him  :  '  Great 
as  was  the  authority  of  Bunyan  with  the  Baptists,  William  Kiffin's  was  greater  still.' 
The  same  may  be  said  to-day  of  his  molding  influence  upon  American  Baptists 
more  than  a  century  and  two  tliirds  after  his  death.  Kiffin  was  the  great  champion 
of  the  Baptists  in  his  day.  Robert  Pool,  one  of  the  sharpest  Presbyterian  contro- 
versialists of  that  period,  made  a  savage  attack  upon  the  Ba])tists,  and  Kiffin  came 
to  their  rescue  in  his  reply,  London,  1645.     Pool  demanded  : 


KIFFiy  AXD   POOL.  469 

By  what  Scripture  warrant  Baptists  separated  from  congregations  where  the 
Word  and  Sacraments  were  truly  dispensed.  Kiffin  denied  tliat  they  were  so  dis- 
pensed in  the  congregations  from  wliicli  tliey  separated,  otherwise  tliey  would  be 
guilty  of  schism  ;  then  demanded  :  -What  (iospel  institution  Iiave  you  for  tiic  bap- 
tizing of  children,  which  was  a  pure  invention  of  men  and  not  an  institution  of 
Jesus  Cln-ist  ?  When  you  have  dispensed  the  word  and  power  of  Christ  for  the  cut- 
ting off  all  drunkards,  fornicators,  covetous,  swearers,  liars,  and  all  abominable  and 
filthy  persons,  and  stand  together  in  the  faith,  a  pure  lump  of  believers,  gathered  and 
united  according  to  the  institution  of  Christ;  we,  1  hope,  shall  join  with  you  in  the 
same  congregation  ami  tVllowship,  and  nothing  shall  separate  us  but  death.'  Pool 
asked  on  what  Scripture  authority  they  separated  from  other  Reformers  and  framed 
new  congregations  of  their  own  ?  Kiffin  I'eplied :  That  Baptist  churches  existed 
before  episcopacy,  but  Pool  had  withdrawn  from  Eeformed  Episcopacy.  '  Where — 
as  you  tell  ns  of  a  great  work  of  reformation,  we  entreat  you  to  show  us  wherein  the 
greatness  of  it  doth  consist,  for  as  yet  we  see  no  greatness  unless  it  be  in  the  vast 
expense  of  money  and  time.  For  what  great  thing  is  it  to  change  Episcopacy  into 
Presbytery,  and  a  Book  of  Common  Prayer  into  a  Uircctory,  and  to  exalt  men  from 
livings  of  £100  a  year  to  places  of  £4(10  p^r  annum!'  Hut  where  have  they  yet 
franuMJ  tlu-ir  State  Cliurcli  according  to  the  i)attern  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles? ' 
And  when  Pool  pressed  his  point :  On  what  Scripture  gr<j\ind  the  Baptists  vindicated 
themselves  from  the  sin  of  schism  in  defection  from  the  Reformed  Churches? 
Kiffin  gave  this  home-thrust:  The  Presbyterians  held  that  the  baptism  and  ordina- 
tion of  Rome  were  valid,  and  that  she  was  right  in  exacting  tithes  and  state-pay,  and 
yet  held  themselves  guiltless  of  schism  in  leaving  Rome.  But  when  they  shall 
i-eturu,  'as  dutiful  sons  to  their  mother,  we  will  return  to  you  or  hold  ourselves 
bound  to  show  just  grounds  to  the  contrary.' 

At  this  time  the  Baptists  of  England  generally  distinguished  themselves  from 
the  Pedobaptists  as  those  of  '  the  haptized  way^  because  they  held  that  sprinkled 
folk  were  not  baptized  at  all.  But  those  of  this  '  way '  divided  on  the  subject  of 
communion,  part  of  them  being  open  communion,  led  by  Bunyan,  Jes.sey  and  others, 
while  the  great  majority  of  them  were  strict  in  their  communion.  Kiffin  led  this 
wing  of  '  the  baptized  way,'  being  followed  by  Denny,  Thomas  Paul,  Henry 
D'Anvers  and  others.  The  controversy  was  hot,  and  in  his  '  Right  to  Church  Coni- 
niunioii,"  Kitfin  says  in  reply  to  Bnnyan  : 

'  If  unbaptized  persons  may  be  admitted  to  all  church  privileges,  does  not  such 
a  practice  plainly  suppose  that  it  [baptism]  is  unnecessary  ?  For  to  what  purpose  is 
it  to  be  baptized,  may  one  reason  with  himself,  if  he  may  enjoy  all  church  privileges 
without  it?  The  Baptists,  if  once  such  a  belief  prevails,  would  be  eiisily  tempted  to 
lay  aside  that  reproached  practice,  which  envious  men  have  unjustly  derided  and 
aspersed,  of  being  (Vipt,  that  is,  baptized,  and  challenge  their  church  comnnniion  by 
virtue  of  their  faith  only.  And  such  as  baptized  infants  would  be  satisfied  to  dis- 
continue the  practice  wlien  once  tlicv  are  persuaded  that  theii-  children  niav  be  rcg- 


470  HANSEUD    KXOLLYS. 

iiliii-  cliiircli  ini'iiiljiT.s  w  itlidut  it.  1(M-  if  it  Ijc  >ii])irliuous.  discreet  and  thrifty  people 
woiilil  williii-l.v  lie  I'id  of  tln'  ti-(iiiMc  nf  .■lii-iM(iiinu;-fea8ts,  as  tliey  call  theiii,  and  all 
the  appurtenaiires  tlieicto  licliMiuiii--.  So  tli:if  in  a  short  time  we  slioidd  liave 
neither  old  noi-  vduii^-  li;i|iii/,(il.  ;iii(l  hv  (■(m.-cipicnce,  he  in  a  like  condition  to  lose 
one  of  the  sacrau'ient>,  which  wuiild  easily  make  w;iy  for  the  loss  of  the  other,  both 
liaviiii;-  an  eepial  sanction  in  8cri])turc.  And  the  ari;'iiinents  that  disarmed  the  one 
would  destroy  the  other,  and  conseipiently  all  ordinances,  and  modes  of  worship,  and 
lastly  religion  itself.' 

No  morsel  of  I'casoiiing  in  the  En<;'lish  language  has  ever  disposed  of  the 
essence  of  thi'  ('(niMiniiiinn  (jnestimi  ^(l  fully  us  this;  anil  if  his  proposition  had  been 
intended  as  a  pruphecy  roiicei'ning  IJuiiyaiTs  Chiireli  itself,  it  eould  not  have  been 
more  strictly  fidlillcd  tu  the  lettei-,  in  that  it  now  di.seards  baptism  entirely  as 
necessary  to  the  right  of  church  fellowship. 

Hansekd  Knollys  was  born  in  Linridiishii'e,  1598,  was  educated  at  Cambridge 
and  ordained  in  the  Chuivli  .d'  England  by  the  l!ish..p  of  Peterborough.  He  was  a 
thorough  scliular.  and  published  many  \V(U-ks.  amdugst  whieli  were  gianunars  of  the 
Greek,  Latin  ami  Hebrew  languages.  After  hdlding  a  li\iiig  at  liuiuberstone,  in 
Leicestershii-e,  for  tln-ee  years,  he  resigned  it  en  aeeount  (d'  ebjeetidiis  affecting  the 
principles  and  jiractices  uf  tlie  Established  C'lnnvh. 

In  1<!:!S  he  left  England  to  eseape  persei-utioii.  and  arrived  in  New  England, 
beconnng  pastor  of  a  Church  in  Dover,  then  known  as  Pi.scataqua,  New  Hampshire. 
He  returned  to  England  in  1641,  and  became  a  very  popular  preacher  in  the  various 
Churches  of  London.  But  one  day,  preaching  in  Bow  Church,  Cheapside,  he  spoke 
against  infant  baptism,  which  gave  such  offense  that  he  was  thrown  into  prison.  On 
his  release  he  went  into  Suffolk,  where  he  was  mobbed  as  an  '  Anabaptist,'  and  after 
being  stoned  was  sent  to  London  on  a  warrant  to  answer  to  Parliament.  Last  of  all 
he  established  a  Baptist  Church,  meeting  in  Great  St.  Helen's,  London,  where  he 
seldom  preached  to  less  than  a  thou.sand  peojile.  There,  says  Wilson,  he  gave  great 
offense  to  his  Presbyterian  brethren,  '  and  the  landlord  was  prevailed  upon  to  warn 
liim  out  of  the  place.'  After  this  he  preached  to  large  congregations  in  Finsbuiy 
Fields,  till  he  was  '  summoned  before  a  committee  of  divines  in  the  Queen's  Court, 
Westminster.'  He  had  written  a  letter  on  the  intolerance  of  the  Presbyterian 
divines  in  London,  to  a,  friend  in  Norwich,  whicli  found  its  way  to  London  and 
appeared  against  him.  Again  and  again  he  was  forbidden  to  preach,  and  as  often 
he  disregarded  the  charge  and  was  pursued  or  imprisoned.  At  times  he  fled  to 
Wales,  Holland  and  Germany,  to  escape  his  foes.  But  his  life  was  spared  to  the 
ripe  age  of  ninety-three,  and  he  jjreached  the  word  in  all  parts  of  the  kingdom ;  on 
Sundays  generally  delivering  three  or  four  sermons,  and  as  many  during  the  week, 
for  a  period  of  forty  years.  When  iu  prison  he  had  to  content  himself  with  one  a 
day.  Because  of  his  great  meekness  atid  learning  he  won  many  distinguished  per- 
sons to  Baptist  views.  Amongst  these  was  Dr.  De  Veil,  a  foreign  divine,  of  the 
Galilean  Church,  and  professor  of  divinity  iu  the  University  of  Anjou.     On  abjur- 


JOIIX    TOMBES.  471 

ing  Roine  he  fled  to  Holland  first  and  tlun  to  London,  where  he  became  intimate 
with  Bishops  Stilliugfieet,  Comptoii  Lloyd,  Tillotson,  Sharp  and  Patrick.  While 
passing  his  Minor  Prophets,  Solomon's  Song,  j\Iatthew  and  Mark,  through  the  press, 
he  found  some  Baptist  writings  in  the  library  of  Compton,  the  Bishop  of  London, 
the  examination  of  which  led  him  to  seek  the  counsel  of  Knollys,  and  he  united 
with  the  Baptists,  to  the  great  shock  of  the  bishops,  all  except  Tillotson,  who  had 
been  brought  up  a  Baptist  himself  and  knew  how  to  value  men  of  convictions. 
Knollys  also  immersed  that  great  Oriental  scholar,  Henry  Jessey,  who  spent  his  life 
upon  a  new  translation  of  the  Bible,  a  translation  which,  though  not  completed,  was 
of  great  value  to  other  scholars. 

Those  mentioned  above  were  all  Calviuistic  Baptists,  who  were  in  a  minority 
in  and  about  London,  but  the  General  Baptists  had  men  of  etpial  piety,  learning, 
and  force  of  character  amongst  them.  One  of  these  was  John  Touibes,  educated 
at  Oxford,  where  he  became  a  lecturer  at  the  age  of  twenty-one.  Leaving  the 
university,  he  became  famous  as  a  Puritan  preacher ;  and  being  satisfied  at  Oxford 
that  infant  baptism  was  an  invention  of  men,  his  convictions  were  deepened  at  Bristol. 
In  164-3  he  went  to  London  to  consult  the  most  famous  of  the  Presbyterian  divines 
assembled  there  ;  they  rehearsed  to  him  their  stock  arguments,  and  rejecting  them 
as  hollow,  he  was  baptized  upon  a  confession  of  Christ  and  became  a  Baptist  pastor 
at  Bewdly,  near  Kidderminster.  He  had  severe  controversies  with  Baxter  and 
others  on  Baptist  positions,  and  was  pronounced  by  Baxter  '  the  most  learned 
writer  against  infant  baptism.'  He  wrote  also  more  than  a  score  of  volumes  on 
other  subjects.  Although  a  Baptist,  such  was  his  scholarship  and  intellectual 
power  that  in  1653  Parliament  aj)pointed  him  one  of  the  '  triers,'  or  commissioners, 
to  examine  ami  approve  those  who  were  to  exercise  the  public  ministry  in  the 
national  Chureli.  After  the  Restoration  he  left  the  ministry  and  conformed  to 
the  Church  as  a  lay  niciiiber.  claiming  the  right  to  do  so  without  altering  his 
opinions,  and  that  atK'r  liu  had  kept  poor  IJaxter's  hands  so  full  for  many  years. 

Hexky  Denne  was  educated  at  Cambridge,  and  became  a  minister  in  the 
Established  Church,  about  the  year  1630.  He  was  a  stout  Puritan,  l)ut  his  con- 
victions led  him  to  unite  with  the  Baptists,  and  he  was  immersed  into  the 
fellowship  of  the  Bell  Alley  Church,  London,  by  Mr.  Lamb,  in  1643,  and  entered 
the  Baptist  ministry  at  once.  He  attained  great  fame  as  a  disputant  and  as  a  '  very 
affectionate'  preacher.  He  not  only  met  Dr.  Gunning  in  debate,  but  answered 
Featley's  ridiculous  book.  Persecution  followed  him  everywhere,  and  he  suffered 
much  for  Christ,  but  planted  many  Churches,  chiefly  in  the  eastern  counties.  He 
was  heroic  in  following  his  convictions  of  duty  wherever  they  led  him,  and  withal 
lie  entered  Cromweirs  army  in  obedience  to  the  demands  of  his  patriotism. 
There  he  served  as  a  '  cornet.'  or  cavalry  officer,  meanwhile  preaching  to  the 
soldiers;  but  mutinied  with  the  twelve  regiments  in  Oxfordshire,  who  demanded 
a  free   government,  after  the   drath  of   Charles.     Some  of  liis  companions  were 


472 


HENIiT  JESNET. 


,l,Mtll 


will 


fe  was 
li   soon 


siKiivd,  and    altLTwanl    oa\c   a    liist.u-y   of  the    whole    t 
followed  the  lle&toration  and  liis  uiemory  was  greatly  honored. 

TIknry  .Tkssey  was  a  famous  Baptist  of  those  times.     He  was  a  York.sliircnian, 
eihicated    at    Carabridfrc    and    ordained 


1 


tlie    Established    Church     in     It'.^T. 
refused     to    conform    to    all    the 
iiifh   notions  which  Land  set  up  as 
standard     of     clerical    orthodoxy. 
/"'-^      c^  lu  1037  he  became  pastor  of  the  Inde- 

pendent Church    which    Henry    Jacolj 
.  S.  li:id   formed    in    1G16.     From    time    to 

^^Sti  >k.  time  members  of  this  Church  adopted 

jBg^B^  ^P|^  Baptist  views  and  separated  from  it,  as 

j«P^By^M|^MMM^^^^Mjk  we  have  seen  in  the  cases  of  Spilsbury 

^^^^^M^^^'^S^^^W^MIfr^l^B^^  and  Kitlin.  These  events  turned  his  at- 
^^^^ ^^^a^l^^mmi  ^^H  ^^"^''"^  t"  ^^'-^  i^iihject  of  infant  baptism. 
JS^^^M  ^^WW^^^^^SBMi^^^^  which,  after  consultation  with  many 
l^^V;^^  ISfii^m'I'^^^E^ii™!  leading  Pedobaptist  diyines,  he  I'uu- 
I  eluded  was  unscriptural,  and  in  KU.'i  he 

was  immersed  by  Knollys.  lie  differed 
with  the  Confessioii  of  the  Eight  Churches  on  the  question  of  communion,  and 
published  the  first  work  known  in  England  in  favor  of  open  communion.  lie  was 
endowed  with  noble  abilities  and  enriched  with  high  Christian  graces.  After  the 
Restoration  he  endured  great  persecution  with  holy  fortitude,  and  died  in  prison  in 
1663.  A  letter  of  his  informs  us  that  one  of  the  London  Churches,  meeting  in 
Great  Allhallows,  received  two  hundred  members  by  baptism  l)etween  tlie  years 
1650-53;  a  fact  which  illustrates  the  rapid  increase  of  Baptists  not  only  in  London 
and  Kent,  but  also  in  tlie  middle  and  northern  counties. 

The  Fifth  Monarchy  men  waxed  bold  and  numerous  during  the  latter  years 
of  the  Commonwealth.  It  was  but  natural  that  the  somber  and  liery  religious 
spirit  of  those  times  should  betray  ill-balanced  intellects  into  fanaticism.  New 
sects  sprang  up  in  a  day  and  disappeard  as  quickly,  and  amongst  them  the  Fifth 
Monarchy  men.  They  were  Pi'emillenai'ians,  with  this  modiiication  of  the  chili- 
astic  views  which  have  been  held  by  some  in  various  ages,  namely  :  they  believed 
that  Christ  was  about  to  come  and  begin  his  millennial  reign  at  once,  and  that  they 
were  divinely  commissioned  to  set  up  his  kingdom  on  earth.  A  few  of  them  were 
disposed  to  effect  this  revolution  by  the  sword,  but  the  greater  part  favored  peace- 
ful measures.  A  meeting  was  called  in  London  for  debate  concerning  '  the  laws, 
subjects,  extent,  rise,  time,  place,  offices  and  officers  of  the  Fifth  Monarchy ; '  but 
probably  the  authorities  suppressed  it  as  mischievous,  for  it  does  not  appear  that  it 


riTE  FIFTH  ^^loyAUciir  rnor-RLES.  473 

was  held.  The  proposal  to  make  it  'public'  and  to  hear  'debate'  indicate  the 
pacific  ideas  of  tlie  leaders,  and  General  Harrison  was  reported  to  be  in  sympathy 
with  the  movement,  with  a  few  other  Baptists.  But  the  Calvinistic  Baptists  were 
prompt  to  protest  against  the  measure ;  they,  with  their  brethren,  the  General 
Baptists,  believing  that  the  Prince  of  Peace  will  establish  his  kingdom  without  the 
sword.  Just  as  the  Protector's  life  was  drawing  to  a  close  these  misguided  men 
chose  Thomas  Venner  as  their  leader.  He  was  a  wine-cooper,  and  created  an  in- 
surrection. He  became  nearly  insane  at  the  thought  of  monarchy  restored  in 
Charles  II.,  and  determined  to  destroy  royalty  as  opposed  to  Christ.  He  rallied 
followers  and  ariiuMl  tiuMu.  adujitcd  a  lianiior  .>ii  wliidi  was  tlio  linn  (,f  the  tribe  of 
Judah,  with  the  niottn,  'Who  shall  nmsc  liiiu  up;'  and  thru  ]ii-uelaiiiiod  Jesus  as 
King.  The  military  were  ealled  out,  ami  in  a  light  these  men  were  slain  or  taken 
pri-soners;  Venner  and  fourteen  others  being  hanged  and  quartered  for  treason. 
The  fact  that  Yenncr  and  fifty  men  issued  out  of  the  Baptist  meeting-house  in 
Coleman  Street  has  associated  this  mad  proceeding  with  the  General  Baptists  as  a 
people,  but  very  unjustly.  Venner  was  not  a  Baptist ;  on  the  contrary,  he  threat- 
ened them  that  if  he  succeeded  he  would  show  them  whether  infant  baptism  were 
in  the  Bible,  possibly  as  they  had  found  it  there  so  often,  by  the  light  of  fagots. 
Mr.  Lamb,  the  pastor  of  the  Coleman  Street  Church,  at  once  united  with  the 
London  Baptists  in  issuing  a  strong  appeal  to  the  world,  showing  that  they  were 
bound  in  conscience  to  render  to  Caesar  his  right,  and  had  no  sympathy  with  Yen- 
ner's  doings.  This  is  clear  enough  from  the  fact  that  only  fifty  men  issued  out  of 
the  meetinghouse  with  Venner,  and  yet  Lamb's  Church  was  'by  far  the  largest' 
Baptist  Church  in  London.  The  British  public  believed  the  disclaimer  of  the 
Baptists,  but  not  so  the  perfidious  monarch  ;  urged  by  his  minister,  Edward  Hyde, 
Lord  Clarendon,  who  hated  the  Baptists  for  their  espousal  of  the  Parliamentary 
cause,  he  made  this  insignificant  piece  of  rant  the  pretext  for  a  series  of  abuses  upon 
the  Independents,  Quakers  and  Baptists,  which  will  disgrace  his  name  for  ever. 
"While  some  few  Baptists  believed  in  the  doctrine  of  Christ's  millennial  reign,  there 
is  no  satisfactory  evidence  that  one  of  the  fifty  men  were  of  their  number,  or  that  a 
single  Baptist  took  part  in  the  plot.  Harrison  was  committed  to  the  Tower  foi- 
supposed  complicity  with  it,  but  Carlyle,  who  studied  this  period  with  great 
thoroughness,  gives  it  as  his  opinion  that  '  Harrison  (was)  hardly  connected  with  the 
thing  except  as  a  well-wisher.'  Fronde  sees  the  matter  in  much  the  same  light, 
for  he  says :  '  With  the  Fifth  Monarchy  men  abroad,  every  chapel,  except  those  of 
the  Baptists,  would  iiave  been  a  magazine  of  explosives.  The  Baptists  and  Quakers 
might  have  been  trusted  to  discourage  violence,  but  it  was  impossible  to  dis- 
tinjiuish  anionir  the  various  sects.'  * 


CHAPTER   IV. 


BRITISH     BAPTISTS.— JOHN     BUNYAN. 


WE   inii.st  now  Iduk  :it  the   IJaptists  after  the   Kcstoratiuii,  the  most  noted  of 
wlioni  is  ,l,,ii.x  Jir.Nv.v.N.     lie  was  h.,r.i  at  Elstow,  near  Bedford,  in  1628. 
tlic  fauKins  year  in   wliich   Charles   [.  was  foreed  to  yield   tlie  Petition  of  Eight. 

His  education  was  next  to  noth- 
ing, yet  he  was  favored  above 
the  lidYs  of  liis  vilhige,  for  he 
attended  the  grammar  scliooi 
f(.iunded  by  Sii'  William  Harper 
at  liudfoi'd ;  how  long  is  not 
known,  l)ut  at  the  best  his  edu- 
I  itioii  d  attainments  were  quite 
--( ,int)  Xature  had  given  him 
a  warm,  light,  frolicsome  heart, 
which  held  him  ready  for  any 
soit  ol  glee  and  mischief,  and 
under  le  versed  circumstances 
subjected  him  not  only  to  the 
pensive,  but  the  desponding. 
He  early  feared  God  and  longed 
to  love  him,  but  his  giddiness  and 
love  of  fun  drew  him  into  sin, 
until  lie  became  addicted  to  wi'ong-doing,  principally  lying  and  swearing.  Because 
his  father  and  himself  were  tinkers,  and  Gipsies  in  England  have  been  tinkers  from 
time  immemorial,  he  was  long  supposed  to  be  of  this  alien  lilood.  But  the  I'ecords 
of  his  family  are  now  traceable  to  about  A.  D.  1200,  and  the  name  itself,  as  then 
known,  Buignon,  indicates  that  the  family  was  of  Norman  origin.  This  great 
descendant  of  that  house  was  a  man  of  intense  feeling  on  all  subjects.  The  religion 
of  his  times  was  of  the  most  earnest  nature,  eniotionai.  deep,  almost  fanatical,  and 
when  Bunyari's  heart  began  to  yearn  after  the  Lord  Jesus,  hi.s  whole  nature  was 
inflamed.  If  we  should  take  his  own  version  of  his  case  literally,  he  would  compel  us 
to  believe  that  he  was  a  sad  scamj)  in  youth  and  a  desperate  villain  in  early  manhood. 
He  tells  us,  however,  that  he  was  never  drunk  nor  unchaste,  and  eertainlv  he  was 


never   a    thief  nor 


iwayman. 


Ik 


ith 


d    danci 


ball 


ms  roxvirrroys  for  sin.  475 

playing,  bell-ringing  and  rough  sports  generally,  and  for  these,  with  lying  and  pro- 
fanity, his  passionate  self-accusings  threw  hini  into  a  deep  and  terrible  sense  of 
guilt.  His  agonies  and  conflicts  continued  for  months;  he  dreamed  frightful 
dreams  and  saw  alarming  day  visions,  heard  warning  voices  and  read  his  doom 
written  in  letters  of  fire.  Meanwhile,  he  was  a  soldier  in  the  civil  war,  and  at  its 
close  married  a  poor,  but  godly,  orphan  girl.  Froude  says  that  his  marriage  speaks 
much  for  his  character,  for  '  had  he  been  a  dissolute,  idle  scamp,  it  is  unlikely  that 
a  respectable  wdinun  would  have  licfMiiio  his  wMv  wlicn  he  was  a  mere  boy.'  At 
any  rate,  his  suiil-eontlicr  noi  only  eontinued,  hut  dee|)i'iied,  until  his  sufferings 
became  unbearable,  and  he  concluded  that  he  was  too  wicked  to  be  saved  and  must 
be  lost.  One  day,  when  walking  alone  in  the  country,  a  flood  of  light  broke  upon 
his  mind  with  tliese  words:  '  He  hath  made  peace  through  the  blood  of  his  cross;' 
when,  he  s;iy>:  •  1  ^;lw  iluit  the  justice  (if  (iod  and  my  sinful  soul  could  embrace  and 
kiss  each  other.  1  was  ready  t(j  swoon,  not  with  grief  and  trouble,  but  with  solid 
joy  and  peace.'  Soon  after  this,  1653,  Mr.  Giflord  immersed  him  in  the  river 
Ouse,  when  he  Ix'eanu'  a  mend)er  of  the  T^aptist  Chnrch  at  Hedford,  as  we  shall  see 
more  fully  in  the  next  elKi]>ters ;  and  in  ir;,")."")  he  entered  the  ministry  of  the 
Gospel. 

Lord  ilaeaiday  speaks  thus:  •  The  history  of  Ihinyaii  is  the  history  of  a  most 
excitable  mind  in  an  age  of  exeiiemeut."  "While  this  eonsidei-ation  does  not  throw 
light  upon  the  source  and  swi'ep  uf  J>unyan's  genius,  it  maj'  and  does  suggest  a 
weighty  reason  why  it  took  the  hue  and  channel  that  it  selected  for  its  expression, 
both  in  his  ]iersonal  history  and  in  the  sixty  works  of  his  pen.  The  sixty  years  of 
his  natural  life  ran  through  a  long  list  of  the  most  reiuai-kable  events  in  English 
annals.  In  his  d;iy  the  High  ('onnnis>ion  and  the  Star  Chamber  brought  before  his 
mind  the  most  vital  question  of  human  rights.  Tliis  Court  was  emjjowered  on 
mere  susjncion  to  adnunister  an  oath,  by  which  the  prisoner  was  bound  to  reveal 
his  inward  thoughts,  opinions  and  convictions,  and  thus  accuse  himself  on  pain  of 
death.  Every  day  filled  Bunyan's  ears  with  some  new,  romantic  and  blood-stirring 
event.  He  held  his  breath  and  turned  pale  when  he  heard  that  Charles  lost  not 
only  his  crown  but  his  head  as  a  traitor,  when  Cromwell  drew  the  sword  for  British 
liberties  and  progress,  M'hen  Cavaliers  and  Roundheads  ilew  in  every  dii-ection, 
when  the  Commonwealth  was  nourished  with  the  blood  of  his  bicthren.  and  when 
Naseby,  Edgewood  and  Marston  Moor  decreed,  that  no  iri'csponsible  tyi-ant  ^hould 
ever  mount  the  thi-one  again.  He  was  familiar  with  the  mad  ))lots  of  (Jates, 
Dangerfield  and  ^'enner.  with  the  Conventicle  Act,  the  ejection  of  two  thousand 
men  of  God  from  their  pulpits  in  a  day,  the  faithlessness  of  the  second  Cliarles,  the 
hypocrisies  of  James,  the  butcheries  of  Claverhouse,  the  infamous  mockery  of  jus- 
tice in  Jeffreys,  and  the  fall  of  the  perfidious  Stuarts.  The  smoke  of  burning  mar- 
tyrs filled  the  air  over  his  head,  and  he  saw  the  blows  for  freedom  which  wei-c 
struck   liy    Ihiinpden   and    Pym,   Sidney  and   Ilussell.      Howard,  the  great  j)hilau- 


476  Ills  IMPRISONMENT. 

thropist,  ;i  liuiiilivil  yc;irs  aftcrwai-d,  walked  the  same  streets  and  country  roads 
that  liniiyaii  trod,  and,  it  i>  ^-aid,  caiii^-ht  his  spirit  of  prison  reform  largely  from  the 
'  Den  '  in  which  Ihiiiyan  had  lain.  Tlie  great  singers  of  his  day  were  Her])ert  and 
Milton,  Drydeii  and  Shakr>pi'are.  And  the  mighty  preachers  were  Howe  and 
Henry,  Charnock  and  Owen,  Tillotson  and  South,  Sherlock  and  Stillingfleet. 
BunyanV  ()l)scr\atinii  was  keen  and  extensive;  he  lived  in  the  veiw  heart  of 
England,  was  an  actor  i]i  smne  nf  its  most  exciting  scenes,  and  it  is  impossible  but 
that  the  spirit  of  the  times  nidved  him  at  every  step.  In  his  day,  English  literature 
had  become  tl)oroughly  imbued  with  all  the  elements  of  poetry  and  fiction;  nay, 
even  of  romance.  These  had  come  down  through  high  Italian  authorship.  Not 
only  liad  the  collo(|uial  English  descended  through  Wyckliif,  and  its  higher  liter- 
ature through  Chaucer,  but  they  had  been  largely  blended  in  the  Bible,  with  which 
Bunyan  was  most  familiar;  so  that  simple,  idiomatic  Saxon  English  was  prepared 
to  his  hand;  being  full  of  image  and  awe,  of  wonder  and  grandeur,  which  lie  COiild 
express  to  the  popular  niiml  in  a  very  racy  style,  rnconscioiisly  he  felt  the  force  of 
his  mother-tongue;  it  stimtdated  liis  genius,  becanic  the  groundwork  of  his  thought 
and  the  model  .>f  his  utterance;  a  <-hoice  whicli  j.laces  him  Mde  by  ^i.jc  with  Shakes- 
peare and  the  English  Bilde,  as  one  of  the  great  conservators  of  uiir  powerful 
language. 

In  a  linrst  of  unreasoning  loyalty  the  English  people,  in  KiCO,  ])laced  Charles  II. 
on  the  throne,  without  exacting  proper  guarantees  for  that  liliei-ty  which  they  had 
bought  with  their  own  blood,  lie  had  given  his  word  on  honor  to  protect  all  his 
subjects  in  their  religious  freedom  ;  and  then,  like  a  true  Stuart,  he  sold  that  honor 
to  his  lust  of  power.  Hardly  was  he  seated  on  the  throne  when  Yenner's  petty 
insurrection  furnished  a  pretext  for  vengeance  upon  all  his  opponents,  and  espe- 
cially those  in  the  dissenting  sects,  no  matter  how  much  tliey  proved  tlieir  loyalty. 
Amongst  the  first  victims  of  his  tyranny  we  find  Bunyan,  charged  witli  -devilishly' 
and  'perniciously'  abstaining  from  going  to  church,  'as  a  connnon  ujiholder  of 
meetings  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  king,'  and  with  '  teaching  men  to  worship  con- 
ti-ary  to  law.'  He  was  sentenced  to  Bedford  jail  for  three  months,  and  at  the  end 
of  that  time  to  be  transported  if  he  refused  to  conform.  But  his  judges  kept  him 
in  prison  for  six  years :  and  when  released  he  instantly  began  to  preach  again, 
whereupon  he  was  imprisoned  for  another  six  years.  Being  released  still  again,  he 
began  to  preach  at  once,  and  was  arrested  for  the  third  time,  but  was  detained  only 
a  few  months.  His  judges  were  harsh  with  him,  but  his  real  oppressors  for  these 
twelve  weary  years  were  the  king  and  Parliament,  who  made  it  a  crime  for  any  one 
to  preach  but  a  priest  of  the  Church  of  England.  It  was  long  sup]iosed  that  he  was 
imprisoned  mostly  in  the  town  jail  of  Bedford,  on  the  bridge  over  the  ri\  er  Ouse, 
but  it  is  now  clear  that  his  long  imprisonment  was  in  the  county  jail,  where  his 
anonymous  biographer  of  lYOO  says,  that  he  heard  him  preach  to  sixty  dissenters 
and  three  ministers.     There  is  good  ground  for  believing,  however,  that  he  passed 


a  eonsidcralilc   pcridd   in   tlii'    j;iil    mi    tlic  liiiili;r.  and   tli:it  ho  wrote  his  'Pilgrim's 
Progress'  thnv. 

Wliile  we  ore  obliged  to  repreliend  the  base  iiijiistiee  wliich  kept  this  grand 
preaelier  pining  in  a  prison,  liowever  leniently  treated,  the  fact  is  forced  upon  us, 
that  the  wrath  of  man  was  made  to  praise  God;  for  had  not  his  zealous  servant 
been  compelled  to  this  solitude,  we  should  not  have  had  that  masterpiece  of 
literature.  His  '  Holy  War'  and  other  productions  would  have  brought  down  to  us 
a  literary  name  for  him  of  no  mean  order,  but  his  'Pilgrim'  is  a  book  for  all  people 
and  all  time.  Bunyan's  great  power  is  in  allegory  and  this  form  of  it  is  unique, 
because  its  facts  and  dress  are  not  fantastic  l)ut  are  inherent  in  man's  common  sense 
and  moral  nature.     His  'Pilgrim'  is  full  of  truth — this  he  drew  from  the  Bible;  of 


hisidrv.  which  he  took  from  Foxe's  'Book  of  Martyrs;'  of  terse  English,  which  he 
learned  from  Spenser  and  Chaucer ;  of  human  nature,  which  he  borrowed  from 
himself  and  his  circumstances;  of  hallowed  conviction,  which  he  caught  from  the 
Holy  Spirit ;  and  of  uncrippled  boldness,  which  was  inspired  by  his  love  of  soul- 
liberty.  In  earlier  times  some  treated  this  great  book  with  sneer  and  scorn,  but  in 
later  days  the  first  critics  have  vied  with  each  other  to  exhaust  upon  it  the  language 
of  eulogy.  Dr.  Johnson,  Coleridge,  Arnold,  Macaulay  and  Froude  have  pronounced 
it  equally  fit  for  the  plowman  and  the  philosopher,  the  peer  and  the  peasant ;  and 
the  Queen  of  England  thinks  '  Christian,'  its  great  character,  a  pattern  for  her 
grandchildren  to  copy  in  the  palace.  The  glorious  truth  wliich  made  the  heart  of 
Bunyan  beat  quicker  under  the  tinker's  doublet  has  since  given  '  heart's-ease '  to 
many  a  throbbing  bosom  which  heaves  under  the  purple.      And  the  huniMer  walks 


478  JTS    WIDE    lyVlA'ENCE. 

livi^s.  III  nil  sdiils  it  lias  ci-catcd  virion.-,  iiiterin-cfcil  divaiiis,  and  awakent'd  '  tlie  j<iy 
that  made  iiic  write/  The  c'i<;lit  i'diti(_iiis  tluM.iiigli  wliich  it  passed  in  thirty  years 
H-avc  hut  small  |ii-(iiiiise  of  the  |)|-oi;tcss  of  its  pili;Tiiiiai;-e  since.  No  book  has  been 
rcndcivd  intosu  many  la.i-na-cs,  excrpt  tiie  w,.rd  of  (i,,,!  itself.  To  many  who 
are  now  'hii;li  in  Miss  upon  the  liill>  of  (iod.'  it  first  set  'the  joy-bells  ringing  in  the 
city  of  Iiabitation.'  The  pauper  and  beggar  of  I,,,ndon  have  read  it  in  thorough- 
fares and  s.piares.  an<l  threaded  their  way  by  its  guidance  through  Vanity  Fair. 
The  Italian  has  crouched  beneath  the  .shade  of  the  \'atican,  and  trembled  to  look  i;p 
lest  he  should  see  Giant  Pope.  The  dusky  Ihirman  ha>  taken  it  into  the  deep  jun- 
gle, to  .show  him  stepping-stones  through  the  Slough  of  Uespond.  The  darker 
African  has  stolen  with  it  into  a  by-path  of  the  wild  woods,  and,  under  the  pahn- 
tree,  has  dreamed  of  the  white  man's  heaven.  The  son  of  Abraham  and  the 
daughter  of  Jerusalem  have  ivad  its  j)ages  to  the  sigh  of  the  wind  amongst  the 
olives  and  the  ripple  of  Kcdron  ;  and  tlie  Hindoo,  with  Ibinyan  in  his  hand,  lias 
resolved  on  courage  when  he  crossed  the  'deep  i-iver  ;'  for  angels,  such  as  do  not 
wait  upon  the  banks  of  his  sacred  C-ranges,  beckon  him  over. 

No  wonder  that  wlien  Mr.  Brown,  the  minister  of  llunyan's  meeting,  lately 
visited  Scotland,  a  worthy  Highlander  was  startled  when  inti'oduced  to  him  as 
'  Bunyan's  successor.'  Starting  back  and  measuring  liim  from  head  to  foot,  he  ex- 
claimed: 'Eh,  mon!  but  ye'U  ha  hard  work  to  till  ///'v  sJnuni!'  Uean  Stanley 
says:  'When  in  early  life  I  lighted  on  the  passage  where  the  I'ilgrim  is  taken  into 
the  House  Beautiful  to  see  "  the  pedigree  of  the  Ancient  of  Daj-s,  and  the  varieties 
and  histories  of  that  place,  both  ancient  and  modern,"  I  determined  that  if  ever 
the  time  should  arrive  when  I  should  become  a  jirofessor  of  ecclesiastical  history, 
these  should  become  the  opening  words  in  which  I  would  describe  the  treasures  of 
that  magnificent  store-house.  Accordingly,  wlien,  many  years  after,  it  so  fell  out,  I 
could  find  no  better  mode  of  beginning  my  course  at  ( )xfoi'd  than  by  redeeming 
that  early  pledge;  and  when  the  cotirse  came  to  an  end.  ami  I  wished  to  draw  a 
picture  of  the  prospects  still  reserved  for  the  future  of  ('lii'isteiidoni,  I  found  again 
that  the  best  words  I  coidd  supply  were  those  in  which,  on  leaving  the  Beautiful 
House,  Christian  was  shown  in  tlie  distance  the  view  of  the  Delectable  Mountains, 
"  which  they  said,  would  add  to  his  comfort  because  they  were  nearer  to  the  desired 
haven."  '  This  was  a  worthy  and  heart-felt  tribute  from  Westminster  to  the  dream- 
ing tinker  whose  effigy  now  adorns  the  House  of  Commons,  side  by  side  with 
those  of  orators,  heroes  and  statesmen  in  honor  of  the  man,  who,  though  he 
'  devilishl}' '  abstained  from  attending  the  church  '  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  king/ 
has  preached  in  all  pulpits  and  palaces  ever  since. 

After  Bunyan's  final  release  in  1G72,  he  became  pastor  of  the  Church  at  Bed- 
ford, and  so  threw  his  life  into  Gospel  labor,  that  his  fame  as  a  preacher  increased 
until  he  was,  perhaps,  the   most  famous  minister  of  his  day.     The  few  sermons 


IJIXV. 


riii-: 


•IIL\G. 


470 


wliic'li  liiive  coiiu'  down  to  us.  show  that  lir  .-poke  as  lie  wrote.  As  in  his  Pilgrim 
lie  eiulioilies  more  of  the  liihle  than  docs  Milton  in  his  Paradise  Lost,  so  in  his 
sermons  we  tind  more  true  human  nature  than  in  Shakespeare.  His  sentences  burn 
with  sacred  touches  of  divine  experience  and  move  ns  with  sympathy,  so  that  they 
must  have  melted  his  hearers  to  tears.  They  also  abound  in  personification  and 
figure,  touched  by  a  little  quiet  but  keen  satire,  and  are  lieli  in  reality,  tenderness 
and  life.  So  great  was  his  success  as  <a  preacher,  that  the  largest  buildings  to 
wliieh  he  had  access  in  London  would  not  contain  the  multitudes  who  flocked  to 
hear  him.  One  of  his  early  biographers  says :  '  I  have  seen  about  twelve  hnndred 
at  a  niornine  lecture,  by  seven  o'clock,  on  a  workiiii^  tiav.  in  the  dark  winter  time. 


\R   STUEET    CUAl'KL,   SUUTHWAKK. 


I  have  computed  about  tln-ee  thousand  that  came  to  hear  him  one  Lord's-day  at 
tlie  town's-end  meeting-house,  so  that  half  were  fain  to  go  back  again  for  want  of 
room,  and  then  himself  was  fain,  at  a  back  door,  to  be  pulled  almost  over  people  to 
get  up  stairs  to  his  pulpit.'  John  Owen  heard  him  preach,  probably  at  Zoar  Chapel, 
and  when  King  Charles  expressed  wonder  that  a  man  of  his  learning  could  bear  to 
listen  to  the  'prate'  of  a  tinker,  he  answered,  that  he  would  gladly  give  all  his 
learning  for  this  tinker's  power.  In  the  doctrinal  controversies  of  the  times,  lie  gave 
and  took  many  a  hard  blow,  but  his  writings  leave  slight  traces  of  personal  bitter- 
ness toward  his  opponents.  Indeed,  hard  feeling  seems  to  have  been  a  stranger 
both  in  him  and  his  house.  His  wife  was  gentle  to  a  proverb.  When  he  was  in 
prison  she  went  to  London  to  pray  for  his  release,  and  induced  a  peer  of  the  realm 
to  present  a  petition  to  tlie  House  of  Lords  in  his  behalf;  so  the  judges  were 
directed  to  look    into  the    matter   afresli.      She,   therefore,  appeared    before  Sir 


iiiililicity 

i>f  ii  woman's  love 

v.>  a  iK.n 

[■(■;iMe  iH'i-sou;  and 

•liiMivn.  . 

:.lir    of   tl,,M,l  blind, 

.       llulr    I 

rcatLMJ  ln'i-  kindly, 

,.   ull   pn 

•acliiiio;  if  released. 

.  uir  j„v., 

i-hiiii;-  so  long  as  he 

(:<iiii-t  ill 

ti-ai's,  iK.t  so  nnich. 

480  BUNYAN'S    TE.y/JKh'JVKS 

Mattli.'W  Hale,  Chester  and  Twisden.  With  all  the 
she  told  her  artless  story.  8he  s.id  that  hei-  liii,-.l)and 
wished  to  snpport  his  family.  They  had  f(_iur  heljile^.- 
and  while  he  was  in  prison  they  mu^t  lis-e  on  eliari 
Twis.U.ii  harshly,  and  demanded  wliether  lie  woul.l  Ic 
in  childdike  honesty  she  replied,  that  •  he  dare  not  lea 
conid  speak.-  Her  request  was  .li'iiicd  and  she  left  tli 
she  said,  '  hcM'ause    they   wei'e    so  liard-heartcd    ayain^t    mi-   and    my  hil.-liaiiil,  lint   to 

think  what  a  sad  aeeoiint  such  [ ■  creatures  would  have  to  give  at  tiie  coining  of 

the  J.ord.'  .lesns  wejit  heean^e  Jerusalem  stoned  the  prophets,  and  Bunyan's  wife 
was  much  like  him.  Itnt,  this  giant  in  genius  was  just  as  tenderdiearted  as  his  wife. 
Where  do  we  timl  such  ]>athos  in  any  passage  as  this,  winch  he  wrote  in  prison: 

'The  parting  with  my  wife  and  poor  children  hath  often  been  to  me  in  this 
place  as  the  pulling  otf  my  flesh  from  my  bones;  and  that  not  only  because  I  am 
too,  too  fond  of  those  great  mercies,  but  also  because  I  should  have  often  brought 
to  my  mind  the  hardships,  miseries  and  wants  my  poor  family  was  like  to  meet 
with  should  I  be  taken  from  them  ;  especially  my  poor  blind  child,  who  lay  nearer 
my  heart  than  all  I  had  besides.  Poor  child,  thought  I,  what  sorrow  art  thou  like 
to  have  for  thy  portion  in  this  world !  Thou  must  be  beaten,  suffer  hunger,  cold, 
nakedness  and  a  thousand  calannties,  though  I  cannot  now  endure  the  wind  should 
blow  on  thee.  But  yet,  thought  1,  I  must  venture  all  with  God,  though  it  goeth  to 
the  quick  to  leave  you.  I  was  as  a  man  who  was  pidling  down  his  house  upon  the 
head  of  his  wife  and  children.     Yet,  thought  I,  I  must  do  it,  I  must  do  it." 

So  loving  was  Bunyan's  disposition,  that  he  kept  the  heart  of  the  jailer  soft  all 
the  time.  He  not  only  allowed  him  to  visit  his  church  frequently,  unattended,  and 
to  preach  the  Gospel,  too ;  but  his  blind  Mary  constantly  visited  him,  with  such 
little  gifts  as  she  could  gather  for  liis  solace.  She  had  great  concern  for  him,  lest 
he  sorrowed  beyond  all  hope,  and  often  when  parting  with  him,  would  put  her 
delicate  fingers  to  his  eyes  and  cheeks,  to  feel  if  the  tears  flowed  that  slie  might 
kiss  them  away.  His  blind  babe  died  and  left  him  in  prison;  with  ( ),  how  many 
fatherly  benedictions  upon  her  sweet  memory.  It  was  niet't  that  little,  blind  Mary 
Bunyan  should  enter  the  Celestial  Gate  before  the  hero  of  the  'den."  a  true  'shining 
one'  to  watch  and  wait  for  his  coming.  Nor  did  she  wait  long.  In  16SS  he  went 
to  London  to  reconcile  an  alienated  father  and  son,  and  succeeded.  But  on  the 
journey  a  violent  storm  overtook  him,  and  he  contracted  a  fatal  illness  which  after 
ten  days  took  him  to  Jesus,  the  King  in  his  beauty,  and  to  blind  Marj^,  when  he 
first  saw  her  sweet  eyes  blaze  with  liglit.  She  raised  not  a  hand  to  his  elieek  then, 
as  was  her  old  wont  in  Bedford,  for  God  had  wiped  away  all  tears  from  his  eyes ; 
and  since  then  the  old  and  young  pilgrim  have  dwelt  together  in  the  golden  city. 

Bunyan  died  just  as  the  day  dawned  on  England  \vhen  the  second  great  Revo- 
lution was  to  make  her  a  free  nation,  in  wdiich  Baptists  could  breathe  freely.  Mr. 
Fronde  couples  him  thus  with  them,  in  his  biography  of  Bunyan  :  '  In  the  language 
of  the  time,  he  became  convinced  of  sin  and  joined  the  Baptists,  the  most  thorough- 


BLN\  \N  b   lOMIl 


KNGLAND  llOyOIiS  HIM.  481 

going  and  consistent  of  all  the  Protestant  sects.  If  the  sacrainemt  of  baptism  is  not 
a  magical  form,  but  is  a  personal  act  in  wliich  the  baptized  person  devotes  himself 
to  Christ's  service,  to  baptize  cliildren  at  any  age  when  they  cannot  understand  what 
they  are  doing  may  seem  irrational  and  even  impious.' '  Banyan's  ashes  rest  in 
Bunhill  Fields,  marked  by  a  neat  tomb, 
bearing  simply  his  name.  But  in  1874  the 
Duke  of  Bedford,  a  descendant  of  Loid 
William  Russell,  the  martyr  to  liberty,  pic 
sented  a  most  costly  and  beautiful  statue 
to  that  city,  in  Bunyan's  memory.  The 
10th  of  June  in  that  year  was  one  of 
the  greatest  days  that  Bedford  ever  knew 
The  corporation,  with  many  thousands  of 
distinguished  persons  from  all  parts  of 
the  kingdom,  assembled  on  St.  Petei's 
green,  to  unveil  this  work  of  art.  This  was  done  by  Lady  Augusta  Stanley, 
sister  of  the  Earl  of  Elgin  and  wife  of  the  Dean  of  Westminster.  Although 
Bunyan's  back  is  still  turned  toward  St.  Peter's  Church,  the  bells  rang  a  merry  peal, 
and  immense  crowds  assembled  in  the  Corn  Exchange  and  on  the  green,  to  listen  to 
addresses  from  the  Mayor,  Dean  Stanley,  Earl  Cowper  and  many  others  of  great 
note ;  and  a  banquet  at  the  Swan  Hotel  crowned  the  day.  As  was  fitting,  4,000 
Sunday-school  children  of  Bedford  and  Elstow  consumed  a  ton  and  a  quarter  of  cake 
and  six  hundred  gallons  of  tea,  in  honor  of  the  occasion ;  and  with  bands  of  music 
made  a  pilgrimage  to  Elstow,  the  birthplace  of  their  enchanting  dreamer ;  and  the 
press  of  the  United  Kingdom  that  day  called  Bunyan  blessed.  The  statue  is  of 
bronze,  cast  of  cannon  and  bells  brought  from  China,  weighing  two  and  a  half  tons. 
The  figure  of  Bunyan  is  taken  from  a  painting  by  Sadler,  and  is  ten  feet  high.  The 
idea  which  Boehm,  the  sculptor,  has  striven  to  give,  is  expressed  in  an  inscription 
on  the  pedestal,  and  is  taken  from  the  picture  of  'a  very  grave  person.'  which 
Bunyan  saw  hung"  in  the  Interpreter's  house : 

'  It  had  eyes  uplifted  to  heaven  ; 
The  best  of  books  in  his  hand ; 
The  law  of  truth  was  written 
Upon  his  lips.  .  .  . 
It  stood  as  if  it  pleaded 
With  men.' 


A  broken  fetter  at  his  feet  represents  his  long  imprisonment,  and  on  a  tablet 
beneath  is  a  facsimile  of  his  autograph  in  his  will,  'John  Bunyan.'  Three  sides 
of  the  pedestal  contain  scenes  from  '  Pilgrim's  Progress,'  in  bold  relief :  Evangelist 
pointing  Christian  to  the  wicket  gate;  Cliristian's  fight  with  Apollyon;  Pilgrim 
released  from    liis  load   and   the  three  shining  onus  ])ointing  liim  to  tlie  Celestial 


THE  BEDFORD   MONUMENT. 


City.     Tlie  mom 

iiieiit  staiiil 

.  %\!k 

faccb  one  \\.n  an 

1    Nfull   .if) 

(_'p(  i^e 

thfi.lt.ll    nl     tl 


Ity  .pint 
ic  right 
itliout  a 

MisllCMl 


its  (..rigiiial,  it  (,nly 
lality,  wliieli  claims 
to  loolv  to  heaven 
icfiisL'  from  tlie  es- 
'Innvh.  i;uiiyan-> 
ms  (kvcrilx'd:  •  lie 
)f  stature,  .strong- 
til  sjiaikling  eyes. 
is  upper 


\\as    tall 

I  (rowed, 

wearing  his  hair  oi 

lip  after  the  old   IJritish  fa^-h- 

loii ;  his  hair  reddish,  but  in  liis 

I  itter  days  sprinkled  with  gray  ; 
Ins  nose  well  cut,  his  mouth 
moderately  large,  his  forehead 
something  high,  and  his  habit 

I I  ways  plain  and  modest.' 

That  Bunyan  was  an  open 

(uimmininii    i'aptist  lias  never 

bi'fii    seriously    doubted     until 

IC   recent   pnblicati..n    of    his 


l!r 


le.  by  Uev.  .loh 
\.M.,  nnnister  of  the  lUin- 
\  m  meeting  at  Bedford.  This 
w  ork  throws  new  light  on  many 
]ioints  in  his  history  and  is 
aljly  written,  but  because  of 
( I'rtain  parish  records  which  it 
l)ublislies,  and  which  seem  to 
imjily  that  Bunyan's  children 
were  christened,  after  he  had 
united  with  the  Bedford  Church, 
nine  that  subject  candidly  and  carefully.  Whether  Mr.  Brown 
intended  to  convey  this  impression  or  not,  his  book  is  well  adapted  to  place  Bun- 
yan's practice  in  direct  contradiction  with  many  of  his  own  utterances,  and  to 
render  his  conduct  irreconcilable  with  the  universal  testimony  of  history  as  to  his 
union  with  the  Baptists.  Yet  Mr.  Brown  carefully  avoids  saying  that  he  was  not 
a  Baptist.  He  quotes  Bunyan's  words  :  '  Do  not  have  too  much  company  with  some 
Anabaptists,  though  I  go  imdei'  that  name  myself,''  and  then  adds  :  '  This  is  plain 
enough.  The  only  difficulty  is  how  to  reconcile  his  practice  with  his  declaration  ; 
for  he  seems  to  have  liad  three  of  liis  children  baptized  at  church  in  their  infancy, 
as   we  gather   from    the  register  of  the  parishes  of  Elstow  and  St.  Cuthbert's.' 


it  is  needful 


Tin-:   ELSTOW  lih-nrSTER.  483 

Tliese  words  cannot  be  inisundei'stood,  and  tlieir  sense  is  re-affirmed  tlius:  'There 
can  be  little  doubt,  therefore,  that  the  year  after  Jolin  Bunyan  joined  the  Bedford 
brotlierhood  his  second  daiij^hter,  like  his  first,  was  baptized  at  Elstow  Church. 
The  third  case,  that  of  his  son  Joseph,  is  the  most  remarkable  of  all,  for  this  child, 
according  to  the  register,  was  baptized  at  St.  Cuthbert's  Church  after  Bunyan's 
twelve  years'  imprisonment  for  conscience'  sake,  and  during  the  time  he  was  con- 
ducting the  controversy  on  open  comtininion  witJi  D'Aiivcrs  and  Paul.  The  fact  is 
curious,  and  can  only  be  accounted  for  on  tlir  suppnsiridii  timt  iijion  the  (inestion  of 
baptism  he  had  no  very  strong  feeling  any  way."^ 

Oil  this  question  and  utlicrs  grdwing  (Hit  uf  it,  tin:  writiT  opened  a  respect- 
ful eorrespondence  with  Mr.  lirown.  to  wliieli  he  responded  in  that  nuuiner  and 
spirit  which  always  pruiiipt  the  high-minded  investigator.  Under  date  of  May  1st, 
]>iS<i,  Mr.  Brown  writes  eimeerniug  Bunyan's  own  baptism:  'There  is  no  evi- 
dence that  liiiiiyaii  w:i,-.  not  iiniiicrsed.  Lcjnkiiig  at  what  he  says  of  himself  {vide 
my  •  Lifi'  of  l!iiiiyan,'  p.  2:!^,  line  f,),  1  should  say  he  was  immersed  though  there  is 
no  record  of  the  fact.'  These  quotations  are  sufficient  to  show  that  Mr.  Brown  is 
not  to  be  considered  as  saying  that  Bunyan  was  not  a  Baptist,  but  simply  tluit  he 
could  not  reconcile  his  position  as  a  Baptist  with  the  christening  of  his  children. 
Before  examining  these  records  it  may  be  a  favor  to  the  American  reader,  who  is 
not  familiar  with  the  vicinity  of  Bedford  in  England,  to  say,  that  Elstow,  Bunyan's 
birthplace,  is  a  village  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Bedford,  and  that  he  continued 
to  reside  there  probal)ly  till  about  A.  D.  lt!.55-5(i,  when  he  removed  to  Bedford. 
At  that  time  this  town  niiinbered  Ic^s  than  l'.im'O  inhabitants,  and  for  ecclesiastical 
purposes,  was  then  and  is  now  dividt'd  into  four  parishes,  known  i-espectively  as 
St.  Jolm's,  St.  Peter',s,  St.  Paul's  and  St.  Cuthbert's.  The  first  record  to  he  exam- 
ined is  that  of  Elstow,  which  reads  thus: 

Elstoir :  'Mary,  the  daughter  of  John  Bonion,  baptized  July  20th,  1650.'  As 
Bunyan  did  not  unite  with  Gifford's  Cliurch  till  1653,  three  years  after  this  record 
was  made,  it  has  no  bearing  on  the  question  wliether  lie  was  a  Baptist  or  not.  Wlien 
Mary  was  christened,  he  was,  as  he  tells  us  himself,  leading  a  wicked  life,  having  no 
church  connection  aside  from  a  nominal  one  in  the  Church  of  England.  It  nuiy, 
therefore,  be  dismissed  with  the  remark,  tliat  as  it  leaves  nothing  to  '  reconcile '  in  his 
practice,  it  needs  no  further  consideration.  The  second  entry  was  made  at  Elstow, 
tlie  year  after  his  union  with  Gififord's  Church,  and  reads  as  follows :  '  Elizabeth,  the 
daughter  of  John  Bonyon,  was  borne  14th  day  of  April,  1654.'  Taking  all  things  into 
the  account  and  in  the  order  of  theii'  dates,  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  circum- 
stances of  tlie  case,  we  shall  find  this  record  Bunyan's  second  public  protest  against 
infant  baptism,  which  he  pronounced  an  infirmity  of  the  weak.  In  his  controversy 
with  his  strict  communion  brethren,  they  charged  him  with  indulging  Baptists,  in 
disobedience  to  the  requirements  of  truth,  when  he  commniied  with  those  who  had 
never  been   baptized  upon  their  faith    in    Christ.     To   this  he  replied  :  '  Hut  what 


484  BUNYAN\S  PROTEST  AGAINST   CnRISTENINO. 

acts  of  dieobedieHce  do  we  indulge  in;  "  In  tlie  nin  of  infant  baptism  T'  We 
indulge  them  nut,  Itut  being  commanded  to  l)ear  with  the  infirmities  of  the  weak, 
suffer  it;  it  In  i/nj  in  our  eyes  such,  but  in  theirs,  thcv  say.  a  <luty, till  God  persuade 
them.'  ^  It  matters  not  at  this  point  whether,  when  Banyan  went  with  Gifford  into 
the  river  Ouse,  he  was  immersed  or  not,  though  Mr.  Brown,  judging  by  what  Bun- 
yan  writes,  '  though  I  go  under  that  name  myself  ('Anabaptist'),  says,  'I  should  say 
he  was  immersed.'  This  much,  however,  is  clear,  that  whatever  was  done  to  Bun- 
yan  in  the  Ouse,  he  did  there  publicly  repudiate  his  own  infant  baptism.  Mr. 
Brown  tells  us  (page  3G)  that  he  finds  John  Bunyan's  name  'in  the  list  of  nineteen 
christenings  at  Elstow  Church  in  the  following  form :  "  1G28.  John  the  sonne  of 
Thomas  Bounionn,  Junr.  the  30th  of  Novemb." '  But  as  Banyan  could  not  go 
under  the  name  of  '  Anabaptist'  on  that  christening,  it  follows  that  when  he  went 
with  Gifford  into  the  river  he  deliberately  repudiated  the  infant  baptism  which  his 
father  had  imposed  upon  him  in  1628,  in  the  discharge  of  what  he  regarded  as  his 
parental  '  duty,'  as  a  member  of  the  Chnreh  of  England.  It  remains  to  be  seen 
whether  or  not,  a  year  after  this  repudiation,  he  fell  into  what  he  calls  the  weakness 
of  infant  baptism,  and  which  he  said  was  such  in  his  eyes,  by  taking  his  own  daughter 
to  that  same  Church  of  England  to  christen  her,  in  '  duty,  till  God  persuaded '  him 
otherwise.  This,  of  course,  would  imply  that  he  recalled  his  protest  against  his  own 
infant  bajjtism  made  a  year  earlier,  and  in  turn  repudiated  his  believer's  baptism, 
after  he  had  solemnly  taken  it  upon  himself  as  an  'Anabaptist.'  Tiiis  conduct 
would  show  any  thing  but  that  he  had  no  strong  feeling  on  the  question  of  baptism, 
for  with  his  very  tender  conscience  he  must  have  had  terrible  feelings  on  the  sub- 
ject, if  he  Ijacked  and  filled  in  that  way.  No ;  this  entry  evinces  the  deepest  feeling 
on  the  question  of  infant  baptism  and  is  his  second  public  protest  against  its 
practice,  the  first  being  in  himself  by  his  own  baptism  as  a  believer,  the  second  in 
his  beloved  daughter  and  her  simple  birth  record. 

The  difference  between  these  two  entries,  the  baptismal  record  of  Mary  and 
the  birth  record  of  Elizabeth,  shows  that  between  the  years  1650  and  1654  a  well- 
defined  change  had  taken  place  in  their  father's  mind  on  the  subject  of  christening. 
Had  he  chosen  he  could  have  had  Elizabeth  christened  and  her  christening  entered 
in  the  same  form  as  that  of  Mary,  but  he  chose  not  to  do  that ;  and  limiting  the 
record  to  her  birth,  it  simply  says  that  Elizabeth  was  ^lorne^  on  the  14tli  day  of 
April,  1654.  The  following  facts  throw  a  flood  of  light  upon  this  i-ecord,  as  they 
prove,  that  in  1645  Parliament  put  the  recording  of  births  into  the  haiuls  of  the 
clergy,  that  in  1653  this  registration  was  taken  out  of  their  hands,  and  that  under 
"William  and  Mary  it  was  restored  to  them  again,  and  all  this  for  the  best  of  reasons. 

1.  In  1645  Parliament  had  banished  the  use  of  the  Prayer-book  in  every  place 
of  worship  in  England  and  Wales,  and  had  substituted  a  form  of  worship  called  the 
Directory.  This  law  required  all  Prayer-books  to  be  given  up,  and  fined  any  who 
used  one  in  any  place  of  worship,  church  or  chapel,  £5  for  the  first  offense,  £10  for 


It  HI.  I  El'    T<i    (JCAKEUS   AMI    ISM'TISTS.  483 

the  second,  '  and  for  tlic  rliird  oll'cnsf  one  wliole  VL';ir's  iniprisonment  witliout  bail 
or  mainprise.'     It  liad  also  enactted,  that 

'  There  shall  be  provided  at  the  charge  of  every  parish  or  chapelry  in  the  realm 
of  England  and  dominion  of  "Wales,  a  fair  register  book  of  velluni,  to  be  kept  by 
the  minider  and  otticci's  of  the  church,  and  that  the  names  of  all  children  baptized, 
and  of  their  parents  and  of  the  time  of  their  birth  and  haj)tizin(j,  shall  be  written 
and  set  down  by  the  minister  therein.' 

This  act  provided  for  the  registration  of  both  births  and  baptisms,  and  was  careful 
not  to  confound  the  two  as  one.'' 

2.  Down  to  A.  D.  1653,  the  year  in  which  Bunyan  united  with  Gifford's  Church, 
Quakers,  Baptists  and  all  who  rejected  infant  bajjtism,  were  subjected  to  every  sort 
of  annoyance  for  neglecting  to  go  to  the  recording  clergy  as  thus  required,  to  liave 
their  children  christened  and  a  record  of  their  birth  and  baptism  made  in  the  '  book 
of  vellum'  at  the  parish  church,  the  Church  of  England.  The  same  was  true  also 
of  their  marriages  and  burials. 

3.  Having  in  view  their  relief,  not  only  in  the  matter  of  baptism,  but  also  in 
that  of  marriages  and  burials,  Cromwell's  short  Parliament  took  this  whole  matter 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  clergy,  making  marriage  a  purely  secular  act,  stripping  birth, 
marriage  and  burial  of  subjection  to  all  ecclesiastical  usages,  and  put  the  entire 
keeping  of  the  parish  records  into  secular  hands  for  civil  purposes  alone.  Of  course. 
Baptists,  Quakers  and  all  other  such  subjects  loyal  to  the  civil  power  were  delighted 
to  be  freed  from  ecclesiastical  contempt  in  this  way,  and  to  comply  with  a  mere  civil 
provision,  which  in  noway  conflicted  with  their  convictions  of  right;  and  they 
cheerfully  complied  with  a  law  which  simply  required  them  to  record  the  birth  of 
their  children  as  in  duty  to  the  State. 

4.  It  is  of  this  Act  that  Cobbet  speaks  in  his  '  Parliamentary  History,'  under 
date  of  August  25th,  1653.  He  writes :  '  Great  part  of  this  month  had  been  taken  up 
in  canvassing  a  bill  concerning  marriages  and  the  registering  thereof,  and  also  of 
births  and  burials.  This  day  it  passed  the  house  on  this  question,  and  was  ordered 
to  be  printed  and  published.  This  extraordinary  Act  entirely  took  marriages  out  of 
the  hands  of  the  clergy,  and  put  them  into  those  of  the  Justices  of  the  Peace.'' 

The  writer  has  carefully  examined  this  Act  and  would  copy  it  entire,  but  as  it 
covers  many  folios  it  is  too  long.     It  is  found  in  the 

'  Acts  and  Ordinances  of  Parliament,  examined   by  the  original  record  and 

imnted  by  special  order  of  Parliament,  by  Henry  Plills  and  John  Field,  printers  to 
lis  Highness  the  Lord  Protector,  1658  ;  by  Henry  Scobell,  the  clerk  of  Parliament.' 

For  some  reason,  the  Acts  of  the  Commonwealth  are  not  printed  with  the  con- 
tinuous laws  of  the  realm,  but  are  put  in  this  special  collection  by  themselves,  and 
at  the  risk  of  a  little  tediousness,  as  this  book  is  very  scarce,  a  brief  analysis  of 
the  Act  may  here  be  given.  It  directs  'how  marriages  shall  be  solenmized  and 
registered,  as  also  a  register  for  births  and  b\irials,'  but  says  nothing  of  baptisms. 


486  ItEGISTRT  ACT   OF  1G53. 

It  was  extended  \^^  Ireland  'tVum  nml  idler  Decemljer  1st.  Ku^?,."     It  specially  pro- 
vides for  the  election  of  a  i;(■^;■i^trar  Ijv  jiupular  suffrage  in  tlic  parish  thus  : 

I.  'The  Inlialiitants  aii.l  lloiischoldci^  of  everv  J'ari^h  cliar-eahk^  to  tlie  relief 
of  the  i.oor,  .ir  the  greater  part  of  them  jjreseiit.  >hall  on  or  before  tiie  L'2d  day  of 
Septeiiihcr,  I(;,'i3,  make  choice  of  some  able  and  honest  person  (such  as  shall  be 
sworn  :ind  a|.pi-oved  by  one  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  that  Parish,  Division  or  County, 
anil  Ml  ^ii:iiiliril  under  his  hand  in  the  said  Register-book),  to  have  the  keeping  of 
said  honk,  who  shall  therein  fully  enter  in  writing  all  such  Publications,  Marriages, 
Ilii-th.s  uf  rhilih'en  and  Burials  of  all  sorts  of  persons,  and  the  names  of  every  of 
them,  and  the  days  of  the  month  and  year  of  Publications,  Marriages,  Births  and 
Burials.  And  the  Ilegister  in  each  Parish  shall  attend  the  said  Justice  of  the 
Peace  to  subscribe  the  entry  of  each  such  ]\Iarriage;  and  the  person  so  selected, 
approved  and  sworn,  sliall  be  called  the  Parish-liegister  and  shall  continue  three 
years  in  such  place  of  Register.' 

n.  This  Act  further  provides,  that  'All  Ptegister-l)ooks  for  Marriages,  Births 
and  Burials  sliall  be  dcHvercd  into  the  hands  of  the  respective  Registers  appointed 
by  this  Act  to  be  kept  as  IJeeurds.'  Thus  the  clergy  were  not  only  stripped  of  the 
i-eeoriler's  ofHee,  but  the  old  books  of  register  made  [irevious  tii  K!.-);',  were  taken 
out  of  their  custody  and  put  into  secular  hands  :  '  Any  law,  statute,  custom  or  usuage 
to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,'  as  the  Act  states. 

III.  The  use  of  the  Prayer-book  and  all  religious  services  at  marriages  and  l.iurials 
M'as  done  away  with,  and  as  the  Act  knew  nothing  of  christenings,  of  course,  the  regis- 
tration of  liirtlis  called  for  no  provision  against  such  services.  The  parties  to  be 
married  were  to  choose  whether  the  Register  should  publish  their  intended  marriage 
three  Sundays  in  the  church  or  chapel,  or  in  the  '  market-place  next  to  the  said  church 
or  chapel,  on  three  market-days  in  the  tliree  several  weeks  next  following.'  On 
the  day  of  marriage,  in  the  presence  of  the  Justice,  the  man  was  to  take  the  woman 
by  the  hand  and  distinctly  pronounce  the  following  words :  '  I,  A.  B.,  do  here  in  the 
presence  of  God,  the  searcher  of  all  hearts,  take  thee,  C.  D.,  for  my  wedded  wife. 
I  do,  also,  in  the  presence  of  God  and  before  these  witnesses,  promise  to  be  unto  thee 
a  loving  and  faithful  husband.'  When  the  woman  had  gone  through  the  same  form, 
the  Justice  declared  them  husband  and  wife.  The  Act  then  strijw  the  clergy  of  all 
power  to  marry  in  these  sweeping  words : 

'  From  and  after  such  consent  so  expressed  and  such  declaration  made,  the  same, 
as  to  llie  form  uf  marria-v.  shall  be  -uod  and  clTertual    in    law.      .!//</  /m-  othrr  mar- 

THU,.      ,rli,lt.r.r     irit/,;,,    'tin     (  )  ,n,nn  <,nr,  „!/ /,    <  ,f    hjii  ih,  i,  ,1 .  ,lft ,  r   f],.     t  ir,  „t ,/ -n  i  nth     of 
Sept,  wtn:r,  slmtl  1„   Inid  nr  „ nint.,1  ,,  m<irn<u/,   arronlni^j  t,>  tin   hnrs  ,./  h'lujhmd: 

1\ .  The  Act  made  a  number  of  curious  minor  provisions  wliich  may  be  named, 
simply  for  the  gratilication  of  tlie  reader,  such  as  these: 

The  '  fee  for  Publications  and  certificates  thereof  Is. ;  for  marriages  Is.'  '  Fi'oni 
those  who  live  upon  alms  nothing  shall  be  taken.'  The  Justice  '  in  case  of  dumb 
persons  may  dispense  with  pronouncing  the  words ;  and  with  joining  hands  in  case 
of  persons  that  have  no  hands.'     '  After  the  29th  of  Sep.  1653,  the  age  of  a  man  to 


ISlIiTIIS.    yoT   CniilSTKMXds,    liKCOHJJlCI).  487 

consent  to  marriage  .sliall  he  sixteen  years,  and  tlie  age  of  tlie  wciman  fourteen  years." 
All  disputes  as  to  tlie  lawfulness  of  marriage  were  I'efei'red  to  Justices  at  the 
Quarter  Sessions. 

Under  the  well-settk^d  ride  in  law,  that  tlie  k'gislative  intent  can  best  be 
readied  by  exainiiiing  all  Acts  on  the  same  subjectniatter  and  weighing  tliem 
together,  these  Acts  have  been  liere  presented,  and  so  we  cannot  miss  tiie  intent 
of  this  particular  xVct  of  {>'<'<■'<.  As  the  Art  of  lt'i4.")  had  expres.sly  put  registra- 
tion of  births  and  baptisms  into  the  hands  of  the  clergy,  and  the  Act  of  1);58  had 
put  the  registration  of  birtiis  into  secular  hands  and  said  notliing  about  records 
for  baptism  or  christening,  taking  all  public  registration  out  of  clerical  hands,  the 
entry  of  baptisms  was  legally'  dropped  from  the  public  records,  under  the  i)rovisions 
of  the  last  Act.  Tliat  this  was  botii  the  intention  and  practice  under  that  law  is 
more  clearly  seen  in  the  further  fact,  that  Acts  VI  and  VII  under  William  and 
Mary  restored  registration  to  the  clergy,  and  made  special  provision  for  the  record 
of  christenings  by  those  in  Holy  Orders.'     Tiiis  legislation  was  known  us 

'An  Act  for  gi'anting  his  IMajesty  certain  rates  and  duties  upon  Marriages, 
Births  and  Burials,  and  upon  Batehelors  and  Widowers,  for  the  term  of  five  years, 
for  carrying  on  the  war  against  France  with  vigor.'  This  Act  once  more  made  it 
the  duty  of  those  in  Holy  Orders:  '  Deans,  Parsons,  Deacons,  Vicars,  Curates,'  to 
keep  '  a  true  and  exact  register  in  writing  of  all  and  every  person  or  persons 
married,  buried,  christened  or  born  in  their  respective  parishes  or  precincts.' 

These  Acts  taken  together  show  how  thoroughly  discriminating  and  seculariz- 
ing the  Act  of  August  25th,  1653,  was  intended  to  be,  and  what  a  radical  change  it 
made  both  in  the  public  practices  and  their  records.  Of  course,  it  aroused  the 
wrath  of  the  State  clergy  to  the  hottest  indignation.  They  treated  it  with  every 
form  of  eontempt  which  they  could  devise.  AYhen  the  Directory  had  pushed  the 
Trayer-book  out  of  nse,  many  hundreds  of  them,  some  say  thousands,  either  i-e- 
signed  their  livings  or  were  ejected  for  setting  the  law  at  defiance.  It  absolutely 
forbade  them  to  use  the  Prayer-book  for  the  burial  of  the  dead,  as  well  as  in 
their  churches.     It  enjoined  that, 

'  Wlicn  any  person  departed  this  life,  let  the  dead  body  njioii  the  day  of  burial 
be  deeeiiily  attended  from  llie  house  to  the  ])laee  app..iiiiri|  for  public  burial,  and 
then  iniiTi-rd  n-;//,,,,//  ,ii,i/  r,  ,■>  monij.  .  .  .  Fortliat  |ii;i\  inu'.  reading  and  singing, 
both  ill  giiing  to  and  at  the  gi-a\e,  have  been  grossly  alm-rd,  and  are  no  more  bene- 
ficial to  the  dead  and  have  proved  hurtful  to  the  living;  therefore,  let  all  such  things 
be  laid  aside.' 

Surely,  this  was  all  that  the  clerical  flesh  and  blood  of  that  day  could  bear.  But 
now,  to  follow  up  that  revolution  with  another,  which  eight  years  later  not  only 
took  marriage  entirely  out  of  their  hands,  but  denied  them  tlie  right  to  record  the 
births  which  honored  those  secular  marriages,  was  unendurable  to  them.  If  any 
body  wanted  them  to  christen  their  infants,  the  law  did  not  forbid  their  doing  so, 
in  the  exercise  of  their  religious  rights.     But  the  law  would  not  have  their  christen- 


488  /ILNVAX  MAKES  A    CIVIL   REVOIU). 

ings  entered  (Hi  tliL-  i>nlilic  iceords  as  acts  of  aiiv  civil  interest  or  concern.  Tlien. 
tlie  way  in  wliich  their  fui-iiiei-  prerogatives  were  tal^cii  from  them,  was  more  exas])er- 
ating  still.  The  new  Registrars  were  to  be  selerted  liv  the  |»j|iiilar  \ute  i.if  tlieii-  own 
parishioners,  over  whom  they  had  so  unconscional)ly  dnniinccicd,  ami  that  without  re- 
gard to  the  religion  of  either  candidate  or  votei'.  Besides,  his  record  of  the  marriages 
entered  was  to  be  purely  secular  and  to  be  attested  before  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  and 
not  by  a  priest.  And.  worse  than  all,  in  the  eyes  of  the  priest,  this  Act  of  August  25th, 
1653,  left  all  who  rejected  tlie  superstition  of  christening  at  liberty  to  enjoy  the  full 
rights  of  Englishmen  by  recording  the  '  birth '  of  their  children,  and  of  securing  to 
them  all  the  legal  advantages  wliich  such  a  civil  entry  secured  in  jjroperty  rights 
and  courts  of  justice,  without  compromising  their  principles  by  a  forced  submission 
to  infant  baptism.  Tlicii'  children  could  now  prdve  their  lineage  and  derive  all  the 
jiolitical  rights  which  such  entry  entitled  them  to  while  they  lived,  and  when  they 
died  they  could  be  buried  decently'  in  ground  either  '  consecrated'  or  unconsecrated 
without  anyhow  consulting  the  whimsical  dictations  of  an  arrogant  priesthood. 
Such  a  state  of  things  would  suit  Bunyan's  ideas  of  liberty  exactly. 

Such  a  right  had  never  been  enjoyed  by  dissenting  Englishmen  before,  and 
Cobbet  well  characterizes  the  Act  as  'extraordinary.'  Its  passage  was  stubbornly 
resisted  as  a  bold,  innovation  ;  and  he  says  that  it  held  Parliament  to  discussion  for 
a  great  part  of  the  entire  month,  which  'canvassing  '  must  have  stirred  the  feeling 
of  the  entire  realm.  Especially  must  all  Baptists  and  Quakers  have  been  interested, 
as  it  took  their  marriages  and  burials  out  of  the  liands  of  an  oppressive  and  offensive 
clergy,  and  left  them  at  liberty  to  record  the  '  hirth '  of  their  children  and  to  stop 
there,  as  far  as  christening  was  concerned  ;  so  that  they  now  stood  before  the  law  on  an 
equality  with  their  neighbors,  free  from  all  ecclesiastical  proscription  because  they 
refused  to  have  their  children  baptized.  With  this  legal  shield  thrown  over  his 
head,  we  can  easily  understand  why  honest  John  Bunyan,  who  spoke  so  freely  in 
his  writings  against  infant  baptism,  as  we  shall  see,  felt  it  his  duty  as  an  English 
freeman  to  obey  the  law  by  entering  the  hirth  of  his  babe  on  the  public  records, 
when  English  law  at  last  stepped  forth  sacredly  to  guard  the  rights  of  his  eon- 
science  while  discharging  his  duty  as  a  citizen.  Thus  the  entry  of  his  child's  hirth 
without  any  entry  of  her  christening  stands  to  the  end  of  time  on  the  Elstow 
parish  Register  with  the  force  of  his  public  protest  against  the  superstition  of  infant 
baptism  enforced  by  the  State.  Then  was  Elizabeth  Bunyan  christened  as  a 
matter  of  fact  ?  Certainly  not.  Mr.  Brown  quotes  the  entry  in  the  Elstow  parish 
Register  and  concedes  that  it  certifies  only  to  her  birth.  He  also  refers  to  the 
law  of  1653  in  the  following  words : 

'  It  will  be  pointed  out,  perhaps,  that  the  register  notes  that  Elizabeth  Bunyan  was 
hoi'n  on  the  lith  day  of  April,  and  says  nothing  about  her  baptism.  But  it  must 
be  remembered  that  the  previous  year  an  Act  of  Parliament  had  been  passed  re- 
quiring the  date  of  birth  to  be  inserted  in  the  register  instead  of  that  of  baptism.' 


THE    Tll.\ysci!II'T  XOT  A    COl'Y.  489 

It  is  a  matter  of  soiiio  surprise  tliat  the  learned  biogra[)lier  lias  cited  this  Act  in 
support  of  his  theory.  Accoi-ding  to  his  idea,  the  object  of  Parliament  in  passing 
it  was  merely  to  change  the  form  of  words  to  be  entered  on  the  register.  Upon 
analysis  it  is  apparent  that  his  claim  must  be  that,  although  the  record  says  horn, 
she  was  in  reality  chrutened  on  that  day,  and  that  the  fact  was  misstated  in  order 
that  the  law  might  be  technically  complied  with.  The  improbability  of  this  suppo- 
sition is  clear  from  its  simple  statement,  and  it,  moreover,  betrays  an  entire  miscon- 
ception of  the  purpose  of  the  statute.  It  was  not  enacted  simply  to  alter  the 
verbal  formulary  used  in  the  records,  but  to  entirely  secularize  the  department  of 
vital  statistics,  and  to  allow  marriages  and  births  to  be  publicly  recorded,  though 
the  clergy  had  not  solemnized  the  nuptials  or  christened  the  children  or  buried 
the  dead. 

Mr.  Brown  in  furtlieranec  of  his  argument  proceeds  as  follows: 

'  To  show  further  that  this  Act  of  1653  sufficiently  accounts  for  the  form  of 
entry  in  1(554,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  in  the  Transcript  Register  from  Elstow 
parish  that  year  the  name  of  Elizabeth  Bunyaii  occurs  in  a  list  of  twenty-three 
children,  all  returned  under  the  head  of  "  Christenings,"  and  that  the  word  "  borne  " 
and  not  "  baptized  "  is  used  in  every  case.' 

Of  course,  the  writer,  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  not  being  able  to  inspect  and 
compare  these  documents  must  rely  on  an  inspection  and  comparison  made  by 
others.  Hence  lie  requested  a  gentleman  of  known  accuracy  in  the  employ  of  Her 
Majesty's  government  to  examine  both  the  original  and  the  transcript  i-egisters. 
He  writes  July  29th,  1886 : 

'In  the  Parish  Register  at  Elstow  for  April  14th,  1654,  I  find  Elizabeth 
Bunyan  recorded  as  "  home  "  without  any  mention  of  her  christening.  In  all  the 
entries  down  to  the  year  1662  each  child  is  so  entered.  After  1662  the  word 
"  christened  "  is  substituted  and  the  word  "  borne  "  drops  out.  The  Register  is 
without  headings,  only  the  year  and  day  of  the  month  are  entered,  then  the  entries 
follow  to  the  end  of  the  year,  when  the  same  process  is  repeated.  In  the  archives 
of  the  Archdeanery  at  Bedford,  I  find  the  Transcript  Registers,  and  they  give  Eliza- 
beth Bunyan,  daughter  of  John,  as  "  christened  "  April  14th,  1654.  This  stands 
along  with  23  others,  total  24.  From  that  date  the  Avord  "  borne '"  does  not  occur 
again.  Then  as  to  the  headings  :  as  I  said,  the  Elstow  Register  is  without  head- 
ings, and  this  order  is  continued  in  the  Transcripts,  which  for  the  whole  ten  years 
are  not  only  vnthout  headings  but  vnthmd  signahires.  I  had  omitted  to  count  the 
number  of  entries  at  Elstow  for  1653-54,  and  was  obliged  to  write  the  vicar  for  the 
information  which  he  kindly  supplied  in  the  enclosed  letter  : 

'  "  Bedford,  July  26th,  1886 :  Dear  Sir :  You  ask  how  many  were  entered  on 
the  Register  as  "  borne  "  during  the  years  1653  and  1654.  In  the  former  year  only 
six  were  entered  as  born  and  in  the  latter  twenty-four.  The  discrepancy  between 
the  original  Register  and  the  Transcript  is  curious.  The  Canons  of  160*4  ordered 
that  copies  of  the  Register  should  be  sent  annually  to  the  Registry  of  the  Diocese. 
I  suspect  this  was  discontinued  during  the  Commonwealth,  and  that  copies  were  not 
made  again  until  after  the  time  of  the  Restoration,  when  christenings  were  inserted 
and  not  births.     Yours  faithfully.  James  Copner."  ' 


490  TIIH    K I. STOW    UFA' OHO    AlTIIOItlTY. 

The  di^erepMiicy  referred  to  by  Mr.  ( 'n|iiicT  (wIkisc  nwii  vuliKilile  work  on  I'lni- 
yan  is  elsewliere  cited  in  these  pages)  is  >iiii]ily  tlmt  iA  the  u.-e  of  "  huriie  "  in  the 
original  ami  '*  eliristeiied  "  in  tlie  ti'anscript.  Otlierwi^e  it  appears  that  the  doeii- 
ineiits  correspond.  Tlie  iiivestii;atioii  rt'dnces  itself  to  tiie  iinjniry,  which  shall  he 
believed,  the  original  register  which  says  that  Elizabeth  was  Ixu-n  on  April  14th,  1C54, 
or  the  transcript  which  states  that  she  was  christened  on  that  day  '.  It  is  to  the  last 
degree  improbable  that  she  was  both  born  and  christened  on  the  same  day,  and 
therefore  both  rccoi-ds  caiiniit  be  true,  liorn  in  her  father's  ln.use  on  the  14th  of 
Ajiril,  even  if  lie  had  wished  her  christened,  she  could  not  be  taken  to  the  parish 
church  on  the  day  of  her  birth.  But  if  she  was  christened  on  the  14th  of  April 
and  born  at  some  other  time,  then  the  original  entry  is  made  a  piece  of  confusion. 
It  was  never  the  custom  of  the  English,  or  even  of  the  Romish  Chnrch,  to  christen 
children  on  the  very  day  of  their  birth,  unless  it  was  feared  that  the  child  would 
die  innnediately  after  coming  into  the  world,  and  so  its  body  was  sprinkled  to  save 
its  soul.  Ein-thermore,  it  is  not  claimed  that  these  transcript  registers  were  inde- 
pendent records  of  facts  outside  of  those  contained  in  the  originals.  The  transcripts 
were  annual  copies  of  the  Parish  Register  sent  uj)  on  parchment  to  the  Archdeacon 
by  the  vicar  or  rector  of  the  parish  in  compliance  with  the  canons  of  1603.  They 
gave  the  names  of  all  persons  married,  baptized,  or  buried  the  previous  year  copied 
from  the  Register,  and  forwarded  each  Easter.  This  was  to  provide  for  the  exist- 
ence of  a  duplicate  copy  in  case  the  parish  register  should  be  lost.  The  transcripts, 
therefore,  always  purported  to  be  exact  copies  of  the  originals  and,  in  case  of  dis- 
crepancy, the  originals  would  of  course  govern.  We  are  thus  brought  to  the 
question,  which  is  entitled  to  credence :  a  public  record  kept  and  prepared  under 
direction  of  the  law  of  the  land,  with  prescribed  formalities  by  a  duly  elected  civil 
officer,  or  the  inconsistent  statement  contained  in  an  extra-official  document,  without 
date  or  signature,  which  purports  to  be  a  copy  of  the  original  and  is  not  a  true  copy 
thereof  ?  Here  again  the  mere  statement  of  the  proposition  makes  only  one  answer 
possible.  It  is  a  trite  rule  of  the  law  that,  for  the  purpose  of  evidence,  a  copy  is  not 
allowable  in  the  presence  of  the  original,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  see  why  Mr.  Brown 
should  have  brought  in  a  professed  copy  with  the  original,  especially  as  the  original 
says  one  thing  and  the  so-called  copy  another.  In  a  letter  dated  May  21st,  1S86, 
he  says : 

'This  Transcript  for  1654  is  at  Bedford  in  the  Archives  of  the  Archdeanery 
along  with  those  from  all  the  parishes  of  Bedfordshire.  Tliose  for  the  Common- 
weatii  Period  were  sent  up  for  the  whole  ten  years  at  once  [1650-1660]  after  the 
Restoration  by  the  vicar,  Christopher  Hall,  and  are  complete.' 

It  is  difficult  to  imagine  any  motive  for  the  continuation  of  the  custom  of  send- 
ing an  annual  transcript  during  the  Commonwealth.  The  whole  department  of 
public  records  was  taken  out  of  the  hands  of  the  clergy  and  made  secular,  and  they 
could  have  no  reason  for  adding  purely  secular  records  to  their  canonical  archives. 


ritll'J.S  TL  Y  I  LI.  TKMl'EU.  40  1 

]'>iit  with  the  Itostonition  tlie  Cluiirh  was  re-establislied,  and  the  civil  fiuictiuiis  of  tlie 
priests  as  registrars  restored.  Then  in  the  nature  of  tilings  a  new  motive  would  arise 
— the  desire  to  obliterate  as  far  as  possible  all  traces  of  the  interregnum,  and  to  have 
the  ancient  order  of  things  go  on  apparently  as  if  it  had  not  been  interrupted.  Tliis 
statement  of  Mr.  Erown  is  fortified  by  the  fact  that  these  transcripts  are  not  signed, 
or  in  any  other  manner  formally  authenticated.  All  that  seems  to  have  been  done 
was  to  make  copies  of  the  Pai'ish  Registers,  carefully  substituting,  however,  the  woi"d 
'christened '  for  '  born '  in  every  case,  and  file  them  at  the  Archdeaiiery  to  fill  the 
hiatus  in  the  ecclesiastical  records.  The  ecclesiastical  motive  for  this  substitution  is 
apparent,  but  the  civil  record  nmst  stand  unquestioned. 

More  than  enough  has  been  said  to  dismiss  the  entry  in  this  transcript  register 
from  further  consideration,  but  fortunately  Mr.  Brown  has  furnished  us  with  a 
unique  entry  which  throws  additional  light  upon  the  general  subject  and  the  temper 
of  the  clergy  in  regard  to  this  Act.  Nothing  better  illustrates  the  peevish  resent- 
ment of  the  priests  to  the  Act  of  August,  1653,  than  the  following  note,  taken  from 
the  Register  of  Maid's  Moreton  Parish,  in  Buckinghamshire  : 

'  A.  T).  l(j.5;j.  Now  came  in  force  a  goodly  Act  made  by  the  Usurper  Cromwell's 
little  P.irliaiiient,  who  cinlered  not  the  baj)tism,  but  the  birth  of  children,  to  be 
recoi-ilcd  ill  thi'  l';ii'isli  Kciji-ter.  And  though  the  liaptism  of  s(Jine  be  not  expressed 
here,  vi-r  tlir>c  aiv  n,  crrtifv  all  whom  it  may  concei-n.  ami  that  on  the  word  of  a 
pi'ii'>t,  that  tlicrf  is  im  ]irr,-..ii  hereafter  mentioned  by  the  then  Register  of  the  parish, 
but  was  duly  and  orderly  baptized  ! ' 

The  anhims  of  the  man  who  boldly  foisted  this  extra-judicial  note  of  interpre- 
tation into  this  Register,  is  evinced  on  its  face.  The  legally  appointed  Register  did 
not  write  it  in  1653;  it  was  smuggled  in  at  a  much  later  date,  and  for  a  purpose. 
It  speaks  of  him  as  '  the  then '  Register  of  the  parish,  and  of  Cromwell  as  the 
'  Usurper,'  forms  of  expression  which  the  lawful  Registrar  of  1653  could  not  have 
used.  The  writer  of  this  note  understood  the  Act  of  1653  to  make  a  broad  distinc- 
tion between  birth  and  baptism,  and  says  that  it  'ordered  not  the  laptism,  but  the 
lirth  of  children,  to  be  recorded  in  the  Parish  Register,'  and  this  distinction  the 
interpolator  of  the  note  did  not  relish.  Hence  the  record  at  Maid's  Moreton 
expressed  just  what  the  Act  honestly  required :  the  record  of  the  birth  of  the 
children  and  not  of  their  baptism.  He  says  that  the  baptism  of  'some'  was  not 
expressed  in  the  record.  And  why  ?  Siinply  because  the  law  did  not  allow  the 
word  baptism  in  the  Register.  But  as  he  dared  not  to  alter  the  record  itself,  and  yet 
wanted  to  spite  the  memory  of  the  '  Usurper,'  he  must  needs  bring  outside  testi- 
mony to  corrupt  the  sense  of  the  document.  However,  be  could  find  no  one  in 
Maid's  Moreton  to  serve  as  his  witness  but  a  priest,  who  was  sadly  disgruntled 
because  marriage,  the  registration  in  parish  records,  and  the  right  to  force  christen- 
ing on  all  babes,  whether  their  parents  wanted  it  or  not,  had  been  taken  from  liim. 
So,  without  giving  his  name  or  permitting  his  cross-examination,  he  is  called  in  to 


492          '  nUNYAN'S  RECORD   WILL   STAXI>. 

give  his  'word.'  Contrary  to  tlie  letter  and  spii'it  of  tlie  Act  of  1653,  a  gloss  must 
be  introduced  into  an  official  register,  and  the  '  word  of  a  jiriest '  must  certify  that 
at  Maid's  Moreton  the  '  Usuriier '  had  been  cheated,  and  that,  in  exact  harmony 
with  the  priestly  wishes  of  the  witness,  and  to  his  great  delectation  these  particular 
children  had  been  '  duly  and  oi'derly  baptized,'  law  or  no  law.  This  absurd  note 
awakens  the  suspicion  that  it  might  possibly  have  been  written  by  the  '  priest '  him- 
self. Yet  it  serves  to  show  with  what  accuracy  all  the  provisions  of  the  Act  had 
been  enforced,  and  that,  for  this  reason,  the  '  priest '  wanted  to  take  off  the  sharp 
edge  of  the  record  itself. 

In  plain  English,  this  '  priest '  was  piqued  by  the  provisions  of  the  Act.  and 
intended  to  falsify  the  record,  and  so  far  as  he  could,  in  his  lielplessness,  to  nullify 
its  effect.  However,  as  this  is  not  the  i-ecord  at  Elstow,  and  that  attempts  no 
such  shameless  perversion  of  the  law,  the  exact  truth  stands  with  the  Elstow  entry, 
as  Bunyan  intended  it  to  stand,  when  it  affirms  that  his  daughter,  Elizabeth,  was 
'borne'  April  lith,  1651.  John  Bunyan  himself  is  responsible  for  this  entry,  and 
not  a  '  priest.'  Wjuoever  foisted  the  word  '  christened  '  into  the  transcript  at  Bedford, 
made  at  least  six  years  afterward,  might  have  strongly  desired  that  she  had  been 
christened,  but  her  father  had  no  hand  in  making  the  cop}',  and,  having  good  rea- 
sons for  not  christening  her,  simply  certifies  to  the  birtii  of  his  babe,  in  the  form 
provided  by  the  then  existing  law.  In  view  of  this  original  entry  at  Elstow,  Bun- 
yan may  consistently  ask,  '  What  acts  of  disobedience  do  we  indulge  in  ?  "  In  the 
sin  of  infant  baptism?"'  The  record  that  he  made  leaves  nothing  in  his  conduct 
to  '  reconcile '  with  his  professions  as  a  Baptist,  nor  can  he  be  held  responsible  for 
the  substitution  of  a  word  in  the  professed  copy  which  he  never  put  into  the  original. 

This  record  leaves  the  great  writer  where  he  jjut  himself  and  where  his  brethren 
have  always  put  him.  Douglas  says  of  the  English  Baptists  :  'As  to  the  ordinances 
of  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  they  confined  these  to  persons  who  had  made  a 
scriptural  and  credible  profession  of  their  faith  in  Christ ;  and  with  reference  to  the 
former,  they  regarded  it  as  the  great  line  of  demarkation  between  the  Church  and 
the  world.  Such  were  the  views  of  Bunyan  and  the  generality  of  the  Baptists  in 
former  days.'  * 


(V 


lllillillllllllll 

003b5?(i::i 


I)  ^!!E!:§Pi?NOt 


PHOTOCOPY 


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